dutret

right because taking reasonable precautions is the same as being paralyzed in fear. good argument.

Bikkhu

Presently I dont. But I promised my gf I´ll start wearing one - a BMX pisspot probably

Revolution Smmr

Same thing happened to me... thought I could keep some cred and appease the wife (oh wait, I can't have cred AND a wife can I?) by getting a BMX helmet. Now that it's starting to warm up, I say **** cred... I'm getting that Shain BK100 with the 31 vents and the bug screen.

euphoria

street cred = u-lock justice = only exists in theory

Bikkhu

I am yet undecided on the model. I think a yellow Giro Flak is nice. But if I go your route then it´s Giro HEX in matt gold.

ryansupak

sunv: I was the one hit by the car. They ran and the cops could never find them. I told the police I wouldn't sue -- just to give me five minutes with them if they were caught.

Great choice on the helmet. Your mother will be thankful too; mine was.

rs

wroomwroomoops

To add to the rant: WTF is with parents NOT wearing helmets, while riding along with their kids (who, by the way, DO have helmets on their heads, thankfully)?? Don't parents of the world know by now that kids learn what their parents do, not what they say?

Want to live in a better world? Start from yourself, educate your children.

wroomwroomoops

I must admit, I am of the same opinion. I almost feel like walking over to them and ask "are you some kind of a wise guy?" and smack them over the head with my pump. I would, of course, never ever do such a thing as I am totally against violence.

Also, cyclists that cross at the red, or that have no lights on their bikes while riding in the night. Fools begging for trouble.

Anyhow, if I enter a shop for a short while after cycling, I won't even bother taking the helmet off, and will wear it even for the shortest rides. It saved my scalp at least twice, so far.

DerekU2

I was pissed to find that the Giro helmets just didn't fit my large head right. I had to go with Bell, which has the style disadvantage. Also, that BMX helmet is probably gonna be hot as hell. Whatever, it's not a fashion show... is it? Is it??

Ah crap. I think it MIGHT be a fashion show.

ArchieBrown

Onya.

Helmets rock and here is a thread worth reading should you be a little swayed in your decision:

https://www.bikeforums.net/singlespeed-fixed-gear/280307-fixie-related-injuries-your-first-fixie-off.html

jetbike

It's great to get such strength of feeling here. I appreciate all your views.

Just for clarity I'm not pro-helmet wearing, as such. I wear one, but for a long time I didn't. I felt justified in this, but those arguments don't hold water with the benefit of reflection. I wear one all the time when on my bike. I particularly wear one when I'm riding with my son (so does he).

I'm just really annoyed by people who have their helmet available (on the bars/bag/rack) and don't wear them. It makes no sense and I don't understand at all.

For the record, it tends not to be 'serious' riders (if you like). It's those people going to the shops or students on their clunkers, wearing flip-flops and no lights.

Maybe I just hate hippies?

GeraldChan

It's a free country and unless there are helmet laws where you live you can choose to do so or not. But it is such a minor inconvenience to wear one the only reason to eschew it's use would be for fashion. A sub-dural hemotoma can be a life ending event so fashion loses every time.
This is like the endless brakeless debate on this forum. Being safe does not reduce the fun or "Zen" aspect of riding FG. It is for each of us to decide. As for me I will always use a helmet and run a F & R brake (except on the velodrome of course).
Gerry

Rusty Valiant

Man, if I'm shelling out thousands on a pst secondary education, I can afford to spend 40 buck to keep all that juicy knowledge on the inside of my skull.

Also- helmets not allowing your head to turn as fast? Are you serious?
Also 2- Helmets don't limit your sensory capabilities. It's a styrofoam dome you're wearing on your head, not the cone of silence.

Bikkhu

I found a hot pink VIGOR helmet. Now all I need is a paint pens and lewd imagination...

lima_bean

well several people in this thread explained their reasons, so now you dont have to be confused anymore.

