Shiny isn’t always good, but is it always bad?
Written: Jan 17 '08 (Updated Jan 17 '08)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: High levels of comfort and protection
Cons: Might cause head pain when used improperly
The Bottom Line: These are excellent elbow pads. At about $65 a pair they are an excellent deal too.
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| puckmugger's Full Review: Nike Bauer Senior Elbow Pads Nike Bauer Supreme ON... |
ONE90
I don’t know what the name is about on Nike/Bauer’s new top of the line stuff. If you ask me Nike/Bauer has launched a campaign of confusion when it comes to naming their gear in the last few years. I mean pick a roman numeral from V to XXXX and they pretty much have a Vapor skate to match it. Let’s hope that the ONE90 is the start of a simpler and more elegant numbering system.
The skates have been decent, although they haven’t been without some issues. But what about the new crown jewel of the Nike/Bauer elbow pad line? Certainly a mere elbow pad doesn’t create the hype of a new skate. But these babies are pretty enough that you might want to play shirts and skins in pickup just to show them off.
Appearance
I don’t really like to spend too much time on the appearance of an item. If you can’t figure out if you like the way something looks or not, then you need the sort of help that I cannot really offer in ten minutes of writing. The elegance, or lack thereof, in a design is also pretty subjective. I’ve come to the conclusion that nothing really beats basic black for hockey, but some players still wear yellow gloves or purple pants.
The ONE90 elbow pads look like a top of the line piece of gear should though. Essentially they are a three color design – royal, silver and black. Nike/Bauer did a nice job of mixing textures. The back of the pad has a nice ribbed Vapor skate appearance, juxtaposed to a holy blue rubber slash guard. (By holy I’m not implying that it was blessed by a priest, I mean it has lots of holes in it.) Black mesh covers a couple of the blue sections—apparently fishnet is the new hockey look . . . and why not, we still wear stockings and sometimes garters.
I’m going out on a limb here, but I think it’s a great looking product. Of course elbow pads are typically worn under the jersey (that’s a hint for you, Weird-new-guy-who-wears-his-elbow-and-shin-pads-on-the-outside). The more important thing is that shin guards work well. And since this is an elbow pad review, even more important is that elbow pads work well.
Comfort
What can I say? I like to work my way up to the most important thing. Comfort is up there, but not wearing elbow pads is pretty comfortable right up until you’re in the hospital thinking, Why didn’t I wear my elbow pads? Thus, I’m going with safety first.
The ONE 90 is a three-strap elbow pad with the typical slash guard strap, bicep strap and elbow strap. However, the straps, while in the typical locations, aren’t typical straps. The slash guard strap is a poly-web strap. It doesn’t have any elastic to stretch. That might not sound comfortable, but it actually is very nice. Further, the lack of elastic means that this strap isn’t going to wear out in a year.
The middle strap is pretty cool too. It’s a Y shaped strap. The top of the Y attaches to the far ends on the outside of the elbow pad, under the slash guard and at the elbow. This one stretches, but again Nike/Bauer skipped elastic. Instead the strap is 2-layer polyester, likely Nike Dry Fit. Again, it’s going to outlast elastic and it is very comfortable.
The top strap appears to be made from neoprene with a terrycloth lining. (I cannot verify that it is neoprene without cutting it open, something that I’m not willing to do, sorry). However, it does have a limited amount of stretch. As before, this material is going to outlast elastic straps. More importantly, the terrycloth liner is superbly comfortable.
Twisting is often a problem with elbow pads. The ONE90 has five rubbery lines of gripping silver graphics opposite the slash guard to help minimize this issue for noodle-armed players. For most though, the deep, elbow-hugging design of these elbow pads will be plenty to keep them in line.
The lining is, as you might guess, Nike Dry Fit. I’m a big fan of Nike Dry Fit and do believe that it might be one of the most comfortable materials on the planet. So there’s no issue of comfort lacking there.
The articulation between the bicep protection and the elbow/forearm protection is sublime. Nike/Bauer did a commendable job making sure that the elbow pads both bend and twist without any issues.
In my informal surveys of players wearing these, the reports have come back pretty much unanimous that these are the most comfortable elbow pads they’ve ever owned. The lone dissenting player was distracted as I was sitting on him at center ice after a collision. His answer was, “Hey, get the @&*% off me!”
Protection
The ONE90 elbow pads offer good all around protection to go with a high level of comfort. Starting with the slash guard, it is both substantial and well padded. A very hard shell backed up with nice padding, it puts most slash guards to shame.
Inside the Flash Gordon shell of ballistic nylon and rubberized ONE90 logo, the plastic elbow cap extends almost the entire area of this segment of the elbow guards. The 20% or so that is without cap, does have a pretty solid 3/8-inch pad for backup. Protection is slanted toward the more exposed outside of the elbow.
Bicep protection is also good. Several reinforced sections on the outside of the elbow pad protect players adequately from that guy everyone refers to as, Sammy the Slasher. Hooks on the elbow will likely still find a tender spot, but I haven’t come across an elbow pad that covers that area.
The inner elbow has a nice doughnut to lock your pointy elbows in place. (I’m not insulting your elbows, mine are pointy and I work hard to keep them that way). Under the doughnut is a honeycomb layer with Nike Air protection built in. I’ve seen shin guard knee caps that didn’t have this much protection in them. (Again this is an elbow pad review, and that’s a lot of protection).
Lastly, in my informal survey, the guy that I took out at center ice did manage to do some extensive elbow pad testing on my helmet. I had a headache and his elbows were fine. To me it was a ringing endorsement . . . an ear ringing one.
Parting Thoughts
The ONE90 is a great elbow pad. It’s well made and should last quite a while. I’m glad to see that Nike/Bauer is keeping up the quality on the top of the Supreme line with these. The protection is excellent as well. It’s a pair of elbow pads that will serve most player well and long. Kudos Nike/Bauer.
© 2008 Scott Noble – All rights reserved. Unauthorized use prohibited.
You might also enjoy my book on hockey, Hockey for Weekend Warriors. Click here to read the reviews.
A few of my other reviews that you might find helpful:
Fitting and Selecting Hockey Protective Gear
Nike V-10 Elbow Pads
Nike V-14 Elbow Pads
RBK 8K Elbow Pads
Recommended:
Yes
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