As shown in the left above, of the 239 Critical Cervical Spine injuries without a neck brace (Shown in black), 100% (239) of them required a hospital admit (Yellow) and ALS transport (Orange), compared to just 73%, and 42% for neck brace wearers respectively (Right chart, same colors). We catch up with him and find out more about his views on the state of MTB film making and his unique approach. There's a reason you hear stories about people being saved from them A cycling community enthusiastic about mountain biking and all things related. Now you go to your local mountain and shred double blacks with a good helmet which could be a half helmet, a set of good knee pads and XC gloves so your hands don't sweat. (http://www.btosports.com/moto-news/motocross-gear/the-neck-brace-and-why-you-should-wear-one-perspective/) Which I might add is the same as the first Dirt Rider article. [A french article by motoverte.] 5. Which Mountain Bikes Are Made in the USA. In certain accident situations, it is possible, they are worse. From our perspective, even if the numbers claimed by manufacturers are not completely accurate - say the 46% force reduction in a front-to-back-crash is more like 20% - it's still a significant reduction and well worth the price to buy one and effort to wear it. We feel the results of this actual patient data is proof that neck braces are providing the results intended since their creation. Data in this study has been collected from January 2009 to October 2018, (nearly 10 years) and includes 9430 total patients, 8529 of which fall into the criteria pertaining to wearing (or not wearing) a neck brace, along with Cervical Spine and/or Clavicle injuries, and/or deaths recorded during this time. Reduction in cervical spine bending moments, axial and shear forces through energy transfer (alternate load-path theory), and physical reduction in the range of motion. The reason you see Groms wearing them is because they are growing up with them. A neck brace is essentially just a collar that sits on the shoulders, surrounds the neck and acts as a bump stop during extreme maneuvers or crashes that would cause the head an neck to travel past the point of their normal range of motion. On average, a mountain bike neck brace weighs between 500g-600g (1.1lbs. Yes,especiallyifyouplantodoanyjumping,largedrop-ins, rail hard into berms or just plain push the limits of your capabilities every time you ride. So, r/MTB, do you have any other sources of information (non-anecdotal only!) Click here to fill out the Neck Brace Survey, Racing Rumours: 5 Possible Changes for the 2023 World Cup Season (Warner Off Commentary Confirmed), Gang-Related Shooting in Whistler Leaves 2 Dead, Disrupts Resort Operations, Review: Maxxis's New Forekaster Tire is Heavier & Better Than The Original, First Look: Norco's New Fluid Is For a Bit Of Everything, Qualifying Results from the Snowshoe DH World Cup 2022, Track Walk & Tech Randoms: Snowshoe DH World Cup 2022, Results from the US DH, Enduro & XC National Championships, Starling's Environmental Impact Report Finds Carbon Produces 16x More CO2 Than Steel, www.dirtrider.com/features/the-neck-brace-should-you-wear-one, www.amazon.com/EVS-Sports-112040-0209-Race-Collar/dp/B00CR7ZR84, www.pinkbike.com/news/neck-injury-stats-2010.html, www.cyclenews.com/2018/12/article/neck-brace-effectiveness, www.pinkbike.com/news/jay-balabas-the-injury-that-inspired-the-transcr.html. In addition, brain forces are reduced by limiting post-impact head whip and so are collarbone injuries by shielding the clavicle from helmet rim strikes. It's all about beards and fat bikes, yeah? With the insanely fast speeds that modern-day mountain bikes are capable of achieving, more and more mountain bikers are beginning to wear neck braces while they ride, and for good reason. Here is a list of some popular models and their cost. Despite catastrophic injuries to both DH legend Tara Llanes and Road Bike Party's Martyn Ashton, resulting in their paralyses, if you spend time in any bike park you will notice plenty of helmets, but be challenged to find any sort of pattern for those who you see riding with or without neck braces. All considered while I'm confident my helmet has helped me on multiple occasions, neckbraces are definitely less proven. [A marketing piece by BTO sports with input from Dr. Chris Leatt (founder of Leatt).] Short travel forks from Fox, RockShox and Suntour get put through their paces alongside kit from Magura, Leatt and Ortlieb. Clive Forth is back once again, this time he's looking at how camber can affect you as a rider, with the basics covered in the last few issues it's time to get a little more advanced and learn how to control the wheels as they slide and how to maximise traction on any surface! Right now, multiple companies have braces on the market, mostly for motorsports, but there are two main companies making neck braces for mountain biking: Leatt and Atlas Brace Technologies Inc.. Riders from age 6 to age 50+ have shared some horrific fallacies about neck braces, much of this information is coming from other riders during what we call campfire talk. More frustrating are trainers with junior riders feeding this information to parents and young riders. A Non-Critical Cervical Spine injury is 75% more likely without a neck brace. the majority of older riders don't wear them because neck braces weren't in the sport when they were in their most impressionable time of their riding