Aaron Gwin Live Interview - Replay

 Me too... But I knew my nickname was stupid but now it's even worse...

 i got the leatt when i was racing mx but when i whent to dh i cant see were im going as good cause my head is pushed foward they are great fo dirt bikes but not for dh thats what i think

 thanks for answering my Monk question, Aaron! have a great off season!

 Yea me too... Thanks Aaron! It seems like lots of pro riders make brap noises. Gwin, Gulevich, etc...

 he never did answer that cage fight question did he?

 No peer-review scientific research to back-up Leatt claims

 hahahah finally... the leatt might be effective for MX but not for DH. The body position ist completly different in MX so you can "tightened"it. In DH it's absolutly pathetic how much of movement the head still got. I Tried a few from friends and could have bend the neck as far as without a neckbrace... well it looks pro so everybody who got enough money... go ahead...

 While it would be nice to see some more research and proof behind them, I'm still never riding without mine again. After a hard fall and actually feeling the brace stop the helmet along with all the pressure being relieved off of my neck(I slid on the side of my helmet for 20+ feet) I'm absolutely sold. After riding in it for the last summer, I feel faster and more confident with it on. Rockin an a.stars carbon

 Has there been any cases where the Leatt has failed to work? They seem to have been around the industry for a few years now and people keep buying them.

 There is a huge difference between the Alpine Star and the Leatt. a mate of mine doesn't even have to undo his Alpine Star to put it on. And he could pretty much move his neck normally with a helmet on. But the Leatt is a lot more restrictive with neck movement. I pretty much feel naked when i ride without my Leatt.

 Agreed, if nothing else mine makes me that much more confidant to go faster. That said, like mountainyj I've felt mine work in a few hard crashes. I've even suffered light bruising where the brace pressed into me during a crash, and yet I had zero neck pain afterward. I have no doubt that it is effective to some degree, and when the thing it's protecting is as important as my neck, I'll take whatever protection I can get.

 hoolydooly and tinfoil, Strange when you read the Leatt FAQ:
"It takes a large amount of force to damage the sternum. The surface area of the bottom platform of the brace has been maximized to keep pressure transfer to the sternal area as low as possible. The bottom surface of the brace is also padded to assist with load transfer. The top surface of the brace has been engineered to first absorb forces and then to fracture at predetermined loads well before injury thresholds of vital structures are reached such as the sternum."

The last statement is the important one, you have to break your Leatt to have a bad crash with it, where it is saving you.

 can't understand why people would bash about leath brace.(exept pricing). I own one, felt on my face few times during summer (not a lot) but each time you i could feel it hold me helmet and stopping my head. It might not be 100% effective. but shit it's still way better than you nothing at all. + if you try one of your friend, your doing it wrong. it took me around one hour the set it up properly, changing shims and position on the dbx.. when it's done you are not restricted at all in your movement but you can't overflex your neck either.

 bestie are you on crack? If your Leatt breaks then the forces have gone onto the Leatt and not your neck. I would rather pay $300 for a new Leatt than be in a wheelchair because a shard of bone cut my spinal cord.

This kid (Angus McCarthy) is oh so luck that he was wearing a neck brace. pause the video at 5 or 6 seconds in. try and stop it right when he lands on his face then tell me that they don't work.

 f*ck i forgot the video....... www.pinkbike.com/video/186898

 @Betsie, what that's saying is the brace has a critical breakaway point, so that if x load is reached it breaks the brace instead of your sternum in order to not transfer the required breaking force in your sternum. It's designed as an extra safety measure in bad crashes so that you won't have a broken sternum or other vital organs damaged.
In lesser crashes, the leatt can still prevent spinal injury without being compromised by reducing compression or hypertension injuries.

@hoolydooly separate parts of the brace can be replaced after breaking so the owner doesn't have to buy a whole new brace.

 It's a great idea for extra protection, but in some instances you don't have quite the maneuverability so you can't stay as low as you can without it. I think that's why Gwin doesn't use one, when you watch him race he consistently stays lower on his bike than other racers, and generally looks smoother because of his lower center of gravity. Plus the extra weight and small amount of wind drag from the Leatt aren't going to make anyone faster.

 Its only going to take one unfortunate crash from a world cup rider in a race until everyone is wearing them. Although he was riding dj's, i would have thought Dan Athertons crash would have been enough, yet riders like Gwin, Hart, Minaar and Bryceland continue to tempt fate as seen here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=au4Eygn5NUM

 @wesdadude, It would say that if it was worded differently and punctuation was there, but it is not there.
It is common practice in engineering to use the English language to your benefit, that is what us Engineers do.

 @protour, I literally never notice mine once I'm riding, it doesn't impede the normal amount of head movement you do while riding. If you were to try and do weird stuff like tilt my head or look straight down, then you would notice it, but if you're just riding normally, its like its not even there. Gwin's lower body position would still work just fine, its his moto helmet that would be the problem. And aero isn't super important in downhill anyway, otherwise everyone would be wearing super tight gear. It can't help, but theres tons of other things that need to be made aero first.

