6d helmets.

[Tom cortvriendt]

Hey guys,

I'm wondering something.

If i buy an 6d helmet. Can i ride it with my leatt brace? I never see riders with the leatt brace riding with an 6d helmet.

And, is there anyone outside of the UK (I am from Holland) who bought something at Dirtbikebitz.com? Good delivery?

Thanks alot!

[MiNi]

There are no neck brace restrictions as far as the 6d goes, or any helmet (that I'm aware of) for that matter. The riders that wear a 6d who don't wear neck braces just don't wear neck braces altogether.

[MX PRODIGY 17]

Buys best possible head protection, Ignores his neck.

[MiNi]

Leatts statistically don't do very much in terms of neck protection. You will notice that many pro riders started finding out and thus taking their neck braces off. I did too last year, after wearing leatts since I was 12.

[MX PRODIGY 17]

Leatts statistically don't do very much in terms of neck protection. You will notice that many pro riders started finding out and thus taking their neck braces off. I did too last year, after wearing leatts since I was 12.

Where did you find this stat?

[Lynch]

Leatts statistically don't do very much in terms of neck protection. You will notice that many pro riders started finding out and thus taking their neck braces off. I did too last year, after wearing leatts since I was 12.

That's not true, the brace puts the force of the impact on your colorbones/shoulder instead of your neck. Sure people can say that leatts are bad and they know people that have suffered injuries when wearing one but you can't say they don't do very much. I'd rather brake a colorbone than my neck but hey that's just me. And about the ''pro riders finding out'', I think people who stop using braces stopped because they felt uncomfortable and restricted.

[Tom cortvriendt]

It's weird that Dungey stopped wearing them. Same as Chad reed is not wearing an alpinestars anymore. Tomac is not wearing it, Bogle, Wharton, Bell, and i can keep saying riders. I feel pretty comfortable with it, but riding without is better. Hopefully it will fit with an 6d helmet

[Fro77]

Its kind of hard to test if it is better with the leatt (or any other brace) or not because it is really hard to replicate the same crash. And if a rider hurts his neck with one on people say that if he didnt have it on he might have been ok but no one will ever know

[MiNi]

Back in 2011, when I was training in South Carolina at ClubMX, Grant Langston stopped by with Ohlins Suspension to do some testing. Brandon Haas (the owner), was also looking to do business with Ohlins. Mark Osborne, (Zach's dad) also happened to be there the day of. We were all bullshitting for a couple of hours (mostly me just listening) and we came across the Tyler Condon incident. For those that don't know the short version, Tyler took a spill at Club and suffered a serious brain injury. Langston asked about what helmet he was wearing and if he was wearing a neck brace. Grant and Mark are the two most serious guys I've met when it comes to safety in motocross equipment.

Langston and Osborne talked about the 'gear company helmet' approach first. Gear companies that make helmets are just looking for ways to grab money from a customer, so they use the least amount of money possible and use cheap resources produce helmets. While helmets that come from helmet companies are only focused on helmets, safety is taken much more seriously and the quality is significantly higher. Lesson: only buy a helmet from a helmet company, the same can also be applied for boots. There are a couple of gear company helmets that wouldn't be too bad such as TLDs, Thors and maybe a Fox. But if you want to be sure, stick to a helmet company.

Langston eventually got into neck braces. When Leatts first came out, he said he was very much into the idea and he was looking to sell them at his dealership. He wanted to see how good the tech in a Leatt was, so he asked the company for the test stats. Leatt refused to give him any sort of stats, which caught him off guard. With Langston having the relationship that he does with Alpinestars, he was able to get the stats of not only the Leatt, but the Alpinestars brace as well. The final test results (done by Alpinestars) showed that the Leatt had only a 1% chance of being effective in preventing a neck injury or any sort of protection, while the Alpinestars brace showed a 1.5% chance of being effective. He mentioned that Leatts, if anything, might encourage a neck injury (not entirely proven). Hearing it firsthand, everyone in the room was in disbelief. Brandon was sold right away and took his off the next day. I was in disbelief. Langston lastly mentioned that the idea of the leatt was great, but the design is highly flawed and its just a marketing game to grab peoples money.

