tofubicycle

We were having the Great Helmet Debate again at the bike shop the other day and someone mentioned that they where a helemet except when touring. Over the years, I myself have worn, and foregone, a helmet on a various bike rides but have always worn one when touring. I'm curious how many people tour with a helmet, how many don't and how many bring one but don't always wear it.

Please limit your participation in this thread and this poll to whether or not you wear a helmet. Please, no judging or criticizing of others for wearing or not wearing helmets. I'd like to get the most accurate response from people and I think assuring folks that there will be no lectures on safety will help.

Thanks!

Shemp

I said always, but on an oppressive climb in oppressive heat in the middle of nowhere, I'll ditch the helmet for the ride up.

BigGuy

Won't leave home without it.

Sebach

When I spend a full day riding in the heat, I really appreciate my 'venty' helmet because it keeps most of the sun off my skull and out of my eyes while still allowing lots of wind to cool my skull. But because of the big front vents, some light does get through in certain spots more than others and gives me a bit of a stripy tan across my upper forehead.

Machka 

I always wear a helmet ... tour or no tour.

BTW - it is illegal in some countries (i.e. Australia) to ride without a helmet.

dreamy

I got really annoyed when it became law here and thought it would be a major hassle, however am now so used to riding with one that I feel naked without it, and would wear one anywhere....

And there is no beating around the bush and warnings from the cops here....("Please put your helmet on Sir") - it's an instant fine.

Machka 

EVERYONE over there kept reminding me about that "instant fine" thing!

It was OK with me too because I always wear my helmet anyway ... but my riding partner over there wasn't used to wearing a helmet on a regular basis, and kept heading off to make quick trips into town to pick up a few grocery items or something without his helmet ... and then turning around at the edge of camp to get it, just in case.

BorisBob

We say if there is something into the head, it is necessary to wear it … I have one, but I do not use it

Monoborracho

I work in the oil and gas industry, and accidents are like blowouts. No one wakes up thinking they are going to have one that day.

Yesterday it was 100+ in my part of Texas when I headed out, but I still kept it on for my 25 mile evening ride on the roads. I'm looking for a more venty model, maybe even a Giro Atmos, to replace the one I have.

I find the best coolant is to wear a cool max type of "doo rag" under the helmet, and periodically take it off, pour a little water on it, and put it back on.

You only wear armor if you have something to protect. Think about it.

Sigurdd50

Yeah, I notice that whenever I'm riding up hill, especially a steep oppressive climb, there is never any car traffic or other riders or rodents or deer crossing the road or pot holes or cracks in the pavement or errant rocks or debris or sand or log trucks.

NOt a judgment or critcism (just being witty)... personally, I feel that a situation where I am mentally and physically stressed (like uphills) is the type of situation where I am most likely to have an error in judgment and take a spill -- or someone else around me would cause a wreck

stokell

If I may mount the soapbox and state:

"Everyone should wear a helmet, no one plans to have an accident. That's why we call them accidents and not 'on purposes'.

In a country where we all pay for each others health care (I'm referring to Canada here), I believe they should be mandatory. If you want to scrabble your brain and pay for your own long term care that's great. As long as I'm paying for your care, I'll tell you to wear the damn helmet."

Stokell has stepped down from the soapbox and left the building.

chipcom 

If the law requires it, I wear one. If I feel the situation is riskier than normal (riding in the snow is one example), I wear one - the rest of the time, a ball cap suits me fine. Been helmetless for over 40 years, not a veg, not an organ donor, still have a pretty (ugly) face.

tofubicycle

Just a reminder that I want people to be completely honest about thier helmet use habits here and that I think the best way to ensure this level of honesty is if people know that there won't be any soapboxing about why people should wear helmets, or shouldn't have to wear helmets.

I absolutely respect your opinion but would appreciate, as mentioned in the parent thread, if people just limited thier participation to this thread to the poll itself.

howsteepisit

I think that when you are crawling up a hill, on a loaded bike you are really at greater risk of crashing. generally winded goiing slow and perhaps weaving a bit your balance is not the best it ever is. And I read years ago that its not the forward speed that creates the greatest risk for head injusy but the distance you head is above the ground. the height that your head is in a bicycle is high enough for a fall to kill you. Hence I almost always wear a helmet.

Dahon.Steve

Get a white helmet. Whatever you do, don't buy a black Atmos!

AndrewP

Helmet or head or both?

cyclezealot

I wear my helmet even after adjusting my brakes, followed up by a ride around the block in order to check out my work.

chipcom 

After wrenching on my bike I wear full body armour for the test ride...not to mention getting all my insurance paperwork, will, etc. in order.

cyclezealot

chips. can't say i wear my helmet while adjusting my brakes. maybe steel meshed gloves would be a good idea. know of someone who lost a tip of his finger to it's chainrings. ah. my ride around the block is usually a mile or two. maybe didn't wear a helmet when the ride was 100 feet.

acantor

Wearing a helmet after adjusting my brakes would have been smart thing for me to have done way back when. In the year 16 B.H. (16 years before I started wearing a helmet), I had the nastiest crash of my life after "fixing" my brakes. I tested my new skill by bombing down a hill, and discovered that I had done a much better job adjusting the front than the back brake. I went over the handlebars and hit the concrete hard. The bicycle crashed on my back. My hands and arms were badly scraped. My head was fine, but it was only luck that my noggin survived!

In retrospect, it's amazing that I rode another 16 years before getting a helmet. On the other hand, I cannot remember seeing anyone wearing a bicycle helmet prior to 1985.

Thrifty1

Helmets are mandatory on most (if not all) supported tours.

roadfix

damn, them fixed gear bikes...

Tom Stormcrowe

I've seen a helmet after it hit the road, and was glad it had been surrounding my skull! I wear a helmet on the local bike path even!

Blackberry

I was doing that too a couple of years ago. Then I decided, what the hell? Why where the helmet at all? So that's what I did for a few days. But then I realized I'd feel like a real ass if I died in a collision with my helmet strapped to my rear rack, so I've been wearing it ever since. Truth to tell, the tour was in the UK, where a fair number (but less than half of the people) weren't wearing helmets at all. I think I let the peer group subtly influence my thinking. Henceforth, the helmet stays on.

Shemp

Which is why I said in the middle of nowhere. I'm thinking of between Nucla and Gateway Colorado on a Divide Road going up Columbine Pass and west of Gateway, CO heading up the LaSals (in July no less). When climbing at single digit speeds, I'm confident I can safely avoid any rascally squirrels, deer or potholes. If I can't avoid a squirrel or pothole at 5mph, you're free to confiscate my bicycle.