I scored today. I'm back to riding after 20+ years, and have been hemming and hawing about helmets. $40+ for something I'm not sure I'll wear?

I was at a thrift store today and got a Specialized Chamiox(sp?) for $3....yeah. No cracks, doesn't look very worn at all. So at least now I'll give it a try.

"Thinks"? You have a very loose definition for the term. Calling ignorance what it is, is not hate.

I recently started wearing one, when I found one that is better what I've tried before. Today, I wore it for only half the ride. Too much humidity. I will probably drive until the weather changes, or until I get the next level of helmet upgrade.

Played a lot of pick-up football growing up and never had a head injury. When I got into the organized game, the helmet became a weapon. Got recruited to play some flag football and ended up with someones front teeth stuck in my forehead. What's the point? Helmets have thier place in protection, so don't cry when you get bonked without one. I think most people can make an inteligent choice about what they need.

Cycling without a helmet is better for you in the long run than driving everywhere.

Your peers -- as in, '...a jury of...," -- might appreciate the fact that you were wearing a helmet *regardless of its actual safety potential* because of their unwarranted beliefs...

How are you following up politically with this free publicity and providence-granted media coverage...?

The trouble is, most people are making their choice using bad or biased information, and/or they are making their choice for emotional reasons (fear, the need to fit in with the group) rahter than rational ones.

I think this is the bulk of why people wear helmets. Bad or biased information being rather secondary to this.

How does one overcome this very human tendency...?

A proper education perhaps? Helmet advocates prey on the basic human nature of succuming to fear and offer the "control" of a helmet to appease this fear.

Mikael Colville Andersen is one of the speakers at Velo City and he was interviewed on CBC radio.

Click on this link

http://www.cbc.ca/thecurrent/episode...ille-andersen/

then click on the listen to the audio button to hear how he describes the "primitive" debate North Americans are engaging in (re: helmets)

Ball's in your court, in Vancouver -- how are y'all capitalizing on recent media coverage regarding helmets to overthrow established MHL...?

I think the choice should be when you ride without one. It's not that big of a deal to strap it to your head. I don't ride my cruiser with a helmet. I don't ride a mup trail with my wife with a helmet. When I'm road riding with friends and do some speed on the hills, helmet's on. Helmets on MB riding.

Here' s the stance from one of our major dailies, cycling advocates aren't being honest (eg - they're lying)

http://www.theprovince.com/Cycling+a...532/story.html

I guess if you disagree, the differing viewpoint just has to be wrong, and you just have to be right.

Geez. I thought the conference was about learning about things you might not know about. Who's crazy enough to listen to the Dutch anyways? Just at look at what they're like....

Today was heat instead of humidity. I was wearing mine when I saw a cyclist lying on the road without one. His arms and legs appeared to be fine, but I don't know about his head. The police officer he was talking to could benefit from some exercise, but he's not likely to get on a bike today.

What is pathetic is that the anti helmet cult refuses to admit that if a helmet saves the life of even one person in a years time, they still are against helmet useage. Then there is the fact that helmets prevent untold smaller injuries, road rash etc.

TED talk with Mikael Colville-Anderson - "Why We Shouldn`t Bike with a Helmut"
 

What's pathetic is your trollerific insistance that there IS an anti-helmet cult, and all the related "beliefs" this non-existent cult supposedly has, all of which you have totally misrepresented and fabricated. :thumb:

You never seem to tire of thinking of reasons to wear a helmet related to your assumptions that other people (YOUR peers) are ignoramuses and the need to appease them.

I think whether or not you should wear a helmet is also very dependent on the type of danger you are exposed to. If you go for rides on sundays on paved bike roads when there is no one out there and you stroll at about 20 km/h then you can probably get away without a helmet.

If you sprint through city traffic at breakneck pace then you are probably better off with a helmet because chances are, you are going to crash at some point. Even if you do everything right, someone else may do something you did not see coming. Small spaces and opening car doors are always a problem.

I dont wear a helmet. Probably should though. One thing is that in this country, there is really no bicycle helmet culture. The only ones who wear them really are people with full gear on, spandex on racing bikes, and small children. That should not matter, but the truth is, it kind of does. Most people here do not even think about it. Helmets are for kids and racers, that is pretty much how it goes. Its not uncommon here for kids to cycle 10+ km to high school. Some of them do so at pretty decent speeds and through all sorts of traffic. None of them wear helmets. And by none, i mean not a single one that I have seen, ever. Luckily our infrastructure is geared more towards cyclists than perhaps any other country.

Its weird, becuase just across the border in Germany, i notice a LOT more people using helmets. Even though i do not think there is a requirement.

There's a reasonable approach to the matter, and there's a politically successful approach to the matter. Rarely do the two coincide...

Look! Here's a bike skills class being offered! http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...-Parsippany-NJ Bet they require helmet usage.

What's better: bike skills class with helmet usage mandatory or no bike skills training and no helmet usage...?

Many organized bicycling events require helmet usage due to insurance coverage requirements or other liability concerns.
(I could swear I've typed that before in this thread) :)

In other news...
Some hilarious captions on these photos, some helmet oriented:

http://buildsafe.tumblr.com/

Why not bike skills class along with an unbiased review of the available facts re. bicycle helmets, so that the individual can make his/her informed decision?

I wish more helmet manufacturers would start making high vis yellow helmets.

I see more and more people every day running safety green helmet covers around here.

Perhaps we'll see more helmets in the color in a couple of years. The whole red/black/white theme is really played out in the bike world.