I wore Leatts at the time and I couldn't get over the concept of not wearing it. I eventually gave in a couple of years later and accepted it. Through the many people I've worked with, I learned that if that 1% or 1.5% means something for you, then take it. But keep in mind that means more risk for your collarbone and other upper body injuries. I also got a tip from my old mechanic that you would be better off doing neck stretches and keeping it in better shape if you want to prevent injury (just a tip, not proven). While anybody can call horseshit on me, the proof is out there. Many top riders have stopped wearing neck braces because they found out they don't actually work. Most of the top riders that still wear them only wear them because they're getting giant paychecks (Villopoto, Weimer, etc).

I feel I'm going to get a lot of shit for this haha

[Phathry25]

So hearsay? That's all the proof you can offer?

I mean who wouldn't take Doctor Grant Langstons professional opinion on a neck brace seriosuly?...

For the record I don't care, I just don't get your crusade against neck braces.

[m121c]

It's all personal opinion. There are pro's and con's to both, I'm a believer that if it's going to happen it will happen no matter what you have on.

[MiNi]

So hearsay? That's all the proof you can offer?

I mean who wouldn't take Doctor Grant Langstons professional opinion on a neck brace seriously?...

For the record I don't care, I just don't get your crusade against neck braces.

Its not hearsay because its actually proven. If I can remember, Langston even offered to show the results.

lol these stats are on paper. This is not some "opinion", this is a mathematical fact. Opinion or not, I guarantee you I'm not playing broken telephone and for his reputation you can bet your ass that I'll take his word for it. Whether you do or not is completely up to you.

I don't have anything super serious against neck braces. If you want to wear them, then go ahead, you're not an idiot for doing so either. Honestly, I wouldn't throw a kiddy fit and wouldn't mind if I had to wear it again. I'm not taking off my Leatt because I'm a hipster, I'm taking it off because the stats tell me that I would be better off without it. Argue with the stats or with me as much as you want, but the proof is out there.

Reed - Stopped wearing the Leatt in 2011 because apparently the death of Andrew McFarlane had something to do with the leatt.
Dungey - Stopped wearing the leatt in 2012.
Villopoto - Paid to wear alpinestars brace in 2008, paid even more to wear the atlas brace in 2013.
Weimer - Formerly wore a leatt, took it off in 2009, paid to wear alpinestars brace in 2011, paid even more to wear the atlas brace in 2012.
Bratyon - Stopped wearing the leatt in 2012.
Grant - Stopped wearing the leatt in 2008, briefly paid to wear aplinstars brace in 2011, took it once he switched to JWR.
RC - Never a believer in any current neckbraces.
Stewart - Never a believer in any current neckbraces.
Barcia - Never a believer in any current neckbraces, paid to wear alpinestars in 2012.
Tedesco - Stopped wearing the leatt in 2008.
Short - Stopped wearing the leatt in 2012.
Seely - Stopped wearing the leatt in 2010.
Wilson - Formerly wore a leatt, paid to wear the aplinstars brace in 2013, stopped wearing leatt in 2014.
etc...

I could make a multi-page long list of riders who stopped wearing neck braces. Like I said, I don't have a super grudge against neck braces. But when people play devil's advocate I like to show people that I'm not doing this out of hearsay and I've done my research.

[Tom cortvriendt]

True m121c. I'm not sure about it. if the pro riders would be satisfied and 100% sure about it, then they would wear them for sure

[MiNi]

It does come down to personal preference at some point. Preference or not, you could just get that crash that will kill you. Jantz Grodzicki had a good helmet (a shoei), a new leatt and good boots (fox instincts). He had all that protection and it didn't save his life. Its unfortunate, very sad and very scary; it can happen. But regardless, it doesn't hurt to be prepared for the worst.

[James_122]

Have you ever thought that these guys are not wearing one because thy are not getting paid to wear one or not getting paid enough to endorse it? Airbags kill people all the time, but they still put them in cars. If there is a chance it's saving me then I'm using it.