In the old days, knee pads were so uncomfortable that you’d take them off when you’d got to the bottom of the hill, which was also the reason for open pads that you could remove without taking off your shoes. Nowadays you don’t need to worry about that because the best knee pads for mountain biking include a load of pull-on knee pads that you can ride in all day without getting hot or sore.

Endura’s new Singletrack Lite is one of several offered by the Scottish company. It has a lightweight Lycra body, highly breathable mesh back and two wide elasticated straps top and bottom. It’s not as shaped as some, but it’s dead easy to pull only and fits snugly, even round my bony knees.

Protection is provided by a PU foam insert that’s perforated for breathability, some small lateral padding and a scuff resistant cover, which is loose fitting, so it should slide along the dirt to stop tearing. The PU foam keeps the cost down, but also is a bit more tolerant when you wash it – smart inserts like Sas-Tec and D3O can actually stop working if you wash them at too high a temperature.

To keep the pad in place, both elasticated bands feature internal strips of silicone gripper. Usually I’m not a fan, because these can pull on leg hairs and quite often leave a red mark. The Endura gripper is surprisingly comfortable though, and even riding during a heatwave I didn’t notice any discomfort or redness.

The downside of any lightweight knee pad is that it offers only limited protection. To be fair, that’s the compromise you have to make with a lightweight design – you balance protection against comfort. The relatively thin kneecap inside the Singletrack Lite Knee Pads II isn’t going to save you if you really smash into an immovable object, but overall, it offers good scuff protection.