Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Preview: Troy Lee Designs CP 5955

Troy Lee Designs has been spending the last few years on the drawing board with the Shock Doctor team, the ambition was to design the best chest armor possible. A little year ago they presented their result; the CP 5955. I wanted a better and more cooling upper body armor, so the CP 5955 cought my eye. Now I finally got my hands on it, check it out:

The CP 5955 is highly adjustable, with no less than 50 different settings.
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Exploded exterior view. The protection is definitely concentrated around the chest, ribs, the clavicle, shoulder and upper back.  
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Exploded internal view. Notice the massive amount of channels. They are there to make the air flowing. The system is called VENT-TRAK.
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Troy Lee Designs is keen on telling that this armor is based around a neck brace device. Lets hope others will follow just as passionately. 
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Insert the Leatt Brace into this "slot" on the back of the armor to hold it in place and to stabilize it. Works surprisingly well. 
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1.14kg (2.51 lbs) Thats pretty damn light.
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The CP 5955, plain. Are few front plates are removed to allow the Leatt Brace to fit into it.
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The CP 5955 with the Leatt Brace attached to it.
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All together. Im used to a bulky armor. This is just the opposite.
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Initial opinion:
I have been using the acclaimed Rockgardn Trailstar armor. Its protective, but gets silly hot, and is a bit too bulky. Strapping on the CP5955 is something different! I have been using it in a bikepark just recently, and even tho I haven't had any chest-related crashes, it feels nimble, light, and noticeably less hot than the Rockgardn Trailstar. Works flawless with the Leatt Brace, no straps needed, the brace stays where its supposed. 

I need to test this armor a whole lot more before writing my concluding review here on All Mountain Next. Stick around.

17 comments:

  1. Depends where you are in the world. I know some US stores ship worldwide.

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  2. I am looking forward to your concluding review. This looks a bit short on you. Does it cover your lower ribs adequately... and how tall are you? Thanks for your very interesting site.

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  3. Hi there, glad you enjoy the blog. The ribs feel covered, although the very lowest rib might be a bit exposed, but im not entirely sure. Overall there is massive front chest protection. The review will be up when we get to autumn, as I need to do some more real life testing.

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  4. Nice write up on the Troy Lee Designs CP 5955 and nice pictures too. I always enjoy your blog and reviews! I am looking for upper body armor that is not bulky and has good cooling.

    Looks like you have been using yours for a few months now, are you still happy with it? Do you feel like you get good shoulder protection? On most pressure suits there is more of a one piece shoulder-upper arm protection and on the CP 5955 it has a gap between the shoulder and upper arm. Maybe that is part of what makes it not so bulky.

    I would be interested in your concluding review.

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  5. Thanks man, glad you like the blog : )

    I havent been using the armor all winter, so im not willing to pass my judgement just yet. I hope to have a review by May.

    The shoulder area is very interesting due to the fact that its massively covered, but the plates covering are not padded with a thick material, instead its a plastic outher shell, with a thin eva-like foam on the inside about 7-8mm thick. Ive yet to do a proper shoulder-spill, so I cant really comment if it works in praxis. The feel I get when wearing this armor however, makes me believe that the shoulders are well protected. Shoulders have a high priority in my book.

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  6. Awesome blog dude. Just got this myself and now patiently waiting for it via UPS. I'm assuming you've gotten fair usage of the CP5955. How do you like it thus far? What are your thoughts on the protection? Especially the shoulders and the rib areas? Look forward to your conclusion review.

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  7. Idd gladly go into details, but im nearly done with the review, so stick around for that : )

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  8. Are you planning to use anything for kidney protection?

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  9. I am actually using a kidney protector from Thor. But it sucked, so im ditching it.

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  10. Any update/review? Interested in hearing your long term opinion, good or bad. Are you still using it?

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  11. The review is still being worked on, stay tuned, its on my to-do-soon list. : )

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  12. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  13. What is your height, weight, what size are you wearing?

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  14. Hi there, im using the M-size. Im 178cm, and 75kg without gear.

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  15. Very good review!!! I have the CP 5955 for MX but was wondering how do you get your jersey over the neck brace when the chest protector is under your jersey? I have to put the chest protector overtop my mx jersey if I want to integrate the neck brace otherwise it would stretch the neck of my jersey way too much. Maybe your mtb jersey has a bigger neck opening?

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  16. Yeah I buy my jerseys a bit bigger, that way you can stretch them without destroying them. The Fox jerseys work the best : )

    Glad you liked the review : )

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