Test / protectors: With protectors on a mountain bike, it's one of those things: In principle, there's nothing wrong with them and more is usually better - or at least safer. In practice, however, it is usually insufficient comfort, low breathability, restricted freedom of movement and also the look that causes many bikers to leave the pads in the closet, especially on the fast after-work ride. This is exactly where the new protectors from Alpina come into play: Available for knees and elbows, they want to bring together high comfort, breathability, a chic look and still good protection.
We come across the first highlight even before we hold the actual saver in our hands for the first time: the packaging! Or actually the absence of any outer packaging. The pads come in a sturdy mesh pouch and the store hanger doubles as a mudguard. Top!
The schooners themselves also arouse curiosity, because Alpina also goes its own way here. The "stocking" that surrounds the actual saver is very long, especially up to the thigh. The fine, very stretchy material has a fairly firm waistband with a silicone insert on the inside to prevent it from slipping while driving. The saver itself consists of a Sas-Tec pad directly above the knee, which offers level 2 protection despite its low thickness. In addition, there are EVA foam inserts on the outside to be able to absorb smaller impacts here as well. The Sas-Tec protector is removable so that the protectors can be properly washed.
When you put them on, it quickly becomes clear: the Alpina Flow Pad Knees are quite small. Our test samples in size ML were very tight at the beginning with a thigh circumference of 56 cm, especially at the waistband. After a few rides, the material stretched a bit, but they really shouldn't be any smaller. So if you have muscular thighs, you should definitely choose size L-XL.
The wearing comfort is initially quite unusual, especially due to the long stocking. However, initial doubts about breathability are quickly dispelled. The thin material is amazingly airy and not at all uncomfortable on the skin, even in high heat. The pad itself is also quickly forgotten during the ride: even during longer pedaling passages, it does not impede movement and there is also no unpleasant rubbing in the hollow of the knee. However, what we noticed during the test: While the tight waistband of the stocking is still sitting where we had initially placed it even after the ride, the saver itself slips down a bit. In our opinion, this is due to the fact that the material of the stocking may be a little too stretchy in length. No matter how well the waistband can sit, if the stocking stretches so far that the saver slips down, little is gained. That's whining at a high level, though, as the fit remains excellent; our feeling tells us that there is still a little room for improvement.
We can (fortunately) not make any particularly well-founded statements about the protective effect itself. We didn't have a really hard impact during the test, but the combination of level 2 protector, side impact protection and the abrasion-resistant material promise a lot here.