 I already acknowledged the aero difference was minor, but the real reason some pros don't use them is because at times they restrict movement and can feel uncomfortable, I've sensed it myself and heard others talking about it. Otherwise they would be using them, duh. It is most noticeable when you try to lift up your shoulders and lower your head, like when you are getting ready to pump the backside of a roller; the Leatt keeps you from lifting your shoulders up as much as you want to, which raises your center of gravity, feels uncomfortable, and slows you down. I like them, but if I was a top World Cup guy trying to win I might not wear one.

 So some people like it and some people don't. That's not the question were dealing with. Obviously they will restrict some movement, that's how it protects you. Aerodynamics is not really a big factor in the DH game at this point. The questionable point is that the brace is not effective. The point about the brace breaking on extreme impact to protect sternum and vial organs, can anyone vouge that the sternum is stronger than the neck, because if not the statement says that the brace will break to protect other things than your neck first? Saying that a Leatt saved someone in a crash is pretty irrelevant as you would not know the result without one. But is there any cases where someone has sustained a neck injury wearing one? If not that at least says something.

 Danny Harts wears one normally, then....
3.bp.blogspot.com/-m5FnyPpRPnw/TmflSoFErRI/AAAAAAAABtQ/ieyYbMPYPGk/s1600/UCI+MTB+World+Championships+DHI+2011+Champery+Switzerland+Danny+Hart+RUN.jpg
he was not wearing it for this run and spanked everyone!
The only other guy that stood a chance of getting hear him crashed, but until then, he was not wearing one.
Champery 2011
1st=No brace (normally wears one)
2nd=No brace
3rd=No brace
4th=No brace
5th=No brace
6th=No brace
7th=No brace
8th=No brace
9th=Brace, some 17 seconds down

 And your point is? thats some great data that you have come up with there, buuuuttttt its not really relevant....

We are talking about riding downhill here, not racing Formula One cars while trying to look at the stars. you don't need a whole heap of movement with your neck. and if you want to "get low on the bike" try bending your knees, back and elbows.

 I think it's relevant data, and revealing. Hart takes off his brace he was wearing all year and has his best race of the year! I wonder if he'll ever put it back on?

Bending your knees, back, and elbows get you low, but having the freedom to shrug your shoulders and get your head lower in some situations helps you get even lower, which lowers your center of gravity, which is faster. Game over, Leatt slower. But probably a good idea for most of us non-World Cup racers.

 Correlation=/=Causation... thats a very small sample you've taken, that most certainly doesn't tell the whole story. Your assumption that the Leatt brace is slower based on that is just plain ignorant. A proper scientific study would need to be done using a very large sample and many tests to come to a justifiable conclusion about this.

 At least someone still thinks on this site.. You can't compare different tracks race results and say that a piece of safety equipment was the determining factor, so many other elements. That said its all irrelevant because the question is does the brace work, not is it slower.

 As if you wouldn't put your neck brace back on because you had a good race without it. Just because you have had a good race and have won at the World Championships doesn't mean that you are instantly safe from injury. I promise you Danny Hart will put his neck brace back on. And the only reason that i can think of why Aaron Gwin doesn't wear one is because he has spent a large part of his life racing motocross which has much higher speeds than DH making him a lot less prone to crashing at high speed because it doesn't seem as fast. but either way i have a feeling he will be wearing one next season.

 Thanks swearmouth for your enlightening input, name calling is what I resort to in my job when I do not like the answer. For data, the champs is the only data available where sponsorship does not play a large roll. Danny Hart will have it back on, because all the sponsorship deals do not hold true for the championships so far as I am aware, but they do for the world cup rounds etc. where he is paid to wear it. Do you think Gee would ride Continental if he was not paid to....... scientific or not, he tried to get away with not using them as they are to prone to punctures, this year he had to ride them and punctured in 2 race runs! What if.....

 What I'm saying is that you've only taken one races results, and looked at only at the first 9 riders. To truly evaluate what effect it has you have to take a large, broad sample, and numerous trials. While world championships might be the only place where you can data irrelevant to sponsorships, the data you're getting is still highly inconclusive.

 I would not say that it is highly inconclusive, yes, if you wanted to look at the results of riders on tracks and how they performed against their peers when wearing and not wearing a neck brace, this would be a longer winded task. As you clearly think that looking at the top 9 riders and only pointing out who wore a brace and who did not, including stating a couple or riders that normally wear them, who it would appear have chosen not to wear the brace for this race as they are not obligated through sponsorship to do so. You should present a valid counter argument to this, not just a statement, but some statistics. Negative prop me if you wish Swearmouth, but being an Engineer I have presented you with information, you have drawn a conclusion, not me. I have simply presented facts. How many people do you see walking around with a brace on, with no helmet, this is dangerous according to Leatt.

 The results you have provided support your statement, but only sampling one race doesn't prove anything. I don't have a valid counter argument to this other than that I believe that leatt braces have a very minimal effect on performance, and have seen no studies suggesting otherwise. And you're right about not wearing it on its own, if you fall like that you can really mess yourself up.

