Wearing Helmets - (Picture included)
Discussion
Firstly: OUCH! Hope the wearer is ok?
However, i've never really understood any of the reasons people give for not wearing one?
1) They look funny: No, they don't. No one even notices you're wearing one these days. In fact, people are more likely to comment if you're NOT wearing one. I've seen people dressed in head to foot luminous lycra say "i look stupid in a helmet". Well, tbh, you look pretty bloody stupid even not in one!
2) The are hot: Are you sure cycling is for you? I mean, if you don't like sweating, probably best to just take the car eh?
3) They are heavy: seriously? do you have a neck? The last thing i would describe modern helmets as is "heavy"
4) They are expensive. Sure, whilst you can spend well over £100 on one, i've also seen perfectly good helmets in one line sales for around £10. Hardly expensive
5) I keep forgetting to put it on: Well you won't mind then when i forget to look where i'm going in my SUV and mow you down on your bike then will you. I mean't we're all forgetful eh!
6) In certain accidents they can make injuries worse: Whilst possibly true, those accidents make up a tiny proportion of all accidents. Overall, in general, you ARE safer wearing one.
It literally a no-brainer. Riding a bike, put a lid on! Simples!
However, i've never really understood any of the reasons people give for not wearing one?
1) They look funny: No, they don't. No one even notices you're wearing one these days. In fact, people are more likely to comment if you're NOT wearing one. I've seen people dressed in head to foot luminous lycra say "i look stupid in a helmet". Well, tbh, you look pretty bloody stupid even not in one!
2) The are hot: Are you sure cycling is for you? I mean, if you don't like sweating, probably best to just take the car eh?
3) They are heavy: seriously? do you have a neck? The last thing i would describe modern helmets as is "heavy"
4) They are expensive. Sure, whilst you can spend well over £100 on one, i've also seen perfectly good helmets in one line sales for around £10. Hardly expensive
5) I keep forgetting to put it on: Well you won't mind then when i forget to look where i'm going in my SUV and mow you down on your bike then will you. I mean't we're all forgetful eh!
6) In certain accidents they can make injuries worse: Whilst possibly true, those accidents make up a tiny proportion of all accidents. Overall, in general, you ARE safer wearing one.
It literally a no-brainer. Riding a bike, put a lid on! Simples!
BIANCO said:
They don’t know it saved his life, not saying it didn’t help but to say it saved is life is just speculation.
I'd say more educated guess or experience:: the anti-helmet side always wheel out the "just speculation" thing knowing it's difficult to prove (you can't repeat the accident, and even if you cold, who'd want to?!) The medics, doctors, however, see enough cases to see a trend, and generally that is that those without a lid tend to suffer worse injuries/more likely to die than those that don't. Personally i aways wear a brain bucket: I've played the head injury game, it's really not fun, and I don't want more any more years of being x-rayd. CT scanned, prodded and pinched thankyouverymuch!
Also being a motorbike rider, used to wearing one, it is the only legal requirement for one.
What I still struggle with on cycle helmets is crap design and maybe overall protection. Yes, they need to be light, although they shouldn't disintegrate in that way, there's plenty of materials available to do this with now. After all these years, they should have also perfected a better strapping system.
To push the game on, we need the motorbike helmet makers to get involved. Obviously whether you want to wear one is personal choice, like all things in life.
What I still struggle with on cycle helmets is crap design and maybe overall protection. Yes, they need to be light, although they shouldn't disintegrate in that way, there's plenty of materials available to do this with now. After all these years, they should have also perfected a better strapping system.
To push the game on, we need the motorbike helmet makers to get involved. Obviously whether you want to wear one is personal choice, like all things in life.
bigdom said:
Also being a motorbike rider, used to wearing one, it is the only legal requirement for one.
What I still struggle with on cycle helmets is crap design and maybe overall protection. Yes, they need to be light, although they shouldn't disintegrate in that way, there's plenty of materials available to do this with now. After all these years, they should have also perfected a better strapping system.
To push the game on, we need the motorbike helmet makers to get involved. Obviously whether you want to wear one is personal choice, like all things in life.
Not being argumentative at all: what's so bad about them? They're pretty good, all things considered: aero is getting better, weight is generally good, they offer lots of adjustment and venting is adequate.What I still struggle with on cycle helmets is crap design and maybe overall protection. Yes, they need to be light, although they shouldn't disintegrate in that way, there's plenty of materials available to do this with now. After all these years, they should have also perfected a better strapping system.
To push the game on, we need the motorbike helmet makers to get involved. Obviously whether you want to wear one is personal choice, like all things in life.
