Troy Lee Designs Speed elbow pads £49.99

These Troy Lee ‘elbow sleeves’ use a thin (4mm) section of flexible D3O padding to protect your elbow and most of your forearm from scuffs and scrapes. This is attached to a full-length sleeve, which stretches from your armpit to close to your wrist and has a breathable mesh panel at the back to stop things getting too clammy. In terms of comfort, there are few, if any, other pads that can touch the Speeds’ fit and feel. With no straps to worry about, security comes from the tight fit of the sleeve and the silicone gripper print on the inside of the upper opening. For the most part, this works. Only on particularly long, rough runs did we notice the top of the pads sliding down, though the sleeve kept the padding where it was needed. A good fit is critical with these pads, so try before buying – we ended up going a size smaller than usual. www.saddleback.co.uk