Neck braces for enduro, motocross and dirt riding in general! Should you get one? Do
they really work? How much do they reduce neck injuries? And which particular injuries?
There are no black and white answers with neck braces, but this vid might help you to decide. The
age old question with any protection is how much to wear? So first you need to look at your type
of riding, skill level, how often you like to run into trees or hit the ground, and at what speed.
It appears speed is a big factor. Neck braces are way more common in desert racing and motocross,
compared to enduro riding. One study showed 10% of motocross injuries in motocross are neck and
upper spine fractures. Whereas a study of enduro competitors found no spinal fractures at all,
just mild strains which only accounted for 5% of total injuries. Now that's actual racers,
so slower everyday riders will probably have even less spinal injuries.
Do they work? First we are only talking about neck braces, not these flimsy neck collars...
these might keep the sun off your neck but will do little else according to the research. Second,
we won't rely on anecdotal evidence. For example, a guy lands head first into a whoop
and says without his neck brace he would have been dead or paralysed.
Anecdotal evidence is extremely unreliable, we'll try to rely on more solid research.
First, this informal report from basic statistics gathered by emergency services
personnel. It makes the most positive claims for neck braces based on a lot
of accidents but unfortunately the methodology isn't very good from a
research angle. Personally I think it needs analysis and interpretation from experts.
Second, a white paper from Leatt, creator of the first motorbike-specific neck brace. The
methodology is much better in this study, but of course there's the potential for a lot of
bias here. Not surprisingly, the report found Leatt neck braces do work in preventing or
reducing injury. It would be good to see this paper published in a peer reviewed journal,
this would give it the stamp of approval from independent sources but no luck so far. It's also
very interesting that Acerbis did a study on neck braces but never released it. I wonder why...-
Next this properly independent study said their results were unclear and they felt the dummy being
used in all tests so far needs to be replaced with a better model to really prove neck braces work.
Another independent study showed neck braces had a moderate effect but only if
the gap between the helmet and neck brace was less than 5cm.
And finally this French study testing the Leatt and EVS neck braces along with one
of those foam collars. It found no significant effect although they did note they only tested
at one specific impact and angle of orientation, and that more research was needed. They also
commented that the gap between the helmet and neck brace could be an important consideration.
So.... Confused? I am. Unfortunately there isn't a
lot of money available for high quality research with big sample groups and high
tech dummies so read all the research you can and make your own conclusions.
So let's look at the pros and cons. I'll go out on a limb here and say there is probably
limited evidence for neck braces working, at least if your helmet is within 5cm of the
brace and your helmet works well with your neck brace and existing body armour. And
anecdotal evidence suggests the faster you ride, the more likely you are to have a neck injury.
So what are the drawbacks? Some riders hate the restricted movement,
others don't notice it after the first hour. Some riders say they find it very uncomfortable,
others say they barely notice it. If you ride in hot weather, you will probably notice a bit less
airflow. And of course it's a bit of extra weight. Do neck braces break collarbones?
There's no hard evidence for this, but if it's because of a transfer of the impact I'd go for
a broken collarbone than a broken neck any day. There are online discussions about neck
braces causing other injuries but I can't find any evidence to back up these claims.