"Bracing", protection or both...

If you can afford it, go for the Asterisks. They offer great knee cup protection as well as lower thigh and shin.

Better to be proactive with knee protection. They would of saved my knees from hyper-extension injuries if I purchased these when I first started riding 3 years ago.

Once you start riding with them, you will feel NAKED with out them!

I took a pretty good twist the last time I rode. After I quit for the day, I started to really think about it, they most likely saved my knee. :worship:

i went with knee pads first, then figured as much as i crash i'd better get a pair of braces. i've got bad knees from jumping, but not really "bad bad" yet, so i'm kinda consciencious about the knee anyway.i was leaning towards a cheaper pair, scratch that, less expensive pair. i even posted on this forum(drn, before this forum but asterisk was still a sponsor) i got a pretty even handed response from billy , Mr who, whom works for asterisk. i figured that wa cool, the guy did not blow smoke up my heiney. so i looked back into the other pair. i found a dirt bike mag, can't remember which, that said particular brand was like a light weight taco as far as twisting protection.hyper estension and full on blast/impact were ok. i got to thinking and figured i needed twisting protection and impact protection most. didn't really figure on the hyper extension thing. so i poneyd up and bought a pair of asterisk. by the grace of god, i also got a pair of sidi flex force boots. that particulard combo is incredible as far as "insulating" my legs fron the heel on up to the hip ffom major damage. i feel like the bionic man in that set up. btw, last good wreck i had,completely tore the headlight assy off my wr426 and tossed me over. somewhere along the line my outer right, center kneecap, got a ding. i didn't even notice at the time as i walked away uninjured. but now, on my right outer brace area is a scratch about 2" long, 1/8" deep and 1/8" wide. i know the impact protection kept me outa the emergency room and by the looks of it, the twisty protection saved me alot of rehab. i just rode 2 weeks ago when eddie, who was wearing knee pads, got mixed up in the rythym and twisted his knee good. i'd recomend anything over just knee pads/cups. the choice is yours. there are plenty, or a couple at least, of what i call bullet proof(my words) knee braces, asterisk was well priced and got good reviews in the mags. what ever you do, move up from cup only. good luck. ps..i like my asterisk and that was the best 550$ i spent.

When i first started riding, I didnt' wear any knee protection and always ended up with swelling and huge bruises on the knee. some that kept me off the bike for a while. I then went to knee pads, which helped with some of the bruising but my knees would still swell up after a crash. I bought the asterisks when my knees were still in really bad shape after a bad wreck never had any problems since. The asterisks also helped my previous knee injurys heal up. For me the best part about them is how they absorb the impact when I crash (I dont' even feel it.) Instead of calling it a day after a good crash I hop right back up and keep on goin like nothing happened.

At first the braces seemed bulky to me and as a short rider I had some problems getting on and starting my bike. After a day of riding I forgot I had them on. Now I wont' ride without them.