Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - Am I the only person who rides fixed gear and wears a helmet?

Instead of what appears to be a beanie hat with the brim tilted to one side.

I wear a beanie hat with the brim tilted to one side AND a helmet. Double the protection.

I sometimes wear a helmet even when I'm not riding.

I'm usually drinking pretty heavily at those times.

no
helmets are SMRT

Apparently not.

http://www.kangarooconnection.com/image14JoeyClownBike.gif

lately i haven't been wearing a helmet, and i feel stupid for it. my cycling cap just breathes so much better in the heat.

i wear my "beanie-hat" with the brim straight and down. that way it keeps sun, rain, and sweat out of my eyes and still allows me to see. i think that's the intended purpose.

I wear a helmet, sometimes. I've been fortunate enought to have been wearing it two of the three times I've been hit by a car. The third time was a doosie, and I wasn't wearing a helmet. I had to send my bike to Joe Bell to get the frame realigned.

I wear my helmet if I'm having a bad day, and when I'm kitted up in my super hero costume for a road ride.

I wear a helmet unless i'm just tooling around or taking a quick ride over to a friend's place.

I'm new to the always wear a helmet crowd. I always grab it for the short rides because those are the ones I'm the most careless on.

if i know I'm going to be riding all over town [ala saturday afternoon] then yes, I generally do wear a helmet.

if I'm riding to the store [7 blocks], my local bikeshop [4 blocks], coffee shop [5 blocks] or other super close destinations I rarely ever wear it.

however, if it's rush hour I try to wear it regardless of the length of the trip.

honestly though? it's been so warm that wearing it is a real drag and I've been leaving it home more than I should.

If I'm not wearing a helmet, then yes, I do wear a "beanie with a sideways cap". cycling caps are really well designed for their purpose.

I have a Giro Atmos (flat black). It's the only helmet that I like the looks of, so I payed way too much for it. This insures that I wear it all the freakin' time. It bugs my wife when I wear it to bed.

Instead of what appears to be a beanie hat with the brim tilted to one side.

uhm beanies are stupid helmets are not

i wear mine for any ride that's more than a few blocks.

I always wear one. I feel really weird without it on my head.

oh cool, I can use this again:
http://www.slopvehicle.info/my-new-helmet.jpg

oh cool, I can use this again:
http://www.slopvehicle.info/my-new-helmet.jpg


Is that double or triple protection?

Is that double or triple protection?

With beer, it's 1/2 the protection.

I always wear my helmet, no matter how short or long the trip is gonna be. I have been in too many situations, where people act f*** ******** in front of me. I have recently lost my front wheel to a Mercedes Benz and two years ago I crashed hard, wrecked my bike, broke my collar bone because of some stupid f**** pulling a stupid move.

With beer, it's 1/2 the protection.

You're right, those beer cans need helmets

I wear a motorcycle helmet. Oh, and no pants. Helps with visibility.

so many friends, family and acquaintances have been getting broken off on their bikes lately, i've taken to wearing one religiously. and i'm not a religious man.
wear your helmets. and stay in school.

Last November, my bike went out from under me and my face hit the ground. It wasn't until I examined my helmet that I realized that it probably saved me a trip to the ER or worse. The thing is that I considered not wearing a helmet that day, as I often did for short, around town rides.

The problem is that I immediatly replaced it with a white Bell Ukon. (in addition to riding fixed gear, and a roadie, I'm also a commuter who likes to be "visible").

Then I got aero bars on my road bike and discovered that the visor made it hard to see forward. So I removed the visor. Now I have the dorkiest looking helment ever.

With beer, it's 1/2 the protection.

I think you meant 10/2


Now I have the dorkiest looking helment ever.

Uh, most of them are detachable, as in re-attachable.

I am now wearing a helmet, just to many bad Boston drivers (I swear they are aiming for me).

I hate being hot, and its not the most comftroble thing, but I have been to the ER from a crash, don't want to go back.

boston has some really wide sidewalks.. they should not even be called sidewalks... they are wider than some of the roads over there !!!

=)

how do you people manage to ride on the roads ? LOL

my friend was sprinting down franklin on his road bike and lost his footing (didn't have clips), slipped off the pedal, and consequently went head-over-heels over the handlebars, breaking his helmet in half as he hit the ground, and stood up unscathed. that's about all the testimony i need. i'm just lazy and poor and don't own a helmet nor would i want to carry it around.

always

no

always i have split two helmets one when i was little on my redline trying to jump a fun box and once in the winter hocky slid right into a building it was on a mountain bike though

I wear my helmet for every ride. No matter how long or short, hot or cold, whatever. . .

I wear my helmet for every ride. No matter how long or short, hot or cold, whatever. . .

+1

I don't ride fixie yet. I'm getting taught how to build wheels tomorrow... but I always wear my helmet. No matter what.

My friend John had an accident that sent him to the ER with a concussion, and completely destroyed his helmet. As a friend and having seen the helmet I can say it DEFINITELY saved his life.

My uncle was riding in Boston and a car pulled out in front of him and he went over the hood and landed on his head. Helmet also saved his life. but not the bike, unfortunatey.

I was raised wearing a helmet, no matter how dorky, and am now one of the few college students who wear them (conversly, every single commuter I see wears theirs)

I, too, am a helmetted rider. I've taken too many spills on too many bikes and seen the scratches and dents (on my old school BMX helmets BITD) and cracks (in my roadie helmets, especially after being hit by a car) to not realize they've probably saved me from more than just a little brain damage.

If I'm riding to my local Costco for a snack -- about a football field away from my house -- I won't wear a helmet. But that's a low-speed ride down the sidewalk on the wrong side of the street. *grin*

My Giro Pneumo is like wearing nothing. But better than wearing nothing.

