Ride Engine Taxi Knee Pad

The Ride Engine Taxi Knee Pad is a lightweight protective sleeve built for wing foilers who spend time kneeling on textured EVA deck pads. Produced by Ride Engine, a brand known across the kite and wing foil markets for harnesses and accessories, the Taxi sits in their accessory lineup as a streamlined knee-protection option. It uses an engineered woven elastic body with elastane-piped edges at the top and bottom to keep the pad anchored on the leg without bunching or sliding during transitions on the board.

The pad is designed to slip on over bare skin or fit underneath a wetsuit, giving riders flexibility in how they layer up depending on water temperature and session length. Its primary job is to act as a buffer between the rider's knee and the coarse grip texture of a foil board's deck pad, reducing abrasion and pressure during kneeling phases of a wing foil session.

• Construction: Engineered woven elastic with elastane-piped top and bottom edges
• Weight: 907 g (per pair)
• Available sizes: SM/MD (fits approximately 12.2–15.3 in knee circumference), LG/XL (fits approximately 15.7–21.6 in knee circumference)

The Taxi Knee Pad is aimed at wing foilers of any skill level who find that repeated kneeling on grippy deck pads causes skin irritation, wetsuit wear, or bruising. Beginners and intermediate riders tend to spend more time in kneeling positions while launching, recovering, and transitioning, making knee protection especially useful at those stages. However, even experienced foilers who ride in choppy conditions or practice new maneuvers will encounter frequent board contact.

Because the Taxi is a thin elastic sleeve rather than a bulky armored pad, it suits riders who want minimal added bulk. It works in warm-water sessions worn directly on the skin and equally well tucked under a wetsuit in cooler conditions, so it adapts across seasons and climates without requiring separate warm- and cold-water solutions.

Within Ride Engine's own catalog, the Taxi Knee Pad is the simpler and more affordable of two knee-protection options. The brand's Runway Kneepad sits above it, featuring ballistic knee-cap material, closed-cell impact-absorbing foam, and a full neoprene construction with articulated shaping and hex-texture grip zones. Where the Runway provides maximum cushioning and structural support, the Taxi takes a minimalist approach — lighter, thinner, and easier to pull on or layer under a suit.

For buyers comparing across brands, other wing-foil knee pads on the market include neoprene-based options from companies like Mystic and Dakine. The Taxi differentiates itself with its elastic woven construction rather than neoprene, which keeps it quick-drying and low-profile. Riders who want heavier impact protection may prefer the Runway or a padded neoprene alternative, while those prioritizing simplicity and packability will find the Taxi a practical choice.