Kali Protectives MTB Products

Kali: the Hindu goddess of chaos, destruction, and rebirth.

Kali Protectives forges together various backgrounds including...F-18 fighter jets. B-12 stealth bombers. Carbon fiber. Composites. Helmet designers. A motocross pedigree. Experience with Scott USA, Salomon and some bicycle company called Specialized. Sports marketing experience. Athlete team management. Over 60 years of collective industry experience. If that's not enough, they sponsor grass roots athletes too.

If you wear Kali's MTB gear will it result in chaos and destruction, or rebirth? This rider is pretty stoked on it. Read on for the details,I first heard about Kali products from Rob Cochrane of Sun Country Cycle, Vernon, BC, Canada. Rob first met Kali Protective's Brad Waldron at Crankworx 2009 and he came back to town raving about the new Kali gear he had seen. It was Rob who explained to me the technology behind the equipment. Body armour and protection is a common sense thing. I've got a fair bit of that, despite the fact that I regularly like to haul my ass as fast as I can down fast, steep, sketchy DH trails.

How high tech is the gear? Let's just mention F-18 fighter jets. B-12 stealth bombers. Carbon fibre. Composites. Helmet designers. A motocross pedigree. Experience with Scott USA, Salomon and some bicycle company called Specialized. Sports marketing experience, athlete team management, and over 60 years of collective industry experience. And if that's not enough, they sponsor grass roots athletes too. People like me, regular grassroots riders who totally believe in the brand, and far more deserving riders such as Bobby McMullen, the inspiring blind DH rider who you've probably read about, and high profile riders such as Mike Metzger and Josh Bender. Keeping it real at the grassroots level, while getting closer to their customers and retailers at events such as Crankworx.

Enough about the company, I'm a rider, so let's see what the gear's all about. I've been testing out the Sarpa Level 2 protection for a few months. From the back, it looks like this:


Firstly, it's a suit. It's not a lightweight product made of netting. It protects the important various vital organs, bony things, and bodily gristly stuff that enables you to move around and basically function as a human being. Tailbone and spine protection. Kidney protection. A belt that will protect your guts from bar and stem digs, branches, and potential spearing by random sharp stuff. Solid rib and chest protection. It's all there.

What I can say so far after four months of use is the comfort and fit has been first class. When I first picked the unit up it definitely felt heavier than most MTB body armour. But when you manhandle it you realize the high quality and finish, and you can understand why there is an increased level of protection on offer.

A little bit of time spent adjusting the straps and I was feeling right at home from day one. With a jersey over the top of it, fellow riders were surprised that I had such substantial protection underneath. There's no bulky feel, other than sort of consciously knowing that the spine protection is right there where it needs to be - you know that you're going to be fully protected from a crazy scorpion move, in which case the armour will prevent any spinal extension. It gives a sense of confidence. Movement on the bike is completely unrestricted and you can just get on with your riding. One thing I like is that the shoulder caps seem to "invisibly" rotate depending on position - so that whatever position on the bike, if you were to crash and take a shoulder-first impact you stand more chance of the cap protecting you from injury. And you don't even notice the cap movement, so it's not an irritation or discomfort. I'm not sure if the rotation of the cap is by design, but I really like it.

When it gets hot, and it gets really hot up here in the Central Okanagan region of British Columbia hitting 35-40 degrees at peak of summer, I'd be more than happy to wear it over top of a vest or thin t-shirt. It would be a real shame to not show off the carbon shoulder caps and other features. On the downside, I'm not currently sure how the white trim will stand up to a long dusty summer of 20 days of bike park riding at Silver Star, Sun Peaks and Whistler so I am checking this out as the weather heats up.

A couple weeks ago I took my first mid-speed crash. I rode the small bike and came off some rocks to flat only for the front to lock up on me when I hit some minor stubborn rock hidden in the grass (not enough front fork rebound to save my ass). I took a mid speed tumble over the bars. My bars turned sideways and I didn't. My guts went straight into the bar end, head-on (or would that be guts-on). Normally that's be a fairly grizzly outcome, and a bit of a belly bruiser. Not when wearing the Sarpa 2. I can't tell you if it was the very well padded rib protection that saved me or the area where the kidney belt doubles over. But whatever saved me, I didn't even feel a thing and just got up and carried on riding with a smile on my face. One notch on the Sarpa 2 pole.

I recently got hold of two new Mantra helmets. Here's one:



When loosened off, the visor moves like some strange mechanical thing, moving fluidly with absolute precision. The visor screws look like a couple of gold coins embedded on the side of the red and black “wheels” design, finishing off an attention to detail. The finish on the glossy helmets is deep and lush and vibrant.

