Been riding with CFRP POD knee braces for years and blew my ACL any way… I kept wearing knee braces because most knee pads offer no protection above the knee. But in recent years my leg muscle circulation has started to get weaker (old timer). The knee braces have been cutting circulation off so I was starting to consider a good knee pad option that would offer more protection above the knee. Also a buddy of mine reported several cases of people breaking their femurs with knee braces. So I began to ask myself whether I’d rather have a blown ACL or a broken femur if it came to the choice. Given the femur is potentially life threatening I got more serious about finding an alternative to the knee braces that didn’t seem to “really” protect my ACL any way. None of them looked good until I saw these.First of all, these knee pads have all the frontal impact protection of my old knee braces. If you’ve ever gone over the bars you’d know why you want protection over the lower half of the femur.Second of all, these knee pads have reinforced adjustable elastic padded straps in the back. I had none of the circulation discomfort or muscle problems that I usually get from rigid knee pad straps. These knee/shin guards are more flexible than I expected and are easier to move in. Also, my old knee braces would put traction on the knee joint with some versions of riding pants. I tried the most restrictive set of gear I had to see if these knee/shin guards would bind and create knee joint traction and they passed the test. I was a little worried they wouldnt because they are larger than I expected around the knee armor.For some one buying into the idea that knee braces are too restrictive (Like Ryno’s philosophy), and that they’d rather have a blown ACL than a broken femur (but have been too leery of giving up the frontal impact protection knee braces offer across the lower femur), these Knee/shin gaurds are the perfect option IMHO.Again, I was really worried about whether theyd fit my tighter legged gear sets, or create a knee squeeze issue on my bike because the size of the knee armor was as big as most Mobius type braces… but I tested it on both motocross and arenacross tracks with tight corners etc and they didnt bind or cause a knee squeeze issue on the bike. They work great.