Edit: don't just take our word for it, see what others are saying here:
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At Chromag we simply want to produce things that the staff want to use, day in, day out, which is why we're very proud to announce the Rift. We saw an opportunity to produce a kneepad that ticked some boxes that we felt were currently left empty, and in partnering with the engineers at RHEON™ Labs we've managed to create a guard that we're extremely proud of, but most of all, keen to slip on whenever we head out for a ride.
The RHEON™ material is made from highly strain-rate sensitive polymers that stiffen momentarily while absorbing energy. These properties make this material ideal for a trail kneepad, which has some unique requirements. It must be comfy enough to pedal in all day, but provide significant protection for the way down.
This brief was simple enough to devise as that's exactly what we need on a Friday ride. We go on long pedals into the alpine, and then ride fairly technical trails on the way down. Cue: The Rift.
Utilising this material, and combining it with complex geometries that fold in on themselves when impacted, RHEON™ collaborated with us to develop a kneepad that feels great to pedal in but also provides a very high level of protection. It's almost an issue that the pad feels so good, as we need to calmly explain to people that it does in fact offer significant levels of protection.
Everyone knows knees are anatomically identical to papaya!
As with most Chromag products, a great deal of thought has gone into every aspect of the design, rarely is anything left to chance. The majority of the protection is located up front provided by RHEON™ and encased in an aramid skin to provide resistance to abrasions and tears. Additional lateral foam inserts keep the pad low-profile and allow for unrestricted movement, without bumping the cost sky high.
The RHEON™ insert is located on an airprene backing to provide structure (naming no names, we really don't like the pad-sewn-onto-a-sock style protection), and also moderate temperatures on those all day epics.
Some phones were harmed in the making of this video...
The calf gusset really works wonders in keeping the pad in place, especially combined with the generous silicone band around the top, and the upper stretch mesh which allows movement of your leg while keeping everything where it needs to be. We opted to ditch the silicone on the bottom as we've noticed on much of the competition's pads, this tends to encourage the pad to ride up rather than keep it in place.
The Rift comes in 5 sizes from XS to XL, is fully machine washable, even with the RHEON™ material installed. We've really enjoyed developing and using these over the last year, we hope you do too!
See below for the full list of features.
RHEON™ energy control, vs the competition.