MajorA

A year and a half ago, I was one of the first people on the scene of a nighttime bike wreck; it was on a bike path, the helmetless guy had clipped a pedestrian and gone down hard. I stayed, together with a bunch of high-school age lifeguards as this was next to a municipal pool (one of whom was my son, and all of whom I was incredibly proud of, for how they handled what is described next ... cool and professional) until the EMS guys got there. In the meantime, the victim was bleeding copiously from his ears and a deep crush wound to the skull, was in convulsions, and was making noises that I didn't think a human could make.

He died the next day.

When I rode my bike past the scene the a couple of days later, the huge blood stain was still there. It took the next good rain to wash it away.

Yeah, I wear my helmet. ALL THE TIME.

Rusty Valiant

Oh God.
SEE
Brains! You might not need them to post on bikeforums, but they come in handy for **** like continuing to live.

mattattack

On days when I'm feeling particularly cognitively incompetent I like to remove my lid and give myself permanent brain lesions by going slowly on my bike and falling over onto my head because of something unexpected happening. It's something I copied from the patients in the intensive care unit where I do memory testing. It makes sense... thinking is hard and who needs that 90% of his brain they say we don't use?

Sorry for the flame, but Jesus ****ing ****, people! You DO need your brain if you want to continue riding bikes. Or feeding yourself. Or wiping your own ass. Why risk losing that? No matter how good you think you are at riding bikes or saving youself from falling, like someone said previously, it's the things you can't control that will get you, and it's ridiculous to think that you're immune to accident or injury.

jfmckenna

Yeah but it's exciting to live on the edge.


Speaking of death, this thread should die

jimmy_jazz

Helmets: wear 'em or the kitten gets it

mander

Do you have any idea how often cyclists travelling slowly uphill on marked shoulders with no crossstreets are rearended, or is this a gut feeling?

There was that one case where the guy got hit from behind by the girl downloading ringtones... Still, as a certified armchair actuary I'd be more hesitant to ski or drive in rush hour conditions with no helmet.

ArchieBrown

Yeup. Russian Roulette is exciting too.
Doesnt stop it being ****ing stupid.

jpearl

For the record, there is no such thing as a "kind of riding" that is safe enough to not wear a helmet, and there is no such thing as a rider who is to good for a helmet. Once you mount a bicycle, your un-helmeted hear has all the strenght of a bunch of fine crystal wine glasses bouncing around in the back of a metal pickup truckbed speeding down a bumpy dirt road.

In response, again, the the OP, it is very disturbing to see people riding with thier helmets clipped to thier handlebars, backpacks, or racks. These people might think that they've reached a "safe part" of a bike path or have "slowed down" enough to not need the helmet, but there's always the unpredictable pedestrian, car, crack in the pavement, or bike failure that begs to differ. Even at "slow speeds" and a "safe part" of a bike path or trail, a fall or crash can be a quick, uncontrolled, violent thing.

The reality to helmets is this: Those with helmets on fall into the Saul Raison camp, and those without a helmet on fall into the Fabio Casartelli camp. No disrespect to either rider, but anybody who knows what I'm alluding to understands this. Either way, the passions in this post are so strong because the issue is so real. It was a frighening thing for my wife and I to witness the results of crash which involved a novice, weekend rider without a helmet who crashed at a "safe" speed on a "safe" part of the Mt. Vernon trail. Her partner (husband/fiancee/boyfriend?) was cupping her smashed, lacerated head in his lap, blood gushing from her forehead as she floated in and out of conciesness and congicence. His paniced cries of "Mandy, stay with me...Mandy open your eyes..no, no...stay with me Mandy...look at me Mandy" stayed with me for days. I think she survived, how much I don't know, but the lack of a helmet on a "safe" part of the bike path at a "slow" speed was what turned a casual sunny Sunday ride into a nightmare experience, and as a tried and true helmeted rider, I hope to never see or hear of that kind of experience ever again.

So STFU and wear a helmet.