I got a ride in today with some new gear: sidi flex force boots, oakley o-frame goggles, and fox "extreme" elbow guards.
The boots are pretty much what should be expected for the price: comfort and protection both excellent. Also as I expected, I'm having trouble feeling the rear brake. That doesn't worry me as the same thing happened with my old tech 6's. They may break in a little but even if they don't I'll get used to the reduced feel. Lowering the rear brake a bit and adding play helped. I lowered it from about 2" above the footpeg to about 1.7".
Something I didn't expect is that I find my boots slipping off the pegs at inopportune moments. The same thing happened with my tech 6's but it's worse with the flex force. I'm mainly riding tight single track with a speed average of about 25kph (15mph). With both ends moving around a fair bit because of roots, ruts and mud it means I am sometimes on wacky angles to the bike, on the verge of falling off. That makes the slipping off the pegs much worse. On the faster more open stuff, boots slipping off the pegs did not happen much. My pegs are pretty sharp, but they could be sharper. If that fails to help I'll try some pivot pegs.
Fox Tracker / Tech 6 / Flex Force
Protection 2.5/4/5
Comfort 4.5/4/4.5
Durability 2/2/4 (I hope, ask me in 2 years :). Tech 6's had holes within 1 year)
Value 3/3/4 (Flex Force cost me about 25% more than tech 6's. Trackers cost about 40% less than tech 6's. 4 is assuming they last me 2 years)
The O-frame goggles were more comfortable than the scott 89's I usually use - more nose room. On the downside the silicon or whatever it is in the strap doesn't work very well and the strap has to be in just the right spot or it will slide up or down. I've had these for a month or so and the foam is looking fairly sad and may start to come off. That may be because, washing aside, my goggles live on my helmet, up on the visor, which may have stretched/stressed the foam or glue holding it on. The scott's handled that treatment though..
Smith Warp / Scott 89 / Oakley O-frame
Comfort 3/3.5/4
Durability 4/4/2 (quite likely better if they were stored more carefully)
Value 2/3/3 (Smith and Scott about the same price and Oakley about 15% more. All goggles seem like a rip off, considering how long they last)
I couldn't work out what "extreme" could refer to with the Fox "extreme" elbow guards. Then I put them on and realised it meant extremely uncomfortable and poorly designed. Good thing I got them for free with the boots. I think they are poorly designed for 2 reasons. First the padding bits that go between the velcro straps (presumably for comfort) are practically as uncomfortable and scratchy as the velcro itself. The other thing is the forearm strap. I don't have big forearms by any means, but even as loose as it goes, it's way too tight. The straps also have a tendency to come out from the sliders when they are being put on - it's a pain to get them back in with only one hand. On the plus side, with 3 straps and the extra padding bits, stability is excellent. So is the coverage, which is about 6" above the elbow and 7" below. The fox standard ones have about 5" above and 5.5" below.
Fox standard elbow guard / Fox "extreme" elbow guard
Comfort 4/2 (may be up to 4 if they were on the outside of a jersey with the forearm strap left undone)
Protection 3/4.5
Stability 2/4.5
Durability 3/3 (if they last a year)
The boots are pretty much what should be expected for the price: comfort and protection both excellent. Also as I expected, I'm having trouble feeling the rear brake. That doesn't worry me as the same thing happened with my old tech 6's. They may break in a little but even if they don't I'll get used to the reduced feel. Lowering the rear brake a bit and adding play helped. I lowered it from about 2" above the footpeg to about 1.7".
Something I didn't expect is that I find my boots slipping off the pegs at inopportune moments. The same thing happened with my tech 6's but it's worse with the flex force. I'm mainly riding tight single track with a speed average of about 25kph (15mph). With both ends moving around a fair bit because of roots, ruts and mud it means I am sometimes on wacky angles to the bike, on the verge of falling off. That makes the slipping off the pegs much worse. On the faster more open stuff, boots slipping off the pegs did not happen much. My pegs are pretty sharp, but they could be sharper. If that fails to help I'll try some pivot pegs.
Fox Tracker / Tech 6 / Flex Force
Protection 2.5/4/5
Comfort 4.5/4/4.5
Durability 2/2/4 (I hope, ask me in 2 years :). Tech 6's had holes within 1 year)
Value 3/3/4 (Flex Force cost me about 25% more than tech 6's. Trackers cost about 40% less than tech 6's. 4 is assuming they last me 2 years)
The O-frame goggles were more comfortable than the scott 89's I usually use - more nose room. On the downside the silicon or whatever it is in the strap doesn't work very well and the strap has to be in just the right spot or it will slide up or down. I've had these for a month or so and the foam is looking fairly sad and may start to come off. That may be because, washing aside, my goggles live on my helmet, up on the visor, which may have stretched/stressed the foam or glue holding it on. The scott's handled that treatment though..
Smith Warp / Scott 89 / Oakley O-frame
Comfort 3/3.5/4
Durability 4/4/2 (quite likely better if they were stored more carefully)
Value 2/3/3 (Smith and Scott about the same price and Oakley about 15% more. All goggles seem like a rip off, considering how long they last)
I couldn't work out what "extreme" could refer to with the Fox "extreme" elbow guards. Then I put them on and realised it meant extremely uncomfortable and poorly designed. Good thing I got them for free with the boots. I think they are poorly designed for 2 reasons. First the padding bits that go between the velcro straps (presumably for comfort) are practically as uncomfortable and scratchy as the velcro itself. The other thing is the forearm strap. I don't have big forearms by any means, but even as loose as it goes, it's way too tight. The straps also have a tendency to come out from the sliders when they are being put on - it's a pain to get them back in with only one hand. On the plus side, with 3 straps and the extra padding bits, stability is excellent. So is the coverage, which is about 6" above the elbow and 7" below. The fox standard ones have about 5" above and 5.5" below.
Fox standard elbow guard / Fox "extreme" elbow guard
Comfort 4/2 (may be up to 4 if they were on the outside of a jersey with the forearm strap left undone)
Protection 3/4.5
Stability 2/4.5
Durability 3/3 (if they last a year)
