Pamestique 

I ride with two other friends - all 3 of us have sustained serious head injuries (two were hit by cars, one (me) ran into an obstacle and fell off). All 3 of us have some sort of permanent damage. My one friend gets seizures and has to take medication.

That said... all of us realize if we did not have a helmet on, it would have been worse...much worse. Death might have been welcomed if it meant a permanent brain injury, something another friend of mine sustained 4 years ago while riding on a simple bike path without a helmet. He was struck by another cyclist, went down and is now vegetative. I used to visit him in the rest home... but find it's too hard anymore. It really depresses me.

You can wear a helmet or not. Just depends on what chances you want to take with your health. A cheap helmet, an expensive helmet - both work the same. I never ride without (on road, mountain biking or tooling around like my friend was doing). I like the Giro Athlon but it's what works for you...