Elbow Pads

BMX race elbow pads: protection levels and hold

A long-sleeve jersey is compulsory in BMX competition, but on its own it only keeps dirt burns away. The elbow pad takes over on impact: it is the elbow and the point of the ulna that take the hit when a rider tips over the front wheel on the exit of a berm. From Micro to Expert, where learning crashes come thick and fast, it is the best-value add-on protector alongside the knee pad.

Soft sleeve or hard shell

• Soft sleeve with viscoelastic foam: the foam stiffens on impact and stays supple while pedalling, with a discreet profile under the jersey.
• Rigid polymer shell over foam: better impact spread and good abrasion resistance, but bulkier.
• Elbow-only or elbow-plus-forearm versions, the latter covering the area that grinds most on the ground.
• Held by a compressive sleeve pulled up the arm, or by adjustable hook-and-loop straps.

Reading the CE standards

Two different standards appear on these products, and they do not come from the same place. EN 14120 covers protective clothing for roller sports: it is the cycling-side benchmark, the one behind soft sleeves. EN 1621-1, which classes protectors as level 1 or level 2 according to the residual force transmitted in the impact test — the lower the figure, the more the protector absorbs — is a motorcycling standard picked up by gravity brands, not the regulatory benchmark for cycling. An elbow pad with no CE marking at all is not an approved protector, however thick it may look.

Choosing your size

Size is taken from the upper-arm circumference, measured at the flexed biceps, and sometimes from the forearm on longer models: do not go by your clothing size. A correctly sized elbow pad does not rotate around the arm when you bend and straighten the elbow five or six times in a row. For juniors, favour a compressive sleeve with an adjustable strap: it follows a season of growth without sliding down towards the wrist.

Worn under or over the jersey

Under the jersey, the pad stays flat and catches on nothing, but it means choosing a BMX jersey one size up so circulation is not restricted. Over the top, it comes off quickly between motos. Hard-shell models are almost always worn on the outside. Check how it works with your BMX back protectors if you wear full body armour, which sometimes has elbow protection already built in.

Care and replacement

Wash sleeves by hand in warm water and dry them flat: a hot machine cycle destroys the stretch of the compressive fabric and lifts bonded foam. Replace any elbow pad whose shell is cracked, whose foam has lost its rebound, or whose sleeve no longer stays put — a protector that slips at the moment of impact protects nothing.

The BMX RACING advice

We stock Fuse, Kenny, Shot and the other BMX race brands, so we can compare cuts, CE levels and size charts instead of pushing a single model. Give us the rider's upper-arm measurement and build and we will point you to the right reference, in step with the rest of your BMX protective gear. Dispatched within 24 to 72 hours, you can spread the cost over 2 or 3 payments.