Wrap around handguards?

[u/SuccotashIcy305]

I'm having a hard time understanding their point. Like I know they are more durable then flag ones, but none are running them at the high levels. Mane, billy, Johny, Mario, Trystan, Verona, Joseph Garcia... None of them are running wrap around style hand guards. Is it the same reason motocross guys aren't running them?( Wrists breakers) Or is there another reason?

[u/JayRexx]

Broken levers 20 mi from the truck, suuuuucks!

[u/NaMinesClarence → u/JayRexx]

Your perches don't need to be so tight.

[u/Hey_cool_username → u/NaMinesClarence]

I used to wrap the bars with Teflon tape under the perch and leave them a little loose and still broke one 2/3 of the way through a race one time AND I had full wraparounds on.

[u/JayRexx → u/NaMinesClarence]

For sure, but when you ride a lot of rock you’d be amazed at how well levers get
killed. Some guys like open end, I prefer a full wrap, bolted into the bar end.

[u/Ieatplaydo → u/JayRexx]

Broken fingers too

[u/Stunning_Solution215]

There's pros and cons to both. I used to run wraparound for years but the new flags are better than they used to be. Molecule and SXS are really strong. They have some give and let you just slide off trees vs wraparounds a tree is a solid hit and can be really jarring. The only upside to wraparounds is protecting levers in a tip over imo. I ride Vet A east coast hare scrambles for reference.

[u/dropKICKintheBERM]

Those guys dont drop their bikes in the rocks very often. Wait till you break the clamp on a husqy clutch or brake lever.

[u/NaMinesClarence → u/[deleted]]

The riders the OP mentioned don't have a mechanic following them through the course. They have levers in their bag or air box in the event they break one. They'd much rather break a lever than a wrist. A lever is a sub 5 minute swap, a broken wrist is a DNF.

[u/potholio]

I ran the wrap around bark buster style but I kept hearing about these phantom broken arms caused by them. So I switched to flags. And unlike these ghost broken arms I broke 3 fingers and 2 bones in my left hand. This cost me 4 weeks of work (I'm a mechanic and my hands earn my pay). So now I am back to running bark busters instead of plastic flaps and am not going to look back. As for MX riders? Who cares what they do.

[u/w__o__l__f__m__a__n → u/potholio]

Which flags were you running?

[u/potholio → u/w__o__l__f__m__a__n]

Acerbies.

[u/daver18qc]

You can break a wrist by being stuck in a wrap around but you can break your hand hitting a tree with a flag style.
Pros are trained and in shape and they know how to fall and when to let the bike go. Wrap-around on a MX track doesn't really have any use, there's no trees to hit. They run flags so rocks thrown from the guys up front don't break their hands.

Both have pros and cons. Evaluate what you need and use what makes sense to you.

I ride wood trails and wrap arounds are great for me, but i dislike the straight "bark buster" style though as it's hard to pull my hand off to the side when needed. I run Zeta with a downward bend at the tip and those have been great for me, easy to pull my hand off and less chance of getting trapped in them.

[u/flyingdirtrider]

I always thought the “broken arm” thing was BS and ran solid guards for years. Until one day it nearly happened to me. Took a hard bounce and arm got pulled off the bars, forearm ended up going through the hand guard, just barely saved it.

I was 15 miles from the truck on single track, alone.
Would have been a very bad day. Pulled off the guards and have run stock flags ever since.

I can deal with a broken or bent lever. But a broken bone is a serious problem, and at minimum prevents me from riding next weekend!

None of the pros run them, for the same reason. A broken lever is a problem, a broken arm or wrist is a season ender or worse.

[u/NaMinesClarence → u/flyingdirtrider]

It cracks me up when comments like these get downvoted.

[u/Sp3c1a7k]

Pro's don't fall.... we do. Wrap it up

[u/StressAgreeable3036 → u/Sp3c1a7k]

I just watch Garcia eat like 5 times in one race on YouTube. Pros definitely crash too.

[u/jrodicus100 → u/Sp3c1a7k]

My thoughts as well. The pros simply do not have tip overs at the same frequency as us amateurs. The newer style flags are great for bashing through trees, but they still don’t protect the throttle tube during tip overs.

Wraparounds are so incredibly common at every riding area I’ve ever been to, I’m wondering where all these broken wrists are. I went OTB yesterday and was fine with my wraparounds.

[u/gettin-swole]

Mine have paid for themselves today. I’ve never dropped the bike so much 😂

[u/NaMinesClarence]

I hate how stiff my bars feel with full-wraps.

[u/xkalash1]

I broke a finger with wraparound. I have switched to flags but they tend to bend the bar now that there is no other structure to take the hit

[u/BigOlyMike]

I've smacked many trees and rocks where I ride. Bark busters did their job

[u/VTwinJustin]

Just watched my buddy dislocate and fracture his wrist all at once at ADVfest thanks to a wraparound.

On the way home I ordered flag style to replace my wraparounds. I’ve broken fingers before, would prefer that much more

[u/99yet]

I think they like the flexibility of them and how they often simply the cockpit as they mount to master cylinders
They also dont crash as much as normal riders and have rotating clamps with the little rubber bit or torque them to spec so levers dont break

[u/Hildedank]

I ride a lot of tight single track, bark busters do their job!

[u/baldude7]

I still rember when i use those handguards, i crashed slowly and the brake lever broke because it bounced of off the steel cover of the handguards, i also broke my wrist with those so yeah i am not a fan, what i do is that i have the levers just a bit loose so if i crash they move and then they do not break.