Shin guards are pretty simple things when it comes down to it. They sit on the front of your leg, and hopefully provide enough protection in the event of something unpleasant happening. Other then that, they don't have much use, other then of course telling random people you ride by how extreme you are.

Still, its amazing how many shinguards fail at this relatively simple calling. Some slide, some are too short, some break, some just suck in ways unconceivable by the common man. A good shinguard is indeed a rare thing to find. So, when we got a chance to beat on a pair of Mace's new T-II leg guards, we were pretty keen to see how they'd do.

Technical gibberish first. The Mace guards are pretty fancy. Modeled in Cad (ooh), they are a proprietary design (ie, not sources out of a Taiwanese catalog), and then injection molded. They got a big old cup for your knobby knees, generous padding and a decent strap system to keep it all in place. A nice touch is the padding inside is raised a bit to increase air flow and stop you from sweating to death. The knee bit also has a Coolmax liner, which further helps things out in the ventilation area.

The plastic bit on the front is solid. The combination of hard shell and ample padding do a great job of dispersing hits. Blunt hits are easily handled, and anything short of a spear is deflected nicely.

Funny how my wish for sizing has come back and bit me squarely on the bum. As I am a bit tall, I usually have a problem with shinguards being too short. For example, Dainese guards are more appropriately sized for my junk then my legs, as I only get about half a leg coverage. (hehe, ahhh yeah.) With the Mace, its the opposite. The guards were extremely generous in their coverage, almost too much honestly. Make sure you try them on for fit before you buy.

In use, the guards are pretty much exactly what you'd want. The guards themselves are very comfortable, and don't move much at all. There is slight movement, but for the most part they are pretty solid. The strap system is a bit complicated, and takes a bit to get used to. I have to say, the instructions are fairly useless, at least to me personally. The fact that most of the straps are double sided further adds to the confusion, as things just aren't that simple to see. I figured it out through trial and error, and lived happily ever after. Make sure you keep the straps overlapping each other cleanly though, as they are fairly sharp-edged and can be one hell of an irritant and can cut your legs if left to rub long enough. Of course, this is true of most straps, but still something to note. The raised padding keeps sweat under control too, which is especially refreshing after using 661 4x4s.

As mentioned, Mace is extremely generous with the amount of material given. Even at 6'3, the larges were slightly too long for me, and resulted in rubbing on the top of my foot. Not too bad in small doses, but a day at the hill resulted in some light bleeding. Again, try them on before you buy. Kudos to Mace for being the first company to give too much though, wish that problem happened with other companies.

At about $100 bucks, the Mace guards are expensive, but they are a high quality product too. Personally, I have yet to see anybody selling them for that much, so they are considerably more of a value when compared with what stores are actually selling them for. As it is, they sit right in line with the best from RaceFace, 661 and all the rest, and deservedly so. The Mace T-II guards are a great investment, and will protect your spindly bow legs for quite a while.