prathmann

Neither have I, but I've picked up several that were left by the side of a road or trail. Maybe that's because not many people ride their bicycles in the ocean.

mr_bill

Pics or it didn't happen. (Who the F leaves a helmet on the side of a road?)

-mr. bill

FBinNY 

Among others --- ambulance drivers

LesterOfPuppets

They're bad for the environment whether you dump them on the side of the road or in your city's landfill. Just manufacturing them is bad for the environment.

For the approx 10 years I wore a helmet for every ride a helmet was only good for 9 months to a year. Now that I only wear them for races and other special occasions, they're good for 5 years or so.

larry_llama

Thank you rydabent for continually bringing this conversation back to the same spot it was last year, last decade, last century.

There's something comforting about coming to this thread once every year or two and seeing the exact same half dozen regulars making the exact same arguments. Hello again, old friends.

rydabent

larry

And yes my point is still well taken. It seems that so far no one against helmets HAVE posted a reasoned, well thot out, logical, common sense reason for not wearing a helmet. All we are ever presented with is "feelings" and a snow storm of so called research that is not borne out in the real world. People that have been in slow speed accidents with cars, like myself, are immediately put down as not being relevant, since we dont fit into the anti helmet crowds opinion.

wphamilton

1. It's annoying

2. Makes your head sweat

3. You have to keep up with it at your destination

4. You might not want to present the "cyclist" image everywhere you go

5. Where it's not required, it's no one else's business.

6. (tongue in cheek, for me anyway) Don't forget the extra weight and aerodynamic penalty!

mconlonx

Plenty of people have posted reasoned, well thought out, logical, common sense reasons for not wearing helmets.

That you don't see it that way is telling...

prathmann

My guess is that the most common cause is setting the helmet on top of the car when loading the bike on the rack and then forgetting about it and driving off. The ones I've seen on the road side were rather flattened after being run over by other vehicles so I hope they weren't being worn at the time.

rydabent

wpham

In my case I do not find it annoying at all. Once put on it is totally forgotten about

Actually my white helmet with its vents, and keeping the sun off makes it seem cooler to me.

At a destination your bike is far bigger than a helmet.

Golly---it would worry the hell out of me to be thot of as a cyclist!!!!!!!

I will give you # 5

And lastly since I sit up right on my bents, the wight is not noticeable, and the aero advantage on my bent is far greater than what a helmet subtracts.

wphamilton

Well you asked for logical reasons - I wasn't suggesting that any of them necessarily applied to you personally.

I'm curious though, do you leave your helmet on your bike when you get to wherever you're going? I get that from "the bike is bigger", and I would also but ... sitting in the sun tends to destroy the helmet so you've got to carry it around.

JoeyBike

Goes with the territory. If convenient for me I bring it inside (like tossing it in my grocery cart) and when not convenient I just lock it to my bike outside (like going to get a yearly physical exam or jury duty). I replace my helmet when the inner pads wear out, which is about once every 18 months if I am riding a lot.

Just part of doing the business of life. Dental exam, eye exam, replace helmet, lube chain, air in tires, etc.

rydabent

wpham

Ninety five percent of my riding starts and stops at home. When riding in cycling events, I tend to just keep my helmet on. I dont have a problem with being identified as a cyclist. A helmet is NOT the burden some make it out to be. What is the difference wether you are wearing a cap or your helmet?

JoeyBike

That has been my argument from the start. My helmet is just a hat that MIGHT have some benefit in a crash. It straps to my head so it doesn't blow off, has cooling vents, a visor, and my mirror (which ABSOLUTELY has saved my life).

Some people just don't like hats at all for a number of reasons. So why burden them if they don't want a hat? Your argument works both ways.

Q: "What is the difference whether you are wearing a cap or a helmet?"

A: "No difference. I hate wearing hats."

I-Like-To-Bike

Hmmmm... safety product intended for outdoor use that gets destroyed by the sun yet gives no visual evidence of that destruction or degree of deterioration, nor any warning that it can no longer provide 100% of its "protective powers."

Has any helmet manufacturer ever provided any indication of when the helmet has deteriorated to 90% of its effectiveness or 80% or 10%? I have heard suggestions that helmets should be replaced after 3 or 5 years but are they really still "good" at 2.5 or 4.5 years?

italktocats

"i dont want one"


what more logical reason for not using something would you require?


i dont go out and murder people just because the law says i cant; i dont murder because i dont want to, what more reason would i need to not to something?

ive been in many accidents, in many different situations, in many different sports, yet im not wearing a helmet on my bike, so i should say your 'logical reasoning for not fitting with the anti-crowd' isnt that logical at all?

if i would want you to stop wearing it, would you? then why would someone else start wearing one because you want it?

mr_bill

Open your eyes. Look at the helmet. Has its appearance changed?

Does it appear to have uneven or bubbly surfaces?
No. It is not heat damaged.
Yes. It's heat damaged.

Either way. Use the helmet. Don't use the helmet. Hell if I'm going to recommend what you should do with a helmet, heat damaged or not. Oh, it's generally considered polite to ask the owner's permission first. But you are free not to too. Your choice.

-mr. bill

wphamilton

Well I assumed that it still retained its magical powers even with the plastic twisted and bubbled. After all, I'm still here and 100% after several involuntary dismounts with that same helmet, which has otherwise been abused so the magical protective powers must have been still operational. Right? And why should sunlight degrade mystical properties?

No, it's the aesthetic value that is destroyed. If I'm carrying around a helmet mainly for show, one that looks like I dragged it out of the dumpster is counter-purpose. But still, I'm open minded enough to understand how someone who is relying on his helmet to prevent head injuries would be wary of one twisted up by direct sunlight.

mr_bill

RTFM.

-mr. bill

ZmanKC

Why it makes sense to bike without a helmet

Another opinion for not wearing a helmet.

I-Like-To-Bike

Is that what the "manual" says: a helmet is always just as effective/ineffective either way for head protection, whether it is "heat damaged" or not?

mconlonx

The author misses with some common, uninformed bare-header misconceptions, but on the whole, it's a decent, reasoned summary for not wearing a helmet.

I-Like-To-Bike

The writer misses Big Time with his accepting as gospel the conclusions of infamous Thopmpson-Riveria study. "According to a 1989 study in the New England Journal of Medicine, riders with helmets had an 85% reduction in their risk of head injury and an 88% reduction in their risk of brain injury. That's an overwhelming number that's backed up study after study."

Yes that is an overwhelming number that had to be retracted by the study's authors as being inflated, AND has NOT been backed up by "study after study." The study is notorious for its tiny non-random sample selections as well as comparisons of very dissimilar populations of cyclists.

Short critique of this study:
https://www.cyclecraft.co.uk/digest/seattle.html

Longer critique:
https://www.cyclehelmets.org/1068.html

wphamilton

The manual that came with mine was just a slip of paper with 4-pt font that said "non-machine washable" or something stupid like that.

But now that I have a 5 year old sun-boiled helmet with the plastic falling off, maybe I'll try to recreate the impact test and compare it to the standards. I'd tend to believe that before believing a vendor's "manual" instructing me to buy new helmets periodically.

prathmann

There's only one test I've ever seen reported on older helmets. It's at the BHSI website - they took a well-used and sun-yellowed Bell Biker helmet that was over 10 years old and sent it off to Snell for testing. The results were that it did just as well as new Bell Bikers had originally.

I still have my Bell Biker but usually use a newer Bell model that's only 22 years old. It's still 100% effective in its primary function - to avoid complaints on club rides that have a mandatory helmet requirement.