Neck Braces???

DF405

PR Member
Can anyone explain to me why most all of the Pro AMA Riders have shelved the neck braces. Has there been talk of not wearing the brace due to increased related injury issues due to wearing one? List of riders include: Chad Reed, Ryan Dungey, Bubba, Millsap, Brayton, and so on. K-Dub is about the only rider is the Supercross class still wearing one. RV has switched to a less restricted brace.
Why????

Are we seeing the end of wearing neck braces.... 20120107-practice-ryan-dungey.jpg

Out,
DF405
 
Wonder if sponsorship plays in little? I know for a fact Reed stopped wearing it after his friend died in Australia.
 
Barrington, would you if you could wear a neck brace again? And is everyone talking about just the Leatt, or all of the alpinstarts, omega, evs?????
 
Ok, I didn't realize this was such a over talked forum question. Quick story, 1992 during practice at the RCA Dome for the 250cc pro's I cased a triple. The bike bounced up from the rear and I landed on my head at about a 25 degree angle. I remember sitting on the ground gettin med attention as Jeff Stanton and Damon Bradshaw were countinuing to hit the triple. Off in the Wambalance to the pokey, I ended up with a 30% crush of C-7 in my neck. By the grace of God I recovered and was able to get my fall-down card approved and re-instated to race the final AMA National Outdoor at Steel City that year.

I swore if there was ever any protection availabe for neck injury prevention, I would get it. I have been wearing the Leatt since they came out. Recently in our area there has been a horrific number of BAD injuries involving spinal cords. Having been through the trauma almost 20yrs. ago, I really want to know if the brace is more dangerous...

Yo, washel157... Are you smilling because you think takin the brace off is safer???

DF405
 
It seems that Jake Weimer is wearing the new Atlas brace, and Dean Wilson looks to be still wearing a neck brace too, not sure which one.
 
The way I look at is neck injuries are a risk of the sport. Only safe bet is just to stop riding because freak accidents happen and neck brace or no neck brace you will still get hurt.
 
I used to wear one, and I don't anymore. I don't believe in them anymore, and until an unbiased testing group (like dot/snell) start testing ALL braces and show what works, and what doesn't, I will not wear one. You can't deny the fact there have been more and more spinal cord injuries sinse neck braces came out.. And before someone tells me that i just hear of them more now b/c of the internet, blah blah blah, why are most of the people getting hurt having injuries to pretty much the same area on thier spine?
 
My question is, are these injuries with just the Leatt brace on or all the braces. Has anyone had a spine injury wearing a astars, omega, evs etc? or is this a Leatt problem? I am just curious.
 
I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess most, if not all had leatts on. I'm only guessing that b/c it is the most worn brace. I hardly ever see people wearing any other brand.
 
I'm a gncc guy, I wore a Leatt from 2005-2009. I then saw and tried on an astars. I read up on them and liked the fact that there was some reserch behind them and that they focused more on compression and wanted your neck to flex forward and backward. I now wear one of them, but also would like more info/ testing. The back part on the brace i wear also seems to be alot more forgiving then the Leatt.
 
What I was told is that Dungey wanted to quit wearing his early last season but he was the highest paid Leatt rider and couldn`t until his contract was up. Barcia was wearing an Alpinestars neck brace at Bercy SX and other than Villapoto is the 2nd highest paid to wear it. Recently in videos he hasn`t been wearing it. Hopefully he wised up or just simply saw a picture of himself wearing it and chucked it. Mitch Payton said in an interview that he wouldn`t even wear one. So.....
 
While I agree that the most recent past has seen an increase in spinal cord injuries and it coincides with the invention of the Leatte...I also wonder how much of it has to do with the increased HP and speed of the 4 stroke bike and the bigger jumps that go along with it.

It seems to me that the bikes of yesterday couldn't navigate todays tracks with the same speed with the number of riders that do now...

just a passing thought...
 
While I agree that the most recent past has seen an increase in spinal cord injuries and it coincides with the invention of the Leatte...I also wonder how much of it has to do with the increased HP and speed of the 4 stroke bike and the bigger jumps that go along with it.

It seems to me that the bikes of yesterday couldn't navigate todays tracks with the same speed with the number of riders that do now...

just a passing thought...

+1
 
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