Kneed fulfillment: Mobius X8 Offroading Knee Braces Reviewed

By Paul Fenn

Contributing Editor

I've been riding big dualsport bikes offroad since about 2010. I am part of a contingent of reasonably talented knuckleheads inclined to do this when there is no metal-eating salt or salty-slush on the roads we take to the trails.

We ride all year, in Canada, the US and beyond. I've ridden big bikes on everything from Class-A Ontario bog, to Arizona's saguaro-lined singletracks, to the mountain fire roads of Ojai, California, to the ancient fossilized sand dunes of Moab, Utah and the gorgeous dual-tracks in deepest Tuscany, Italy.

Why would a baseline idiot such as myself choose to court injury while coaxing a gigantic bike, like my current ride, the KTM 950 Super Enduro R, through such technically daunting terrain, you ask?

Offroading takes hold

I didn't set out to. But not long after buying my first big dualsport, a 2009 BMW F800GS, the curiosity-driven transformation started. I'd be lost somewhere, usually in a Pennsylvanian forest, see an alluring side-road or trail and need to know what was down it. This was not always possible with a largely street-equipped adventure bike like my 800GS. So as time went on I began to fit it out for offroading. Nine years, and one bike, later, it has blossomed into an un-tameable craving.

To take a 450lb (or much heavier, in the case of the F800GS) motorcycle offroad and ride the hard terrain with as much speed and recklessness as skill and courage allow, means unavoidable falls. Most happen at low speeds in mud, sand or water crossings. And usually they don't cause pain or injury.

Warning signs needed, heeded

But two things happened last season that made me finally consider knee braces seriously: Watching my friend take a fluke fall on a river crossing and land in a way that would have utterly nuked his right knee were it not for knee braces; and me having two wipeouts in which the same knee was well torqued twice in two weeks.

First one was during my ill-fated visit to KTM HQ last August. Second occurred while soloing on an easy road allowance between farmer's fields near Cobourg, ON. I caught a handlebar on some hanging wild grapevines, which initially pulled the bike to the right, until ripping the vines off their host tree, then the sudden release, sending bike and me careening left and into the rhubarb at about 50km/h. As well as tweaking my left knee again, that wipeout scared me sane.

It was time to invest in proper braces

By proper, I mean the type that stop your knee from moving in any direction other than that intended by the creator. There are lots of products on the market calling themselves knee braces, but many do not prevent lateral (sideways) bends, unwholesome twists or hyper-extension. Or they fit too poorly to stay put. These are mainly just hinged kneepads, and do not offer anything like the same protection of true knee braces. The most respected brands are Leatt, CTI, POD and Mobius. General rule of thumb is they're no damn good if they cost less than C$600/US$481.

Having seen a man go down rough and get saved by his Mobius X8 braces, I decided that was all the R&D I needed. They aren't cheap, retailing at C$799/US$641. Add to that Ontario's 13% HST, and I you're netting out at C$904/US$725. Ouch. I asked myself: "Do I really, truly require functioning knees? I may currently take them for granted but, yes, I think I do."

Insurance may cover it

For those with a benefits package through work or spouse, insurance may cover some or all of the purchase price. In my case, I convinced my wife to buy them for me for Xmas by bribing her with a five-hundred-dollar bottle of perfume, Portrait Of A Lady, as her present. It's the perfume to buy your wife if you really want something from her. In the end, I view it as a win-win, because I got my braces, two OK knees and a wife who keeps on smelling fantastic.

Dialed-in genius

The X8 comes in yellow/white or red/grey colour combos, is highly protective and quite comfortable. Its technology incorporates what the maker calls the Continuous Cable Routing System to form an adaptive mechanism of support and protection. The forged CNC-machined dial makes fit adjustments on the fly, even through moto pants, dirt-easy. Lined with plush EVA foam, a comfortable, impact-absorbing nest for the knee is created. It ships with two extra sets of patellar shell pads so you can achieve a precise fit. Fit is crucial, or you may not get full support when you crash.

For comfort, many riders sport a sexy pair of man leggings underneath the braces. Add another $40-50.

Add a pair of padded motocross undies and good MX boots and from the waist down you're protected about as well as humanly possible.

Here's a video from the company showing how the X8 goes on and fits properly:

Also have a look at this excellent video from the Aussie nutters at Cross Training Enduro. It covers the dodgy and the good, which brands to choose from, and how to select the right ones for you. (Note: the flaw with the Mobius braces mentioned in the video has since been corrected.)

