Originally Posted by
wphamilton
That's the part of the point that's most wrong. It does make a difference, in fact it makes most of the difference in most falls. Speed is not a factor except in abrasions and cuts, or if you hit some vertical protrusion.
You complain about me being snarky, and then you go on doing the same thing by interpreting "not much of a difference" as "no difference". What do you expect from me? Now it's open to interpretation as to what "not much" is, but my point was, that falling from any bicycle (except some rare types, like a tall bike) at average cycling speed falls in the category "Mostely Harmless"
I'll remind you that what you were agreeing with your word "usually" : "all but recumbent riders and very casual riders" Dead wrong, no "usually" about it.
I was agreeing to the general claim of a higher head position in cyclists. As far as I can tell, the typical cyclist is a utility cyclist who rides on a roadster or something with a similar seating position as a roadster, which will usually result in a slightly higher position of the head.
While we're here, the whole argument about what kind of damage we can withstand being related to evolution on the Savannah is more than a bit off the beam. We have evolved instincts to protect our heads and the physical capability to do so - the fact is that most people have allowed those capabilities to atrophy from lack of experience or training. I'd go even further in saying that the ability to protect oneself in a fall is far more efficacious than is wearing a helmet, and I'm often tempted to turn the argument around when anyone confronts me. Why doesn't that person learn how to fall without banging his head instead of worrying about the lack of a helmet on mine?
I'm not all that sure that the mechanisms of self-preservation have diminished much, but we really have no way of knowing since we can't test for it. Unless you have some evidence, it's just your opinion, and some things suggest otherwise. For example: many, if not most, people do have a very strong reflex to protect their head from impacts with their arms. Often to the point that it has to be deprogrammed for certain sports and replaced with something that has a smaller chance of broken bones.