A wasted knee is a painful situation, involving a lot of recovery time and a lot of bills to be covered. In many cases, you are never 100 percent after a serious knee injury, and in rare instances, it can put an end to your riding days for good. Many people never invest in a set of knee braces simply because they don't want to be fitted for a custom pair or they don't have a doctor's prescription. Now there are quite a few options for over-the-counter knee braces with no prescriptions or special fittings necessary. We tested them on tracks and trails over the last six months, and here is what we thought.
To add some medical credibility to this evaluation, we took all our knee braces to be reviewed by a couple of doctors, including a knee reconstruction specialist who has worked on some of the biggest names in motocross. We also showed the braces to a sports chiropractor who rides. Both had very similar comments on the braces and stressed two very important things:
1. Anything is better than nothing.
2. You really get what you pay for. Even the most expensive brace here is cheaper than the MRI you'll need if you tweak your knee.
Our experts also agreed that they would classify only three of the braces, the EVS Web, the Innovation Sports Morph and the Asterisk Cell, as true knee braces. The others are beefed-up knee pads with hinges on them. A doctor's point of view is presented in each description.
The doctors also had some suggestions for riders shopping for knee braces. Remember, the most important thing is fit! The brace should essentially attach to your skeleton as much as possible through the straps and formed hard parts.
Seek out braces with these features:
1. Poly-axial hinges. (They move more like your knee.)2. Long bars or arms off the hinge (the longer the better) with the hinge set just
behind the middle of the knee joint to provide the most protection.3. Protection to the front of the knee, especially just below the knee at the tibial
plateau.4. Above-the-knee protection.5. Good strapping (dual is best) that attaches or molds to the calf to stop the brace
from moving up.6. A good extension stop.