POC Joint VPD Air Knee Pads

Fit and Comfort

The Joint VPD Air is a slip on pad, meaning that you’re probably going to be putting them on before you put your riding shoes on rather than leaving them off until your descent.

The first time I put the Joint VPD Air on, I was surprised by the pads’ stiffness. They felt tight enough that I thought I had accidentally gotten the wrong size, even though my knees are in the range for size small, according to POC’s sizing chart. The VPD material is supposed to conform to your joints better as your body heat warms it, but even after having them on for a while, they just didn’t seem to fit nicely.

I soon found that these pads start to feel much more comfortable after a short break-in period. All it took was about 20 minutes on the bike for them to start to feel way more flexible, and after a few rides, they felt like they fit perfectly, even right after putting them on on a chilly morning.

Now that the pads are broken in, they definitely feel true to size, so I’d recommend trusting the sizing chart.

[Jonathan: I had a somewhat similar experience. My first ride out in these, they felt okay. Not bad by any means, but I was cognizant that I was riding in them. But my next ride out, these things vanished. So the break-in period for me = 1 ride. And what I consider extremely high praise, I just don’t notice these when I’m out doing a typical ride, which for me is about 1.5 – 2 hours.

As for sizing, I’d say that if you are measuring on the lower end of a given size, drop down. POC’s recommended range for a size Medium in terms of calf circumference is 34-38cm. I measure at 38.6cm, and the Mediums fit me well and stay in place. POC also recommends measuring the circumference of your leg 10cm above the knee cap, and the stated range for a size Medium is 41-45cm. I measure at 43.5cms – right in the middle of their range – and again, the Medium pads are an excellent fit.]

The pads function nicely with longer, all-mountain / DH shorts, although I sometimes experienced my baggies getting hung up on the strap at the top of the pad. Not a huge deal, but worth noting.

[Jonathan: I’ve been wearing these mostly with the POC Flow Shorts, and I’ve had one ride where the shorts were getting hung up a little on the straps of the VPD Knee pad, but it was most definitely not a huge deal in my view, and it doesn’t / hasn’t always happened.]

After ten days of testing, I’m most impressed with the Joint VPD Air’s ability to manage heat. A lot of this test was conducted on a trip to Oregon, where most days stayed in between 90 and 105 degrees, and I was continually amazed at how comfortable the pads were.

[Jonathan: Agreed – though I’ve been at least as impressed by how well my size Medium pads have stayed in place. I hate it when pads slide around. These don’t.]

It looks like the VPD segments should trap a lot of heat, especially when comparing the pad’s construction to a more heavily perforated ventilation system like the Leatt 3DF Airflex. But the combination of using a thin neoprene sleeve to keep the pad on and the perforation in the VPD pad does the trick quite well. This isn’t to say that they didn’t feel like they were there at all, but they definitely didn’t make climbing an exposed fire road in 100-degree weather any more miserable than it normally is. Whether I’m wearing kneepads or not, my ideal riding temperature is somewhere between 45 and 70 degrees Fahrenheit, so consider this high praise.

[Jonathan: Yep, I’d second all of this.]

Performance

So far, I haven’t done anything remarkably abusive to my knees in the Joint VPD Air Knee pads. The worst crash I’ve had was a medium speed washout, in which I came off the bike and slid off the trail a bit, hitting my right knee on a log. The pad dealt with the impact with no issue, and I suspect it can handle higher-speed crashes as well. The pads’ EN Standard 1621.1 certification is also a nice confidence booster that these lightweight pads can deal with a serious impact.

I do have one complaint about the pads’ protective abilities, and it’s related to their minimal coverage. While they seem apt at taking impacts head-on, they offer very little protection against angular impacts, especially to the side of the kneecap. I noticed this when I hit that tender area between the end of my quad and inner edge of my kneecap on my frame while trying to regain control in a blown out corner. If you’ve ever been hit hard enough here, you know that it can be pretty painful – similar to the feeling of hitting the funny bone in your elbow.

If POC ever redesigned this pad, I would suggest they take cues from more heavy-duty knee pads (ie. the SixSixOne Rage or the Fox Launch Pro) to offer a little more protection on either side of the kneecap. Granted, these pads are intended to provide minimal coverage, but I think that adding just a few centimeters of protective material to the inside edge of each VPD pad section would improve their overall protection nicely with no serious penalty to weight or flexibility.

[Jonathan: I ride way harder than Xan, so I’ve crashed a lot more than him in these pads.

(Ok, I probably ride way less hard than Xan, while also riding less well than Xan … so that’s why I’ve crashed a lot more than him.)

Admittedly most of my crashes have been on techier sections at slower speeds, not rag dolling through rock gardens or anything. So I’m not discounting Xan’s experience, but I personally can’t say that I’ve wished for a larger protective area.

I’ve also got to say that Xan’s complaint makes me glad that I don’t design knee pads—increase the protective area, and these will be hotter to ride in and probably less comfortable / more intrusive to pedal in. So again, I think it’s fair for Xan to say that he’d like to see a bit more coverage, though I’d have to say that if these were hotter / less comfortable, I’d probably wear them less frequently than I do—which is every time I ride. And if I’m doing a longer ride with a big climb (e.g., the Winsor Trail in Santa Fe, I will throw these pads on my pack and put them on ~2 hours later when I’ve reached the top. Works for me.)

Xan: Agreed—it comes down to personal preference, and POC may well have hit the sweet spot of comfort vs. protection for the majority of riders. But if these pads could be optimized in a way that would slightly increase overall protection without a noticeable penalty to comfort … that would be my ideal. That’s probably easier said than done. I’m glad I don’t design knee pads either.

Bottom Line

The POC Joint VPD Air Knee pad offers solid protection for its weight and level of coverage. If you’re looking for a kneepad that’s actually comfortable enough for a long trail ride but still offers enough protection to justify bringing it along, Jonathan and I can both recommend the POC Joint VPD Air Knee pads. And if you need more than the basic kneecap coverage this pad offers, look for something a bit more substantial.