[TRIALS] Leg protection
This discussion has an associated proposal. View Proposal Details here.Comments about this discussion:
Started
It doesn't really quite make sens to me that shin guards are enforced while knee guard or optional. The logic behind shin is that if you miss the object you scrape your shin, but that is only true if you are front footed. If you are jumping towards your back foot, you're more likely to hit your calf, or butt.
To a lot of riders, knee protection is more useful for them, all depending on their technique for trials, and their falling habits. For others, shin guards are more useful, and for other riders are full knee/shin once piece movement restrictive protection gives the mental motivation to attempt your hardest lines.
To make it fair for everybody, hence not totally removing protection on leg for organizers and worried parents, I think it would be fair to keep the choice to the rider which kind of leg protection they use... either shin guards, knee pads, or a combination of both. That being said, having one item would be mandatory.
Here is what I propose.
New:
All riders must wear a helmet, shoes and leg protection (shin guard or knee pads or combination of both) as defined in chapter 1D.1.
Old:
All riders must wear a helmet, shin guards, and shoes as defined in chapter 1D.1. Gloves and knee protection are recommended.
Comment
If you are looking at it from the perspective of the general rider who all take part in trials but aren't particularly good they will probably be quite confused why a rider must wear either shin guards OR knee pads but not both. In most peoples minds knee and shin pads will protect you from two very different injuries so why does the rule book only care about safety of a riders shins or knees selectively.
I get the idea behind the rule change (and to good trials riders it will make sense) however it makes it really confusing to require a rider to have one OR the other in terms of protection.
Comment
"it makes it really confusing to require a rider to have one OR the other in terms of protection"
One, or the other, or both!! **
My god, poor beginners riders having the choice about having shin, or knee, or both protections! So confusing!
Having this makes riders comfortable with wearing the protection they are used to riding with while keeping it fair for organizers because riders still have leg protection.
Comment
To me the only mandatory protection should be a helmet. But last committee making it from KNEE + SHIN was such a hassle, that I don't see that proposal passing.
Comment
Obviously they have the choice to wear both.
But since with this rule change they are only required to wear one OR the other why are we requiring that they wear any protection on legs at all.
By giving the choice to wear either you are saying that the knee and shin pads are not needed (otherwise rules would require you wear both).
In this sense you should be making a rule change to remove the need for knee or shin pads and only recommend them. This makes more sense than the current proposal.
Comment
I wouldn't vote for this just because it makes no sense
Comment
Safty gear is an endless discussion and we delete a lot useless gear in the last rulebook committee. In trials it was a long discussion until we find a majority. This was not possible with no leg protection so we kept shins as knee protection anoy more riders then shis do. However, I can follow Emils arguments and in all bigger competitions the focus is on skilled riders and not on beginners. What would be about an additional sentence that would allow to make knee and shins mandatory for smaler competitions where the host see the focus on beginners. This would make it possible for a host to make both mandatory while Nationals, Continentals and World championships has to give the freedom of choice to the riders.