Let’s talk about fit. I’m a 59cm size, and the sizing increment goes from 59-60 cm with more sizes available than most other helmet manufacturers. That’s a small increase per sizing, so there's more chance of a comfortable fit. Before ordering, I measured my head with a tape measure, and on arrival, the helmet fit perfectly. No packing out the lid with floppy bits of material or adhesive strips. That’s the basics covered. Let’s talk about practicality.

For mountain biking use, there’s a nice touch with a D-clasp and a well thought through longer than normal length of chin strap, meaning you don’t have to undo the clasp if you want to stop for a breather and get some fresh air. Just loosen off, and pull the lid over your head. That’s a big advantage instead of having to take your gloves of and fiddle around. For practicality, the visor actually detaches at the back, using a small lock-in panel which means if you drop the lid from a reasonable height or have a minor face-first crash, the visor will most likely detach and avoid damage, reducing costly and inconvenient replacements. The one time this happened to me, it did detach, with no damage.

Horizontal and vertical vision is really good with no vertical obstruction from the visor even when in heads-down-balls-for-glory-mode. And very clear unobstructed peripheral vision. I ride with Oakley Crowbar goggles, which sit a little bit too far inside the opening for my liking, but it doesn’t seem to cause a major problem.

There’s not a lot of venting, but you should be knowingly compromising on that by choosing to run a DOT approved helmet and the increased protection which comes from that. The mouth venting is less than some helmets I’ve seen. There are two round vents under the visor, and two vents on the sides near the back. I’ve found a little bit more fogging than usual, but that’s when riding in a colder, damp weather environment and at temperatures of below or just above freezing. Since the weather has warmed up, I can report no problems in that respect.

If you’re a serious downhill rider that hits consistent high speed/high risk bike park runs or fast local trails and risks unwanted physical interaction with trees and rocks, I’d recommend a DOT helmet for serious consideration. Protection is DOT (FMVSS 218 ), ECE22.05.

Here's the other Mantra:



A buddy just picked up the Avatar helmet, at 849 grams it's impressively light. It's well vented too. We're talking attention to detail too. One side of the helmet visor fastener is in gold, the other is red, to match the artwork. This helmet is a better option for when it gets hot. Protection is EN 1078, CPSC.


I'm really looking forward to getting hold of a Carbon Prana DH helmet in a few weeks time. This is the big one. The Composite Fusion™ PLUS technology allows for energy caused by impact to be transferred sideways, not into that cranium of yours. It incorporates EPS foam as an integral part of the shell. EPS foam is formed inside the exterior shell and not in a separate mold (meaning NO SEPARATION in creation). The introduction of Composite Fusion™ PLUS is the next progression of this revolutionary process, incorporating unique pyramids of different foam densities within the EPS/Shell connection. That's where Kali's technological innovation comes into effect. If you like awards and schnazz, Kali won the "Incredibly Light Helmet Technology" category at the 2010 Kickstart Awards in San Jose. And at 1150 grams for full DOT protection, that's a manageable weight. Protection is DOT (FMVSS 218 ), ECE22.05.


I've also had time riding Kali's Aazis "soft kneepad". They say "soft" but as usual it's understated. If you compare them to other pads, the knee pad itself is harder.

I've run them for three months and the Aazis have been very comfortable, and something that I personally like is that they are a little longer than other pads. I've found them to be easy to wear for seven straight hours due to the many small breathable holes in the material, and for a large size, given the fact that I have ape legs a bit like Nathan Rennie, I could probably handle a medium size instead of a large. Pricing is comparable to anything on the market.

Here's a photo of the Aazis pads in action on a trail near Kamloops, BC:



I've also been testing out the Kali full size gear bag. For a rider like me who travels a fair bit, visits resorts and goes on many road trips, it's perfect. Each end has a large double zipped pocket big enough to fit a pair of Five Ten High Impact boots, or a full face helmet. The side zipper can hold all sorts of things like multiple pairs of gloves and spares, goggles, spare lenses, cleaning wipes etc. The main section holds all my pads, body armour, and as much spare gear as I want to carry. Jeans, t-shirt, and hoody, jerseys, and whatever else. No need to cram.

The bag includes grab handles, D-ring/key ring holder, and is made from material that's easy to wipe down at the end of the day. Meaning you can chuck it in the back of buddy's truck with old tubes, oily rags, McDonalds wrappers, beer bottles, and whatever else and it won't get beaten up. And to top it off it's on wheels. With high quality, very durable plastic corners to avoid wear.


They also make some rather cool decals too:



Kali Protectives MTB products info
Kali Protectives sponsored riders page
Contact Kali Protectives via uncontrollable@kaliprotectives.com

Disclaimer: Gnarbar (Rich Deakin) is proudly sponsored by Kali Protectives, Kelowna Cycle, Elka Suspension grassroots program, and rides Intense Cycles exclusively.

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Reviews and Tech First Looks Kali Protectives