Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Review: 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 more than a year ago they presented their result; the CP 5955. I wanted a better and more cooling upper body armor, so the CP 5955 caught my eye. After riding it for an entire year, in various bikeparks, with various crashes, I can finally make a conclusive review, 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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Front. Leatt Brace inserted. No need for brace straps - the CP 5955 takes care of stability, even during rough riding. Note the massive thorax/rib coverage.
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Back. Note how the brace is inserted into the CP 5955. This pic also gives you an idea as to how far down the CP 5955 protects the spine. Ive since done a ghetto-mod to extend the coverage with some 20%. Good news however is, that the back coverage is wide. The kidney belt is from Thor btw - and it sucks balls.
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Side. Note how far the rib protection goes in.
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Bulky, its not. In fact, the CP 5955 is surprisingly nonrestrictive.
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After an entire year of use and abuse I can finally conclude the testing with positive remarks for the CP 5955. I had my share of crashes onto the side, front, back, and even head first into a log, the CP 5955 has done its job, as I've come out of these crashes with no injuries. I acknowledge that luck and other factors come into play when crashing, but I've genuinely felt this body-armor has taken the heat for me.

After a few years of riding with body armor that would heat up in no time, it was refreshing to jump into the CP5955 and feel the air cooling me of as I descended, the Vent-Track system is highly effective. Gone is the bulkiness that's been bugging me on past body-armors, besides being lightweight, its easy to move in as well. The fact that micro-adjustment is an option, only adds to the score.

If you are into a high-tech bodyarmor, that has a high degree of ventilation, adjustability, and Leatt Brace integration, then look no further; the Troy Lee Designs CP5955 is a very good piece of protection.

The Good:
-Highly ventilated
-Adjustablility options
-Outstanding protection
-Lightweight: 1.14kg (2.51 lbs) - see actual weight HERE
-Comfortable
-Leatt Brace compatibility and FULL integration
-Non bulky

The Bad:
-Back protection should have been a little longer.
-Adjustment bolts are made of soft aluminium - go figure

Score 5/6

See more pics of the CP 5955 in my preview here

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Harbor riding

Its been a long time since I last was on a bike ride on the harbor, an year in fact. So did just that, on this sunny day, and shot a few pics. Warning; no bike pics
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This place needs more pipes
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Thursday, July 19, 2012

A trip to the woods (Video)

Me and Henning took our bikes and gave them a spin in the forrest. 5 hours of riding on a sunny day, yay for that : ) Henning rode his creaky hardtail, it was as if the bike was crying "Oh god, dont use me for this kind of riding" Good stuff. Anyway, I compiled some Go-Pro footage from this day:
Watch the HD version HERE:

Crappy embedded version here:

Sunday, July 15, 2012

Recent riding

..and not so recent riding. A mixed bag this time. All good times tho' : )

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Hitting a small table on the "Church" -line. First pic from this spot.
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The Baaa-shit was everywhere on this particular trail, my gawd I have to remember riding with my mouth shut..
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This log jump was fun, locals will recognise.
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Wednesday, July 11, 2012

90 seconds in Schulenberg

Back!

Im going to start off with a 90 sec vid from the german bikepark Schulenberg. We had the pleasure to ride this place on THIS trip. Schulenberg bikepark is a true "for riders by riders" place. It had a nice chill out vibe to it, and the DH trail was a true joy to ride. The bikepark builders and designers and owners mingled between the bike-park guests, totally down to earth.

Perhaps the only negatives I could put my finger on is the lack of trails; there was a DH line, and a FR line, and that's pretty much it. There was also a lack of really big stuff (drops/jumps), we where hitting the roadgaps within hours of our arrival, one day more of riding and we would be riding it all im sure (and we do not consider our self as big-hitters).

Overall, this place rocked, the DH line was effin great, steep, techy, and most importantly; it was fun!

Watch the HD version HERE.


Friday, July 6, 2012

Error 37

So im back! Upgraded, motivated, and ... What? My Internet-provider went bankrupt?!? WTF!! *FACEPALM*