 Yeea.. Cuz he totally doesn't love winning World Cups and everything..

 That's not what I meant at all, but feel free to interpret it that way anyway.

 It's almost as if he is so new to the sport that he doesn't quite feel completely a part of it, I also get that sense from him. Like he is almost looking at the sport from the outside, yet is also dominating it. I think he'll come around eventually and embrace it more.

 the less you care, the more you get. women are a perfect example - you treat them like dirt, you get pusseh, you behave all nice, you suck out.

 are you serious? I pity you. think about the people and the innovations that made our sport what it is today, I don't think MTB would be anywhere near this great like it is today if everybody involved wouldn't care about or would do it just because of the money. Just my opinion.

 you know what happened to race face or? just an example of "the less you care..." from my point of view

 You can't possibly be serious. No, he put in all this effort and took up the sport because he doesn't care at all about it..... Right.

 Think before you type brummaman, "it sounds to me" you might be a bit naive. And what does caring about MTB sport sound like anyway?

 You guys need to look at the amount of training he does in the gym and on the tracks and then seriously reconsider if he cares about the sport. Stop thinking that because a guy doesn't act like "oh yeah shit i'm like all stoked and shit and oh yeah, f*ck yeah riding yeah, hell yeah, WINNING OH SHIT!" that he doesn't care for the sport.

We all act differently towards the sport we love to do, some get all ape shit at the slightest of things and other's, like Gwin, act poised, having complete control over their emotions and their talent.

Gwin is a BOSS, and honestly I am very glad to see a guy like him on the WC circuit.

 I sorta get what burmmaman is saying... the reason he said why he went in DH is because is wasen't going far in mx, so to be on top of something, he had to find something new. I don't know if it's passion or just a desire to be a winner. Anyway, he does love it because like cyrix said, he would not put so much work in it, but not sure if he is passionate

 read the interview in dirt mag for example then you know what I mean. He keeps saying that it's nothing special for him, he doesn't know the history of DH and the big names and it sound to me if he doesn't mind. He also keeps saying that it's just mountainbiking to him and he could stop with it tomorrow and do something else and he wouldn't care at all. how does it sound to you?

 he doesn't really give a fuck about his lap times, all he cares about is to ride the best he can, and that happens to get him to the first place. you guys got me wrong.

 I read that interview in dirt too and got exactly the same impression as brummaman. Maybe it's just jealousy but it wasn't the best or most motivating feeling reading about how he just started dh cus mx wasn't going as well as he wanted. I doubt very much he would still be doing it if he wasn't so successful or if he'd had a more fruitful mx career. I think its much easier to support a rider whos been riding mtb for years and has a real passion for the sport that I love.

 DH MTB does not own him that he has to worship it like some poor souls do - he owns it, therefore he is able to have a clear head to think about the bigger picture.

 I dont understand how having a passion for what you do full time for a living would make you a poor soul

 He by no means owns downhill, no idea who told you that but its not true in the slightest. He could disappear off of the earth today and we would wonder where the hell he went, but the sport as a whole would hardly flinch. He was the top overall rider this year no question, but he's by no means unbeatable, and if anything he didn't do as well as the season progressed.

 Ok - So really the main problem I see here is with you lot is that you watch an interview about an all round, down to earth and good bloke who is also a kick arse DH racer, who at the moment is the fastest DH'er - and all you do is find the most pathetic excuse to put some dirt on him and bitch / get upset that he has other things in his life to look forward to. Things that don't so much involve DH racing. - Come on guys just get over it.

 i know there is gonna be some of you that disagree with me but i wanna share this anyways. If you are thinking that Aaron Gwin doesnt seem to care about mountain biking is because guess what he kind of doesnt. hear me out. Aaron Gwin full on loves the sport and he is so stoked to be doing what he is doing, i mean look at all the hard work and training he puts into it. However to be one of the best mountain bikers ever is not his goal, his goal is to spread the love of Jesus Christ. Through this awesome opportunity he has to race mountain bikes for a living he is portraying God through his life. You guys wonder why he is so calm and so chill to hang out with is because winning races and worrying about the little things in life are only temporary, he realizes there is more to life than worrying about what other people think or what places he comes in on races. Ofcourse he is competitive, of course he wants to win and throw down epic runs, but i guarantee you this,Gwin knows that there is more to this life than this, he serves a mighty mighty God. if you go to the last question of the interview Gwin backs up everything i say, I am so proud to see a man like Gwin succeed and be doing it for the glory of God. Amen

 wtf....man are you serious?

 Might be a bit of a bible basher comment, but airsoftesneeto is right - he is (along with Mick Hannah) a devout christian. There's an interview with the two of them on youtube somewhere. This would explain his calm and humble demeanor.

 www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKK6KcGneuc

here is an interview, its a long interview and im sure again you guys will disagree, but seriously here them out. you might get a different opinion on life

 "winning a world cup doesn't even come close to sometimes when i lead a bible study with my friends at home on thursday nights" Aaron Gwin

 are you f*cking kidding me? whats wrong with you? lol