Leatt 3DF 6.0 Knee Guards Review

The Leatt 3DF 6.0 Knee Guards are a unique knee pad system that combines a standard soft protection construction with two hard shell sliders, offering up an ideal blend of comfort and pedaling performance along with impact absorption qualities. The upper hard shell covers the top of the knee cap, while the lower shell covers the bottom of the knee cap and the upper portion of the shin. The design improves the sliding characteristics of the armor on rough terrain so that the impact forces are significantly reduced, while the knee guard itself stays put and doesn’t slip during crashes. They’re CE tested and certified as impact protection to a Knee EN1621-1 rating.

For additional information refer to leatt.com.

The HDPE hard shell protection offers rock and impact deflection, and it’s attached in front of a soft, flexible 3DF AirFit perforated impact foam which utilizes an energy-absorbing material that stiffens on impact (actually doesn’t go hard when impacted, the force is simply spread across a wider area).

Surrounding the hard/soft system are four foam pads, two above the knee and two along the outer calf, which combines for additional side protection and safety.

Due to the soft and hard armor combination, the 3DF 6.0 knee guards are pedaling-friendly, and they offer adequate ventilation due to the perforated main fabric at the front and breathable open mesh at the back. The rear cutouts behind the knees provide additional comfort, flexibility, and pedaling characteristics.

There is one adjustable Velcro strap at the thigh with a silicone grip lining on the interior hem, as well as an anti-slip band located at the top of the calf, all of which offer a secure and stable fit without any excessive movement or sagging.

They come in Black/White, Black/Blue, and Black color schemes, S/M, L/XL, and XXL sizes, and retail for $89.99.

Impressions

The knee cup utilizes a pre-curved 3D design for improved comfort, better fit, and function, and keeps them in place during a crash, tumble and while pedaling. The perforated main material that sits behind the primary 3DF section and padding covers most of the front and side of the interior was comfortable and pliable, significantly adding to the pedaling characteristics and plushness of the armor. I took a few crashes while wearing them and I can honestly say that the hard/soft combinations works like a charm, and helps relieve the brunt of impacts along with excellent sliding attributes. They provide better protection and coverage than a standard set of soft armor, but they’re not quite full-on downhill or bike park worthy for high-speed insanity, though with the way I ride they’d be fine most anywhere.

They’re comfortable and flexible making even long pedaling sessions pleasant, though after 3-4 hours of pedaling they can become slightly uncomfortable, though that’s outside of their design criteria. I sometimes would carry them on my pack when climbing long fire roads and singletrack, and put them on at the top of a climb. I did find after long rides that the very bottom of the lower elastic hem could irritate my calf.

The 3DF AirFit material provided some ventilation due to its perforations, though the hard shell sliders decreased the frontmost air movement. Even with the main body’s perforated and vented Neoprene material and perforations along the knee cups outer edge, it only offered adequate ventilation, so it can feel a bit warm on hot days, though it provided enough wickability to never get overly damp when sweating. Most of the breathability comes from the rear section which is covered by the open weave Air Mesh fabric.

The hard shell and flexible 3DF AirFit offered excellent protection and shock absorption during my few tumbles that I had, with highlights to additional sliding characteristics of the dual shells. Along each side is a set of calf pods and knee pods which offered increased impact protection, and they were functional when taking a sliding digger during a crash, hitting the top tube of your bike with your knee, and when bashing through bushes.

The pull on armor has comfortable elastic cuffs at the top and bottom, and at the back of the middle. They feature a wide sticky silicone gripper at the top and a short gripper at the top of the calf, both of which keep them in place, and even after long pedaling sessions they rarely drooped downwards, and a quick tug brought them back into position. The Velcro adjustment at the top offered lots of fine-tuning, though I never found I needed to alter it once I was riding and it was comfortable without any binding and pinching. I also liked that gap of material between the start of the Velcro strap was short so that the straps Hooks didn’t snag on the regular fabric when it was statically being stored.

They haven’t shown any undue signs of wear and tear and have been extremely durable, and even with my occasional washing and drying of them, and some crashes and tumbles. They did seem to be slightly fragile on the mesh material at the back, especially on the calf, where I did get a small hole, though it hasn’t grown more significant.

Bottom Line

I found the Leatt 3DF 6.0 Knee Guards to be extremely comfortable and flexible, with great pedaling attributes for a such a beefy piece of soft armor. The innovative design combining the hard shell sliders with the energy-absorbing 3DF AirFit material offers excellent impact protection and sliding characteristics during a crash, and the soft side foam pads provided additional safety when needed. The systems crash-worthiness and impact absorption during my rare tumbles and fall over’s and crashes was noteworthy, and I didn’t suffer any unnecessary injuries, which highlights their excellent protection.

The pre-bent shape of the knee cup and the sticky silicone grippers on the hems kept them in place without any excessive movement, and the single upper Velcro adjuster worked fine. I could pedal and wear them for an extended period of time without any real issues, though on long rides the lower hem caused some irritation on my calf. I didn’t find them overly warm except on the hottest days, and they wicked moisture decently for a fairly beefy piece of armor.

The Leatt 3DF 6.0 Knee Guards are a perfect blend between minimalistic soft armor and full-on storm-trooper gear, offering better protection than their softer counterparts and more comfort and pedaling performance than downhill gear.