Neck protection

Designed to minimize the risk of neck injury.

The first neck brace was designed by doctor Chris Leatt in 2003, also a rider himself. After losing a patient to a tragic motorcycle accident, he started researching a neck brace for motorcycle sports.

Dr. Leatt's research taught him that 60% of all fatal spinal injuries are neck injuries. Often the cause is the head coming into contact with the ground and the force of this sudden stop traveling through the body, especially to the neck.
In the beginning, Dr. Leatt partnered with KTM and BMW and hired a team of BioMedical Engineers to perform complex testing of neck braces. Using the same technology as major automotive companies use crash test dummies, but with 24 neck sensors to capture data, the team has developed test setups and methods that enable extensive internal testing and exploration of product performance. The team worked on a series of realistic scenarios similar to what you might encounter in a number of motorcycle, bicycle, kart, car racing and accidents in other sports to collect enough data to develop a product that helps the rider provides the best possible protection in different scenarios.

In our current market, other brands have followed the path set by the Leatt company and there are now a multitude of high-quality neck brace options on the market. Such as the BNS Tech 2 from Alpinestars.

Made from high-quality carbon, the Bionic Neck Support Tech 2 is designed to help prevent injury in a crash situation by dissipating impact forces and directing them away from the neck and spine. Featuring Alpinestars' exclusive and revolutionary progressive force relief (PFR) rear stabilizer, the BNS Tech 2 is designed for use in motocross and off-road riding and offers a highly personalized and stable fit while incorporating innovative new features such as a new lockout with quick release system.

HOW A NECK BRACE WORKS

The neck brace works in a number of different ways, primarily as a support collar around your neck that physically prevents the rider from bending their head and neck beyond a certain point in any direction. The helmet first comes into contact with the padded striking face of the helmet brim, which then transfers the force of impact through the neck brace to the padded load distribution areas located at the front and rear of the brace.

The front padded load distribution area transfers energy to the rider's pectoral muscles and the rear load distribution area transfers energy to the upper shoulder muscles on either side of the spine. The padding also helps to reduce some of the impact on the rider's head as the controlled impact transfer reduces rapid brain deceleration and helps prevent the severity of brain injuries.

FABLES
Since the advent of the neck brace, there have been a number of rumors suggesting that wearing a brace can cause other injuries, or that you can develop a spinal cord injury elsewhere.
MYTH #1 - THE THORACIC SUPPORT CAN INJURE YOUR SPINE LOWER ON YOUR BACK
The thoracic support of the Leatt brace has load distribution points that transfer force to the upper shoulder muscles and not to the spine itself. It is designed to break approximately 30 times more force than the pressure required to fracture vertebrae, so the chance of this brace causing this injury is minimal.
MYTH #2 - A BRACE CAN BREAK YOUR COLLARBONE

A very credible myth and in some cases plausible as a neck brace if improperly fitted can hit your collarbone during a crash, but a properly fitted brace will not sit anywhere near your collarbones as the brace is manufactured with collarbone relief areas to prevent contact with the prevent collarbones.
If you look at the data on injuries in sports, over 90% of collarbones break outwards, caused by an impact with an outstretched arm, a helmet edge coming into contact with the collarbone or landing on your shoulder which reduces this. The number of collarbones that break inward has not changed significantly, even since the introduction of the neck brace.

CASE STUDY
Action Sports EMS is an American ambulance service, specialized in action sports such as motocross, MTB and mountain climbing. Over the years she heard that there were many negative stories surrounding wearing a neck brace and they felt it was necessary for an independent investigation to be conducted. For 10 years they kept track of how many incidents there were with and without a neck brace. The results are impressive as you can see here for example! You can read the full report here .


MotoXshop sells neck braces from the beautiful brand Alpinestars. We are happy to provide you with more information and advise you on your purchase. We are also ready in the shop to help you adjust the brace to suit your body and chest protection.