Full finger gloves are a must in my opinion. Don't know about the helmet though. I think you might have a bigger chance of getting a rock through the vent holes in a road helmet since they're generally more generous. Chances are that on road your head will hit something relatively flat... vs. rocks. Other than that, a head is still a head.

Additional advice. Be very careful if you come West to ride. I thought I was pretty handy on a MTB in Minnesota. Could handle black diamond/double black diamond stuff without too much trouble. Moved to Wyoming and had my ass handed to me repeatedly. I got in over my head a couple of times and it wasn't pretty. Xterra shouldn't be too technical from what I hear though.

Lehmkuhler

[reply]Full finger gloves are a must in my opinion. Don't know about the helmet though. I think you might have a bigger chance of getting a rock through the vent holes in a road helmet since they're generally more generous. Chances are that on road your head will hit something relatively flat... vs. rocks. Other than that, a head is still a head.

Additional advice. Be very careful if you come West to ride. I thought I was pretty handy on a MTB in Minnesota. Could handle black diamond/double black diamond stuff without too much trouble. Moved to Wyoming and had my ass handed to me repeatedly. I got in over my head a couple of times and it wasn't pretty. Xterra shouldn't be too technical from what I hear though.

Lehmkuhler[/reply]

Im doing Xterra Milwaukee, it shouldnt be too technical.

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Kestrel Syndicate
Macca Fan Club

I don't think there is a huge difference and most crossover athletes doing xterras coming off the road are wearing road helmets. the mtb helmets typically wrap a little lower on the back of the head for more protection and include visors. Bell's top line helmet this year the Sweep comes in a road (no visor) and a mtn version (visor). I've had the same question before and as soon as I get around to buying a mtn helmet I may start using it, but until then it's the good old road helmet

I would recommend against full finger gloves for racing. If you flat you need to be able to feel for thorns and that will mean pulling off the gloves if they are full finger (at least out here in cactus country where thorns are a common hazard).

ED:

I've tried to find the website with info on this race by google-ing "Xterra Milwaukee", and some other stuff. I can't find it, however. I see it on the Xterra website but with no specific thing to click on for details. Can you tell me where you got your info from?

Thank you in advance.

Burns

Both types (road and mtb) of brain buckets are ANSI and Snell certified, so yer noggin is adequately protected either way.

I go the other way, I have mtb helmets (old Bell and newer Giro E2) and just take off the visor when I'm doing a road ride or a tri.

I think they are more the same than they are different (where have I heard THAT before? - haha!), and other than the visor and "styling points", road and mtb helmets are damn near identical.

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float , hammer , and jog

There is not a lot of detail, but you can register for the race. I registered at xterraplanet.com

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Kestrel Syndicate
Macca Fan Club

Confused about the full finger glove comment, been riding XC in CO and UT for 10 years and the only time I've needed full fingered gloves is when its cold out. I have been over my handlebars plenty in those ten years, I do know that the last thing you want to do when crashing is holding out your hands (unless you want dislocated fingers, shoulders and elbows and broken wrists). Just roll with the bike, maybe its a wrestling and football background but I natuaraly shoulder roll when I'm go over.

On the helmet side, I have one helmet that I use with or without a visor depending on off or on road.

Easy... not much difference between MTB and road helmets, although Giro states that their E2 vents better at low speeds. Most popular helmet with pros off road is the Bell Xray, then the E2. You see a lot of Pneumo's, Atmos' and you're seeing more of the Bell sweeps too. Full finger gloves like ALL the pros wear.

The only difference betwen my cycling and MTB wear is the shoes. I don't use those long fingered gloves or baggy shorts. Try not to land on your hand, you'll break your wrist.

Great feedback about venting. This could be something to consider, particularly when MTB riders really won't care much about being aero, and the average speed is likely lower than road.

My only negative helmet experience is with the Giro Pneumo. I love the helmet, but dropped it from waist height only to discover that this was enough to crack the helmet in the front center between the two front vents. This is a weak spot for this particular helmet. I'd suspect that the newer Atmos would hold up better when getting beaten up on the MTB due to the additional carbon reinforcements.

Just changed to full finger gloves after 13 years off road, I have no more new open cuts but the plastic armor on the gloves are in bad shape. I'm staying with long finger gloves.

I drove off with my pneumo on top of the truck and had it blow off and bounce down the road for a bit. Other than some superficial scratches, no damage to the helmet. I guess I was VERY lucky.

Lehmkuhler