years. There are three reasons I will not wear one. I don't ride DH without it anymore. It works much similar to a neck brace but claims to act more cushion-like in its ability to stop the head, rather than an abrupt halt. Nonetheless, the companies operate with high levels of transparency and are quite open with their research and results. (http://www.motoverte.com/site/les-colliers-cervicaux-inutiles--57437.html) Conclusion = Inconclusive. Everyone has some story about how they would have been hurt if it hadn't been for the neck brace. The same can be said for seatbelts and air bags many decades ago. A Study Provided by Great Lakes EMS, Inc. (Action Sports EMS). On the way, they take in some of the most exceptional riding in the area and eventually get to the top. How much are your head and neck worth to you? Leatt and neck braces go hand in hand, having brought the technology to the mountain bike and motorbike world. The neck brace acts as an ALPT (Alternative Load Path Technology ) device to transfer load otherwise directed to the neck to other body structures. I'd have to pack my kit up and go home if I did. They concluded that spinal injuries and fractures primarily affect young men identified as recreational riders, and the costs of these injuries to both the person and society are quite high. Now, if this rider is not you; meaning you like to take the smooth line, keep a mellow, easy-going pace or the tires rarely leave the ground, then maybe a neck brace might be just a bit overkill for your individual needs. The problem with getting good evidence in an area of safety such as this is that it is pretty hard to do a high quality study, such as a randomized controlled trial. Neck braces do not fail safe. This does not specifically concern neck braces, but there are some good stats on the prevalence of spinal injuries in mountain biking: http://pinkbike.com/news/neck-injury-stats-2010.html.
Yes it does, why wouldn't it work? Or is it the thought of wearing any sort of collar, a conscious or subliminal avoidance of submissiveness, that deters us from fully embracing the neck brace? Amid a seemingly endless supply of bike videos, Jasper da Seymour is attempting to offer something different to the standard' shredit'. 29er, 650b, 26" he doesn't discriminate. Whether the head is stopped by the helmet rim or the chin. You need to be signed in to use that feature! At least in the mind of an XC racer anyway. As I head out to the trails I'm seeing more youngin's wearing neck braces, and while on the surface I understand their application I've been left wondering if there is any science behind the devices. Growth and learning do not come from staying inside our bubble. First, let's understand the demographics of spinal injuries and who is most affected by them. We feel the manufacturers are on the right path and the data from the study will back up their claims. Read all the articles of mountain bikers dying from neck breaks Now go find as many articles of broken neck deaths with riders using neck braces. (http://orthopaediciq.org/why-the-leatt-brace-is-dangerous/). Over the course of the 10-year study, there were 4 recorded cases of death caused by Critical Cervical Spine injuries without a neck brace, and just 1 with a neck brace. If riding downhill is your thing, and with all manufacturers making braces in sizes from child to adult, it seems like a no brainer to get and start wearing a neck brace, especially if you're a 'recreational rider,' who statistics point to as the type of person most likely to incur a catastrophic spinal injury. Since the injury falls into our report criteria the accident is included in this report, but the circumstances are worth mentioning. Copyright 2022 CycleNews.
A neck brace is a rigid device worn around the neck which interacts with the user's helmet or head to reduce catastrophic neck injuries in case of a fall. So I put it to you, r/MTB, what is your cite-able knowledge on the subject? We swing a leg over Pivots rocket ship XC bike, Radon's bargain enduro rig and hit the jumps on DMRs Sect. Were talkin 10-foot drops and trails so steep you can hardly walk up them. A win-win. Both Leatt and Atlas are quick to claim the effectiveness of their products, but it's generally proven that internally produced data and anecdotal claims tend to be less accurate than conclusions produced by independent research. So if you are the rider looking to take on the most challenging features and trails, then the last thing you should do is sacrifice safety for weight. Great Lakes EMS says that the data they choose to share is state certified and is based off of real documented patient cases recorded in their ambulance-run data system, as required by DHS rule in every state in which they provide care. This is real world data collected over many years, and has in no way been manipulated to show a benefit or detriment either for, or against neck braces. It might keep my head from getting caved in, but when a truck hits me doing 60kph and my entire body is pulverized, head injuries don't mean anything. It doesn't hurt to wear one. I'll take a broken collar bone over a broken neck. Great Lakes EMS is an ambulance service catering to the amateur motorsports world, specifically motocross and racing in the Midwestern USA. Many riders have sustained neck injuries from just landing too hard and never really crashing. So the efficacy of a neck brace for mountain biking is even more in question.
