The Venture upper body armour from Knox features a spine protector and shoulder padding made from Knox’s soft, pliable Lite + material – which feels like a very dense yet flexible foam.
The shoulder pads sit on the fronts of your shoulders when the top is on, and the dense foam pad make-up means they do a good job of staying put while riding.
The spine protector feels like a solid core wrapped in dense foam, and although it does a great job of shielding your back, the lack of side-to-side flexibility means the wider kidney guard part at the bottom can dig into your sides at times.
The lightweight Lycra construction does vent heat well though, even if the padded areas are slightly less airflow friendly. And the Venture isn’t so tight that it’s impossible to remove when sweaty at the end of a hot day’s riding.
This article was originally published in Mountain Biking UK magazine, available on Apple Newsstand and Zinio.