Field testing to follow

I will follow this review with a ride report on the braces' long-term comfort and performance, if it ever stops snowing.

2020 Update:

I started using Mobius kneebraces two years ago but didn't get to test them properly till October 2019 when my 950 and I went to ground in the woods.

I'd been solo riding Ganaraska Forest trails for around three hours in light rain. Traction had been great, no dramas, when the rain began to intensify steadily till becoming a downpour during the final few minutes of the final leg. It'd been too warm for rain gear, so I was good and soaked. As I approached Bewdley, the halfway point where I planned to score a feed, turn around and do the same route in reverse, I came to a steep section of exposed smooth clay-like undersoil, the stuff that remains when topsoil erodes, on the last bit of trail above the culvert tunnel that goes under the highway and drops you in town. Except unlike normal clay, it wasn't sticky.

Though I'd ridden there a million times, I'd never done it in pissing rain, had no idea of the anti-traction trap that lay in wait, despite riding on a fresh pair of MotOz Tractionator 90/10 knobbies. The clay section was a kind of downhill steepish ridge with a very steep grassy drop-off to the left that ended in the highway ditch some 60 feet down, while on the right was a deep trail rut pocked with rocky unfriendlies. My plan was to ride the smooth higher ridge between the two.

I recall thinking, Hmm, this could be dodgy, better be ca--!

Boof! Down I went. No time to wrestle for control or try to cut a deal with the clay. Just, "Off, bitch!"

I land hard on my left side, the thigh taking the big hit. It hurts. I sit there saying, "Ow, ow, ow," for about half a minute, waiting on endorphins. The bike idles next to me, back wheel spinning, pointing uphill on its left side. I slide over to it, kill the ignition and mull the idea of standing.

A car pulls over on the highway shoulder and a Samaritan steps out, asking if I need help. I don't know the answer to that yet. But I thank and wave him off. He seems more worried by the sight of me than I am by being that sight, but I assure him I can manage. He reluctantly leaves.

I stand up slowly. Doable, but it's hurting deep down inside that left brace. Feels kinda funny, too. Have I snapped a femur or other big timber? Am I now bleeding out internally or externally? Should I call 911, or man up, right the beast and continue? If I were hemorrhaging, surely I'd feel dizzy or something, right? I opt for the latter.

I am able to stand, and try to rotate the big bike to point back downhill, but the 450lb beast ain't budging. Hmm, what to do now? I try a few different things, but am sapped of normal strength. The path of least resistance is to slide the bike down the gully to the ditch below, then ride out, away from the tunnel I was originally going to take. The grass is long and thick, catching on pegs and things. Poison ivy mixed in there, too. Great.

I'm able to wiggle it off the ridge and slowly down the slope, then sit on it and slide the wheels carefully all the way down, a little at a time. Now I'm in the ditch. I start the engine, pop into first and ride. Shit, bars are knocked out of alignment. I get to a break in the guardrail where I can access the highway and use the end of the rail to bash the wheel and bars back into something like aligned. 

I swing onto the highway. Clay flies off tires, traction's minimal. It's still pissing, but letting up some. I don't want to eat any more. I want to go to bed with a big whiskey, a painkiller and a warm wife. I can be home in under 90min if I take pavement. That becomes the plan. I remember I have Oxycontin in my Camelbak for just such an occasion. I pull over, fish it and my rain gear out, pop two pills, chase 'em with water and beeline it to Toronto.

In 10 minutes the opioids are doing great work. I crank up the earbud volume and power on. Lucky me, no traffic all the way. I pull up to my garage, legs covered in mud, a bit high, soaking wet, but warm. It's hard to get off the bike, but I manage. I crack a beer from the garage fridge and begin removing my gear. Leg pain is now a happening thing. I sit, slide off the left kneebrace, roll down the leotard and conduct a left leg survey. Looks fine. No lumps or bumps or discolourations. Nothing hurts to the touch. The pain is inside. I stand up on it, expecting the femur to fold in two when weighted. Nope. I'm fine. I bounce on it. Solid.

Within a few days, the pain is minimal, but the bruise that forms is large and migrates all over the thigh and knee. The fall has really torqued the leg, but the brace has done its job and distributed the shock load evenly through it, causing only minimal, manageable trauma. I was off-roading again by the next weekend.

Praise the lords of ATTGATT. And well done, Mobius.

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