No brace will adequately protect from compression fractures. For many people, the added safety helps build their self-confidence allowing them to feel safer and get into that flow state much easier. [This random article that really can't be trusted.] Unfortunately, that means wiping out sometimes, but when we make errors, we learn. A couple years ago Josh vowed to spend more time on his bike and through writing was able to do so. The numbers dont lie, and we highly recommend everyone consider wearing any protection item that can help contribute to their safety. Should you use one? The process of development included a review of neck injuries, the accidents that cause them and the major forces at play during a fall onto your head. Most modern neck braces built today are actually quite comfortable. With the modern, lightweight materials available today, neck braces have gotten lighter with time. While we cannot definitively rule out that the device (or any device) could potentially play a negative role during an accident, we feel it is important to mention that no device known to man is 100% effective, and that same rule applies to neck braces. When looking at a helmet/brace combination, it makes sense to select a helmet that does not have a large rear lower helmet projection, as was a design trend a few years back. Of the 8529 recorded patients, 4726 of them were toggled as NO which indicates neck protection was not in place at the time of injury and when the record was created. Most of all though, I don't want to be thinking "I'm wearing this because at any moment I may suffer a life changing or ending spinal injury whilst taking part in a lesiure activity". However, it seemed to have major input from Leatt. Incorrectly worn, (ie, without a helmet, or correctly attached helmet) the neck brace may CAUSE an injury, often the sort of injury they're designed to prevent. Assessment in Ambulance release signed. Over the course of the 10-year study, there were 443 recorded Clavicle fractures without a neck brace, and 291 with a neck brace. Mass start snow racing specialist Kilian joins us for a chat about his riding career and why he loves this type of racing so much. But from all I've read, any protection offered is actually minimal in practice, and there is actually significant risk while wearing one without a helmet (IE: walking around the trail base without a helmet on) as the neck brace can then act as a fulcrum in a fall. 3803 were toggled YES which indicates neck protection was in place at the time of injury and when the record was created. I flipped and landed on my head at about 35kmh. It should be noted that just like your bike, helmet, boots, etc, any equipment worn must be properly fitted according to manufacturers instructions in order to provide maximum benefit and wearability.
And in the XC world of titanium, carbon fiber and anything that will shed even just a few grams of unneeded weight, an extra pound of gear might as well be a boat anchor. More images with no particular place to call home this issue! Here are some of our favorite neck braces from Leatt and Atlas, for both adults and youths: Check out the Comparison Compare 3 of the best neck braces from Leatt, Check out the Comparison Compare 3 of the best neck braces from Atlas. Because of the lack of diversity in the neckbrace space, there really isnt a vast selection of design options to chose from. A Cervical Spine injury of any kind is 82% more likely without a neck brace. Though having a lower profile, many riders complain of them being too restrictive, hot and confining when compared to a Leatt neck brace. Hearsay, third person accounts and stastitically insiginificant data have no place here. NOTE: Neck braces are to be worn WITH a full face helmet. The number one online mountain bike magazine. All rights reserved. IE: Buyer Beware. Without a chinbar to bear the brunt of the force during hard impacts, it will be your chin and jaw that take the hit, and that sounds like a quick trip to facial reconstruction surgery to me. A confident rider is a better rider. If anyone experiences this, it would be a good idea to ask a LEATT agent or reseller to assist you in proper fitment and set up. I say better safe than paralyzed from the neck down, or dead.
