Heya Dall,
You know my thoughts on pads, but thought I'd throw them up for others.
IXS Flow kneepads
Have a pair of the IXS Flow kneepads which I wore all through winter, and with the amount of falling off that I do, the pads protected the knees well. When pedaling a heap, they seem to annoy me in behind the knee, which appears to be a result of the strap position. They were generally comfy, didn't seem to overheat the knee area, but I did find myself continually adjusting straps and position during rides.
Overall a good pad, which could be finicky to get positioned correctly, and for me, needed readjustments during the ride. Direct impacts to the foam section were not felt by the knee, but the pads did have a tendency to shift during crashes.
7iDP Control Knee Pads
These were a massive gamble for me, as they are expensive (purchased 'locally' from Aussie online retailer), and the positive reviews all seemed to come from riders wearing Royal Racing clothing, and Royal Racing owns 7iDP - just a little conflict of interest. I read one amateur review who bought these pads hoping that they were the Holy Grail of pads that could be used for everything, and his experience had the inside of the pads rubbing at his knees like sandpaper. Anywho, me being a sucker for punishment, I purchased anyways.....
Initial impressions, were that the packaging was almost unbelievable (the $160 purchase price had to go somewhere), and that the pads were incredibly light. The hard shell looked awesome, and the side coverage was excellent. They weren't, and still aren't, the easiest pads to get on and off, and they don't seem that comfortable when just sitting around before starting riding.
However, once the riding begins I completely forget that I have these pads on. I don't think they breathe overly well, and I've been riding in +30 °C days, for over 2 hours. These pads become so unobtrusive that I keep forgetting to take them off, and then just drive home wearing them.
Protection is awesome. I bin it at least once every ride, and while the hard-cap has copped a flogging so far, the pads just keep on keeping on. Better still the pads have never moved in all of my crashes.
The biggest downside is that they are a real P.I.T.A. to remove, and if you've gashed up your shin, like I continually do, then the lack of flexibility in the pad can make for a delicate and painful removal.
Overall though, I can't speak highly enough of the 7iDP Control knee pads. Now if only the Control Elbow pads became 'unnoticed' when riding began.....