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Have you ever wanted a set of knee and elbow pads for cross-country and trail riding that can easily be put in your shirt pocket or hydration pack, and are breathable, but not at the expense of protection? Well the G-Form pads claim to cover all the bases.

We first came across these pads whilst visiting the Cycle Show and they're being distributed by the guys at Todays Cyclist. Our first thought when we saw the pads was Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to be honest and we wondered if these were going to look silly? The pads are new to the market, which also includes a knee/shin combo, and are made from 'Reactive Protection Technology', a composite blend of 'PORON® XRD™' material and proprietary G-Form materials. We were told these are not aimed at the downhill market and are designed to be light enough for the XC/Freeride/Trail riding.

The guys demonstrated the new Poron foam material using their bespoke bowling ball crusher!

G-Form Pad Demo from Foxyrider on Vimeo.

We were quite impressed with the state of the sweeties after the demonstration - not perfectly intact but significantly different to the steam rollered ones using just material padding. Obviously impact plastic based pads such as that in the 661 Kyle Straits are a different kettle of fish, but these feature similar technology to the 661 Evo's with their impact reactive gel core.

The pads have a silicone gripper at the top to keep things in place and just elastic at the bottom. The sizing is a little on the small side and after we tried the smaller version we opted the next size up - the arms were fine size wise if you have little chicken wings for arms. The pads are glued and then zig-zag stitched onto the lycra sleeve underneath.

On our first ride we have to admit we did feel self conscious with 4 bright yellow spots on elbows and knees, but the comfort on a fairly long ride was a blessing and extremely tolerable (especially compared to semi-soft or hard pads). Fortunately there are black versions coming onto the market if the day glow yellow just isn't your thing!

The pads stayed put during riding, never riding up or falling down. There was a little bunching behind the knee but this was not at any point painful, and solved very quickly by quick tug at the bottom of the pad to sort it out. Even if you don't wear guards for most of your rides they are good enough and light enough to just have in for those occasions when you ride out your comfort zone or want to try something new. While they impressed in terms of comfort and flexibility, like most pads they still suffered a little from getting a sweat on in hot conditions, despite their lighter construction. Generally speaking though the pads were quite breathable, even with a third its construction being the non-breathable impact material. Most sweat collects at the rear of the knee and on the top of the shin so not so much of an issue with regards to the position of the impact pad. Washing was also a breeze, just put them on a low heat with non-bio and they come out ok and dry quickly when hung up.

One of the best things about the pads is that they will fit under most clothing and don't tend to catch on the hem of your shorts and in this respect their lack of bulk works in their favour. And after a few offs we were surprised at how well the pads work, they're surprisingly robust!

On the negative side, the stitching at the front of the arm pad has started to come undone after catching it once on some brambles, but to be fair the rest of the stitching has been fine. Though as an inherent draw back of the lighter construction, they are generally prone to snagging and catching on the trailside shrubbery.

All in all we thought these were great pads, light weight and reasonably breathable. They seem pretty robust and are shrugging off their knocks and scrapes ok. However, we are glad to see that black ones will be available!

Great flexible and breathable impact resistant pads at a reasonable price.

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