A study published in the American Journal of Sports Medicine in 2010, Spinal Column and Spinal Cord Injuries in Mountain Bikers: A 13-Year Review, found of 107 patients who sustained spinal injuries while mountain biking, 102 were men and 5 were women, and all an average age of 32.7. All data contained within, and related to this report is the sole property of Great Lakes EMS, Inc., and shall not be used by any entity, company, manufacturer, or organization as a means to market and/or contribute to the sales and/or profit of goods or services without written and legal consent of Great Lakes EMS, Inc. Here is the report Great Lakes EMS provided related to real-world neck-brace statistics pulled from their database from the last 10 years: Neck Brace Effectiveness Statistics by Great Lakes EMS Inc (Action Sports EMS). 2. I didn't receive my registration confirmation email. if they work in moto cross they work in MTB, ya the speed is different but it's protecting you from the same type of injury-prone movement. [Dirt Rider Article "The Neck brace - Should You Wear One?" You might have noticed almost all of the "info" available, and anything even remotely scientific, is also completely directed at motocross riders. With an impressive CV of racing and worldwide travel, he's certainly making a name for himself. Damn. Remember when everyone wore hard plastic knee+shin pads and forearm guards and like gloves with metal knuckle covers and don't forget a full face as well. Dr. Christopher Leatt was first to patent a product intended to prevent neck injury in 2003. 1. If you experience this with your own neck brace, please remove it as soon as possible during your ride. The human head is quite a heavy object to be held up by our relatively small neck, so neck injuries are all too common in many of todays sports, including mountain biking.
Yes it does, why wouldn't it work? Or is it the thought of wearing any sort of collar, a conscious or subliminal avoidance of submissiveness, that deters us from fully embracing the neck brace? Amid a seemingly endless supply of bike videos, Jasper da Seymour is attempting to offer something different to the standard' shredit'. 29er, 650b, 26" he doesn't discriminate. Whether the head is stopped by the helmet rim or the chin. You need to be signed in to use that feature! At least in the mind of an XC racer anyway. As I head out to the trails I'm seeing more youngin's wearing neck braces, and while on the surface I understand their application I've been left wondering if there is any science behind the devices. Growth and learning do not come from staying inside our bubble. First, let's understand the demographics of spinal injuries and who is most affected by them. We feel the manufacturers are on the right path and the data from the study will back up their claims. Read all the articles of mountain bikers dying from neck breaks Now go find as many articles of broken neck deaths with riders using neck braces. (http://orthopaediciq.org/why-the-leatt-brace-is-dangerous/). Over the course of the 10-year study, there were 4 recorded cases of death caused by Critical Cervical Spine injuries without a neck brace, and just 1 with a neck brace. If riding downhill is your thing, and with all manufacturers making braces in sizes from child to adult, it seems like a no brainer to get and start wearing a neck brace, especially if you're a 'recreational rider,' who statistics point to as the type of person most likely to incur a catastrophic spinal injury. Since the injury falls into our report criteria the accident is included in this report, but the circumstances are worth mentioning. Copyright 2022 CycleNews.
A neck brace is a rigid device worn around the neck which interacts with the user's helmet or head to reduce catastrophic neck injuries in case of a fall. So I put it to you, r/MTB, what is your cite-able knowledge on the subject? We swing a leg over Pivots rocket ship XC bike, Radon's bargain enduro rig and hit the jumps on DMRs Sect. Were talkin 10-foot drops and trails so steep you can hardly walk up them. A win-win. Both Leatt and Atlas are quick to claim the effectiveness of their products, but it's generally proven that internally produced data and anecdotal claims tend to be less accurate than conclusions produced by independent research. So if you are the rider looking to take on the most challenging features and trails, then the last thing you should do is sacrifice safety for weight. Great Lakes EMS says that the data they choose to share is state certified and is based off of real documented patient cases recorded in their ambulance-run data system, as required by DHS rule in every state in which they provide care. This is real world data collected over many years, and has in no way been manipulated to show a benefit or detriment either for, or against neck braces. It might keep my head from getting caved in, but when a truck hits me doing 60kph and my entire body is pulverized, head injuries don't mean anything. It doesn't hurt to wear one. I'll take a broken collar bone over a broken neck. Great Lakes EMS is an ambulance service catering to the amateur motorsports world, specifically motocross and racing in the Midwestern USA. Many riders have sustained neck injuries from just landing too hard and never really crashing. So the efficacy of a neck brace for mountain biking is even more in question.