Like the person with the Atmos said...I spent too much to ensure I wear it all the time.

Almost always wear one; but sometimes I don't when just tooling around on the old Raleigh Grand Prix fixie since it's pretty relaxed and makes me that way too. Also it has just platform pedals with no retention of any kind and is low and easy to throw away if need be. A racer it ain't.

Always a helmet, unless I'm just doing trackstands in the parking lot across the street.

always wear it, but NEVER use it.

i'm in the 'wear it sometimes' camp. it's a bmx-style with a hard shell, so it probably provides a mote more protection than plain foam helmets, but those of you who have had their "lives saved" by helmets should take a look at every helmet debate thread on this board for some other opinions.

don't forget, nobody in the US wore helmets until a couple decades ago, and with minor exceptions, nobody wears them anywhere else today. this did not and does not lead to zillions of cyclists dead in the streets.

don't forget, nobody in the US wore helmets until a couple decades ago, and with minor exceptions, nobody wears them anywhere else today. this did not and does not lead to zillions of cyclists dead in the streets.
I always wear a helmet. I don't want to end up as a diaper-wearing vegetable with massive brain damage and a feeding tube, like my cousin did at the tender age of eleven. Curiously enough, his accident happened a couple of decades ago...

If I'm riding to my local Costco for a snack -- about a football field away from my house -- I won't wear a helmet. But that's a low-speed ride down the sidewalk on the wrong side of the street. *grin*

Yay! It's just not me who goes to Costco to snack on their samples. :D During the school year in my university town London, ON, I'd ride from the north Costco store to the one in the south and back, using them as food and rest stops.

Yay! It's just not me who goes to Costco to snack on their samples.

Oh, it's awesome. And in addition to all the samples inside, my Costco -- a brand new (been open only since Christmas) store -- has a food court built-in but outside of the building that serves really good pizza and sammiches. :)

my friend was sprinting down franklin on his road bike and lost his footing (didn't have clips), slipped off the pedal, and consequently went head-over-heels over the handlebars, breaking his helmet in half as he hit the ground, and stood up unscathed. that's about all the testimony i need. i'm just lazy and poor and don't own a helmet nor would i want to carry it around.

What's 30 bucks compared to your head? for the cost one trip to the ER you could buy several helmets.

Not preaching. I don't always wear mine either, but try to come up with a better excuse than "too broke to buy one". Howsabout: I know I should, but I'm a lame ass. that one seems popular, and who could argue with THAT? :p

I always wear a helmet. I don't want to end up as a diaper-wearing vegetable with massive brain damage and a feeding tube, like my cousin did at the tender age of eleven. Curiously enough, his accident happened a couple of decades ago...

:( sorry to hear about your friend. i do think children should always wear helmets, their brains and skulls are still developing and they don't have the balance and situational awareness of adults. you should also be aware that helmets are not designed to be capable of preventing or reducing that kind of damage in most impacts powerful enough to cause it - they are, after all, thin pieces of foam which don't really "absorb" an appreciable amount of energy - they can spread the energy of an impact over a wider area if you hit a curb or something, but it will still all get transmitted into your brain and spine.

:( sorry to hear about your friend. i do think children should always wear helmets, their brains and skulls are still developing and they don't have the balance and situational awareness of adults. you should also be aware that helmets are not designed to be capable of preventing or reducing that kind of damage in most impacts powerful enough to cause it - they are, after all, thin pieces of foam which don't really "absorb" an appreciable amount of energy - they can spread the energy of an impact over a wider area if you hit a curb or something, but it will still all get transmitted into your brain and spine.

All due respect, but you don't know what you are talking about. HDEP (high density expanded polyethylene) aka styrofoam is in fact designed to absorb impact. It crushes, and does not bounce back allowing it to absorb impact. It crushes so that hopefully your skul does not. It's a neat trick, but like Daffy Duck it can only do it once, so once a helmet has absorbed any significant impact it is done. time to throw it out and buy another. Of course there are a lot of impacts a helmet can't save you from, but there are many it can, and it is almost always better than nothing. You make your choice not to wear a helmet, go ahead and rationalize it however you like, but please don't go spreading misinformation. Others will make their own choices, but I hope they are well informed ones.

they are, after all, thin pieces of foam which don't really "absorb" an appreciable amount of energy - they can spread the energy of an impact over a wider area if you hit a curb or something, but it will still all get transmitted into your brain and spine.

If you don't wear a helmet that's fine, it's not my place to try to convince you otherwise. However don't say things that just aren't true. The helmet does two things, one is spread the impact, which is really important. How quick would a rim get screwed up if you rode it with a flat? The air pressure is doing the same thing as the foam, spreading out the load. Also the foam cracks and compresses. It takes energy to crack and compress, so the foam is "absorbing" this energy rather than your skull doing it.

Wear a helmet or don't. But don't try to convince people that do that they shouldn't.

All due respect, but you don't know what you are talking about. HDEP (high density expanded polyethylene) aka styrofoam is in fact designed to absorb impact. It crushes, and does not bounce back allowing it to absorb impact.


The helmet does two things, one is spread the impact, which is really important. How quick would a rim get screwed up if you rode it with a flat? The air pressure is doing the same thing as the foam, spreading out the load.


Wear a helmet or don't. But don't try to convince people that do that they shouldn't.

response in the helmet sticky (http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=96298&page=24).

I wear mine every ride, no exceptions.

After getting hit by a car, I wear one every time no matter how short the ride. I got a Pneumo, which I think is pretty comfortable and not too warm.

Also, I look like a big dork anyway so it really can't hurt my image.

I have reaped the benefits of having a helmet save me from an ER visit. It really is not even a question for me anymore.