Max_Torque said:
5) I keep forgetting to put it on: Well you won't mind then when i forget to look where i'm going in my SUV and mow you down on your bike then will you. I mean't we're all forgetful eh
What the f
k is that supposed to mean? That because someone isn't wearing a helmet that makes you want to run them over to teach them a lesson? You sound like one of the self righteous dildos who asks a stranger on a bike why they're not wearing a helmet. I really don't understand this attitude people have where if someone hasn't got a bit of polestyrene strapped to their head like they have then it somehow offends them. What is it to you if a stranger is wearing one or not? thiscocks said:
Max_Torque said:
5) I keep forgetting to put it on: Well you won't mind then when i forget to look where i'm going in my SUV and mow you down on your bike then will you. I mean't we're all forgetful eh
What the fk is that supposed to mean? That because someone isn't wearing a helmet that makes you want to run them over to teach them a lesson? You sound like one of the self righteous dildos who asks a stranger on a bike why they're not wearing a helmet. I really don't understand this attitude people have where if someone hasn't got a bit of polestyrene strapped to their head like they have then it somehow offends them. What is it to you if a stranger is wearing one or not? Max_Torque said:
My point was that "forgetting to put one one" is NOT a reason to not wear a helmet, just as much as "forgetting to look where you are driving" is NOT a reason to mow down other road users!!
Ok, but given the thread title and obviously how pro saftey you are its a pretty tasteless analogy. Forgetting to put one on would be a reason for not wearing one, as would finding them hot and uncomfortable.
Comparing not wearing a helmet with running someone over in a car is just ridiculous.
BIANCO said:
They don’t know it saved his life, not saying it didn’t help but to say it saved is life is just speculation.
If he'd had a glass helmet and it smashed to pieces would people take pictures of it and say it's done its job. I'm not saying it hasn't done its job just that the image means nothing other than his head has taken a lot of force weather a hard piece of polysyrine has done anything to help that nobody knows I've got several helmets for various things and my road helmet looks the worst of them all to me.My snowboard helmet is fantastic it has constant contact around all of my head and the helmet itself is made of little balls that you can compress and I feel that in an impact it would evenly spread out the forces as your head sinks slightly into the soft liner.
My kayaking helmet is a similar setup but covers less of my head and is a bit harder due to it being waterproof so will protect against point impacts but do very little to reduce overall force I don't think.
My full face MTB helmet is both soft and by its nature covers my whole head and is in contact with my whole head all of the time so would do a prety good job I reckon both in spreading load and slowing deceleration
My road bike helmet is none of the above it is solid so transfers forces prety much directly and has a hard rim around most of the worse parts of your head as they don't come down far enough due to ventilation I'm not saying it's worse than not wearing one it jsut feels to me like it'd put forces that would otherwise hit higher up your head onto the soft bit above your ears and on the back of your head.
I have one but never wear it I just don't want to weather safer or not, I can see why people do and I'm happy to take my chances.
Max_Torque said:
5) I keep forgetting to put it on: Well you won't mind then when i forget to look where i'm going in my SUV and mow you down on your bike then will you. I mean't we're all forgetful eh!
Thats a little over dramatic and entirely unrelated unless I am missing something 
Surely a discussion is better rather than dismissing others opinions and being a drama queen?
Max_Torque said:
6) In certain accidents they can make injuries worse: Whilst possibly true, those accidents make up a tiny proportion of all accidents. Overall, in general, you ARE safer wearing one.
Whats wrong with freedom of choice?If someone chooses to wear one or not to wear one then thats up to them surely?
This site here had some interesting points http://www.cyclehelmets.org/1012.html
Max_Torque said:
It literally a no-brainer. Riding a bike, put a lid on! Simples!
But does that apply to all cyclists? If I say to you go on youtube and search for something like 'cycling in Utrecht' you'll get clips showing millions of ordinary people cycling normally in ordinary clothes (and not sweating either).I think there is a huge misunderstanding when people talk about cycling, because they fail to separate the different types - don't forget, it's legal to race (or time trial) cycles on the road, aand many do cycle at speed. I don't think there's any debate over cyclists involving speed, risk and off-road activities of course, the only area of debate is whether ordinary cyclists should wear them (which brings into the debate of whether all cyclists should wear helmets).
There is a problem with the helmet debate for all cyclists though, because it has been shown all over the world that helmet legislation - and indeed even the helmet debate in itself - has only led to one thing - a reduction in the numbers of cyclists, a reduction in the numbers of cautious cyclists, leaving the risk-taking cyclists on the roads thus creating a higher rate of accidents due to the issue of helmets.
I would prefer that the UK offered people a genuine alternative to the motor car, I would prefer that we had segregation for cyclists that they have in Europe, and if we continue to portray cycliong as a risky activity for which helmets and safety gear should be worn, then we'll move further away from the European position and not closer.
It's a slightly silly argument to be honest. We should encourage people to wear helmets as they do save lives, and the cases where they supposedly make accidents worse are mostly related to the old fabric covered helmets or people putting covers or lights on helmets (They cause the helmet to drag ont he ground and twist the neck). Ultimately however if someone does not want to wear a helmet the overall risk of death is lower from cycling without a helmet that not cycling at all.
I see no reason not to wear a helmet, but we are better off encouraging than bullying.
However, the straps and lining on most moderate priced cycle helmets is crap.