No brace will adequately protect from compression fractures. For many people, the added safety helps build their self-confidence allowing them to feel safer and get into that flow state much easier. [This random article that really can't be trusted.] Unfortunately, that means wiping out sometimes, but when we make errors, we learn. A couple years ago Josh vowed to spend more time on his bike and through writing was able to do so. The numbers dont lie, and we highly recommend everyone consider wearing any protection item that can help contribute to their safety. Should you use one? The process of development included a review of neck injuries, the accidents that cause them and the major forces at play during a fall onto your head. Most modern neck braces built today are actually quite comfortable. With the modern, lightweight materials available today, neck braces have gotten lighter with time. While we cannot definitively rule out that the device (or any device) could potentially play a negative role during an accident, we feel it is important to mention that no device known to man is 100% effective, and that same rule applies to neck braces. When looking at a helmet/brace combination, it makes sense to select a helmet that does not have a large rear lower helmet projection, as was a design trend a few years back. Of the 8529 recorded patients, 4726 of them were toggled as NO which indicates neck protection was not in place at the time of injury and when the record was created. Most of all though, I don't want to be thinking "I'm wearing this because at any moment I may suffer a life changing or ending spinal injury whilst taking part in a lesiure activity". However, it seemed to have major input from Leatt. Incorrectly worn, (ie, without a helmet, or correctly attached helmet) the neck brace may CAUSE an injury, often the sort of injury they're designed to prevent. Assessment in Ambulance release signed. Over the course of the 10-year study, there were 443 recorded Clavicle fractures without a neck brace, and 291 with a neck brace. Mass start snow racing specialist Kilian joins us for a chat about his riding career and why he loves this type of racing so much. But from all I've read, any protection offered is actually minimal in practice, and there is actually significant risk while wearing one without a helmet (IE: walking around the trail base without a helmet on) as the neck brace can then act as a fulcrum in a fall. 3803 were toggled YES which indicates neck protection was in place at the time of injury and when the record was created. I flipped and landed on my head at about 35kmh. It should be noted that just like your bike, helmet, boots, etc, any equipment worn must be properly fitted according to manufacturers instructions in order to provide maximum benefit and wearability.
And in the XC world of titanium, carbon fiber and anything that will shed even just a few grams of unneeded weight, an extra pound of gear might as well be a boat anchor. More images with no particular place to call home this issue! Here are some of our favorite neck braces from Leatt and Atlas, for both adults and youths: Check out the Comparison Compare 3 of the best neck braces from Leatt, Check out the Comparison Compare 3 of the best neck braces from Atlas. Because of the lack of diversity in the neckbrace space, there really isnt a vast selection of design options to chose from. A Cervical Spine injury of any kind is 82% more likely without a neck brace. Though having a lower profile, many riders complain of them being too restrictive, hot and confining when compared to a Leatt neck brace. Hearsay, third person accounts and stastitically insiginificant data have no place here. NOTE: Neck braces are to be worn WITH a full face helmet. The number one online mountain bike magazine. All rights reserved. IE: Buyer Beware. Without a chinbar to bear the brunt of the force during hard impacts, it will be your chin and jaw that take the hit, and that sounds like a quick trip to facial reconstruction surgery to me. A confident rider is a better rider. If anyone experiences this, it would be a good idea to ask a LEATT agent or reseller to assist you in proper fitment and set up. I say better safe than paralyzed from the neck down, or dead.
A study published in the American Journal of Sports Medicine in 2010, Spinal Column and Spinal Cord Injuries in Mountain Bikers: A 13-Year Review, found of 107 patients who sustained spinal injuries while mountain biking, 102 were men and 5 were women, and all an average age of 32.7. All data contained within, and related to this report is the sole property of Great Lakes EMS, Inc., and shall not be used by any entity, company, manufacturer, or organization as a means to market and/or contribute to the sales and/or profit of goods or services without written and legal consent of Great Lakes EMS, Inc. Here is the report Great Lakes EMS provided related to real-world neck-brace statistics pulled from their database from the last 10 years: Neck Brace Effectiveness Statistics by Great Lakes EMS Inc (Action Sports EMS). 2. I didn't receive my registration confirmation email. if they work in moto cross they work in MTB, ya the speed is different but it's protecting you from the same type of injury-prone movement. [Dirt Rider Article "The Neck brace - Should You Wear One?" You might have noticed almost all of the "info" available, and anything even remotely scientific, is also completely directed at motocross riders. With an impressive CV of racing and worldwide travel, he's certainly making a name for himself. Damn. Remember when everyone wore hard plastic knee+shin pads and forearm guards and like gloves with metal knuckle covers and don't forget a full face as well. Dr. Christopher Leatt was first to patent a product intended to prevent neck injury in 2003. 1. If you experience this with your own neck brace, please remove it as soon as possible during your ride. The human head is quite a heavy object to be held up by our relatively small neck, so neck injuries are all too common in many of todays sports, including mountain biking.