I see no reason not to wear a helmet, but we are better off encouraging than bullying.
anonymous said:
[redacted]
I would argue with that a little. All helmets sold in the UK will do the job. The protection difference between a £10 and a £200 helmet is likely to be little, if anything. What you do get is gains in weight, aero, cooling and style. IMO the sweet spot is £30-£40, beyond which you are in to diminishing returns, and I would rather a new helmet at £35 every 2-3 years than a £200 that I can't afford to replace.bigdom said:
Also being a motorbike rider, used to wearing one, it is the only legal requirement for one.
What I still struggle with on cycle helmets is crap design and maybe overall protection. Yes, they need to be light, although they shouldn't disintegrate in that way, there's plenty of materials available to do this with now. After all these years, they should have also perfected a better strapping system.
To push the game on, we need the motorbike helmet makers to get involved. Obviously whether you want to wear one is personal choice, like all things in life.
To some extent I agree, but bicycle helmets do a very different thing to motorbike helmets. They are to stop a single impact, at moderate speed, often against a solid object. As they fall disintegrate they take the energy out of the crash and you slow down quite fast. Most of what they are stopping is slowish bumps. Motorbike helmets are designed to take multiple bangs at high speed whilst going down the road. Lowside on a motorbike and you are likely to keep traveling with your head bumping on the road. Lowside on a bicycle and you are likely to come to a halt quite quickly after you bang your head on the initial impact.What I still struggle with on cycle helmets is crap design and maybe overall protection. Yes, they need to be light, although they shouldn't disintegrate in that way, there's plenty of materials available to do this with now. After all these years, they should have also perfected a better strapping system.
To push the game on, we need the motorbike helmet makers to get involved. Obviously whether you want to wear one is personal choice, like all things in life.
However, the straps and lining on most moderate priced cycle helmets is crap.
anonymous said:
[redacted]
It hasnt, its natural to assume that the newest shiny thing marketed as aero is making all the difference when you suddenly start riding better but I honestly think the marginal gains of an aero road helmet comapred to a regular road helmet will be so minimal to as not be noticeable. I'd say your new wheels, increasing fitness and the warmer weather is more of a factor. TT helmets are a different matter and some regular road helemts are actually better than the aero marketed helmets by virtue of the venting at the back.Have you shaved your legs yet? there could be 15 watts to be had there!
http://triathlon.competitor.com/2014/07/photos/sec...
Anyway, helmets, um, wear one, if you want, that is, its your choice, bad stuff happens, sometimes.
pablo said:
It hasnt, its natural to assume that the newest shiny thing marketed as aero is making all the difference when you suddenly start riding better but I honestly think the marginal gains of an aero road helmet comapred to a regular road helmet will be so minimal to as not be noticeable.
It's people like you that will ruin the bicycle and motorbike industry. Bringing facts and reality in to pop our well crafted bubble of belief we use to justify buying shiny toys!SteveSteveson said:
pablo said:
It hasnt, its natural to assume that the newest shiny thing marketed as aero is making all the difference when you suddenly start riding better but I honestly think the marginal gains of an aero road helmet comapred to a regular road helmet will be so minimal to as not be noticeable.
It's people like you that will ruin the bicycle and motorbike industry. Bringing facts and reality in to pop our well crafted bubble of belief we use to justify buying shiny toys!heebeegeetee said:
Max_Torque said:
It literally a no-brainer. Riding a bike, put a lid on! Simples!
But does that apply to all cyclists? If I say to you go on youtube and search for something like 'cycling in Utrecht' you'll get clips showing millions of ordinary people cycling normally in ordinary clothes (and not sweating either).I think there is a huge misunderstanding when people talk about cycling, because they fail to separate the different types - don't forget, it's legal to race (or time trial) cycles on the road, aand many do cycle at speed. I don't think there's any debate over cyclists involving speed, risk and off-road activities of course, the only area of debate is whether ordinary cyclists should wear them (which brings into the debate of whether all cyclists should wear helmets).
There is a problem with the helmet debate for all cyclists though, because it has been shown all over the world that helmet legislation - and indeed even the helmet debate in itself - has only led to one thing - a reduction in the numbers of cyclists, a reduction in the numbers of cautious cyclists, leaving the risk-taking cyclists on the roads thus creating a higher rate of accidents due to the issue of helmets.
I would prefer that the UK offered people a genuine alternative to the motor car, I would prefer that we had segregation for cyclists that they have in Europe, and if we continue to portray cycliong as a risky activity for which helmets and safety gear should be worn, then we'll move further away from the European position and not closer.
I don't wear one quite a bit when nipping to Richmond Park for a few laps or whatever, or going out for a spin in the evening. I have crashed twice in the last 4 or 5 years, and I race most weeks, so crashing isn't a common theme with me, one of those times I crashed and smashed the helmet, the other time I didn't. Meh, I have no opinions on anyone who choses to or not to.
I don't wear a seatbelt either really.
I don't wear a seatbelt either really.
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