flyingWeez

Hi all. I'm not really an A&S contributor or anything, at best I meander in and out occasionally but I feel pretty compelled to share this (this may be old hat to most or most likely a dead horse).

I have always been about a 90% helmet kind of guy where I would occasionally commute without a helmet if it was particularly hot or I'm going to the grocery store about .75 miles away, things like that. I always wear one when I go on exercise rides though and yesterday it paid dividends.

I fell going about 20-21mph. I was looking behind me I drifted to the right and my front wheel went off the road (which would have been fine if I had just gone with it) but when I tried to correct it my rear wheel came out from behind me and I fell back into the road, on my butt and cracking my helmet on the road.

I learned a couple of lessons yesterday. ***FOR ME*** 90% helmet usage is going to be 100% and the other was that I wasn't wearing any gloves and that will also change. Luckily I fell on smooth pavement so there wasn't any hand scraping but I hit the heel of my hand extremely hard on the road.


So that's that. Flame away or ignore, but that was my personal safety story from yesterday.

dobber

What would the result have been without the helmet?

Facts only please, no conjecture.

MilitantPotato

I'm glad you're alright.

I tend to equate these sorts of stories as people "finding helmet god."
There's no evidence a helmet does more than keeping ya from getting a bump on the head, but man do people swear they do miracles.

For a helmet that protects from real injury, see motorcycle and vehicular race helmets.

For protection from falling on the crown of your head on flat ground, from a standing height, while immobile, use a bicycle helmet.

larry_llama

I love this forum - we can always count on one of these every couple weeks!

rydabent

Its easy to tell the anti-helmet people, but you cant tell them much!!!!!

BarracksSi

You won't get many responses because they're still dazed from the concussion and/or busy taking their anti-seizure meds like my cousin probably still does.

Sorry, that's conjecture (including my cousin, who cracked his skull not while on a bike but against the bathroom sink as a toddler).

larry_llama

evidence for a desperate need for shower helmets!

mikeybikes

These threads only serve one purpose: to stir up a hornet's nest.

It'll be the end of the first page by the time people are calling each other idiots.

BarracksSi

Whatever. It never ends up like that around here.

Idiot.

degnaw

Wow haha, this is probably the best way to start a helmet debate.

What would the world be like if Hitler had never come into power? (Facts only please, no conjecture)
What would the USA be like if McCain and Palin had been elected? (Facts only please, no conjecture)
What would the country be like if (some immigration/abortion/other controversial law) had never been passed? (Facts only please, no conjecture)

Obviously, because said thing never actually happened, no facts exist.

MilitantPotato

Now you're being silly degnaw.

You could easily test a helmet against real world impacts. Thing is, they're made to standards that test only low speed, low impact collisions on a certain area of the helmet. I'd love to see a bike helmet tested to the same standards a real helmet is put against. My guess is they'd fail in every way.

If a seatbelt was only made for a fender bender (think a shoe string or thinner,) claiming they save lives in a serious accident would be foolish, yea? Same goes for bicycle helmets. They're only good for really minor crashes.


I'm not anti-helmet. I wore one when I started, I still own one, and I have been known to put it on if the conditions warrant it. I don't do much falling over at a stand-still, so it won't be doing me much good. Not mentioning the strong evidence they exacerbate the real danger of rotational injury during a real cash.

iforgotmename

I never saw Hitler wearing a helmet.

flyingWeez

I don't enough of a physics/medical/physiology background (read none) to answer with facts. I'm not saying the helmet saved my life or anything, I'm not sure I was going fast enough or I was high enough, but I do think it definitely saved me from stitches in the back of my head. Perhaps it saved me from a concussion, or hell I don't know I may be concussed now but I haven't fallen over yet.

Since I do have my bike habit though, I did take the opportunity to upgrade to a nicer Specialized helmet with more vents then what I had when I replaced my helmet. I was trying to think ahead and go ahead and eliminate the "too hot" excuse.

edit: My neck is what is hurting me the most, I guess I strained my neck muscles when I hit and bounced my head off of the asphalt.

MilitantPotato

Vents weaken a helmet. If one is worried about what a helmet may do, why buy a weaker one?

mikeybikes

Thanks for that...

Idiot.

mikeybikes

Doesn't he just look so safe?

flyingWeez

It's shinier?

BarracksSi

That kid's helmet obviously can't protect his ears.

BarracksSi

To be fair -- if vents make a helmet more comfortable, it'll be worn more often; and if the structure is still strong enough, then it isn't too weak, either.

I won't pretend that my bike helmet is as safe as my car helmet, but it sure is a lot nicer to wear while on the bike.

crhilton

Don't want to start up an argument, it's great that you're taking what sound like reasonable proactive measures toward your safety in the event that you do something stupid (or someone does something stupid to you).

I'd like to suggest taking to time to learn to fall. There are several sorts of classes that teach it. I learned via martial arts (where you have to fall in various ways that you have only partial control of at best -- and not get injured at all). I've rolled out of some minor and nasty wrecks and come out with only very minor muscle injuries.

I like my Eschelon helmet, I think it's a good value. I have overheated in it (during crits in 100 degree weather) but otherwise it's a pretty cool helmet.

noisebeam

Probably better to be a 100% hold you line and yer wheels on the road kinda guy.

flyingWeez

True that

CritEastwood

Maybe you should learn how to handle a bicycle properly. That would have saved you long before a magical piece of foam could have.

CB HI

Good lessen for the OP. He should always wear a helmet because he has not yet learned how to ride his bicycle or how to tuck his head when falling.

degnaw

The question posed was, "What would the result [of this exact situation] have been without the helmet?". Sure, you could do testing in other similar scenarios, but trying to extrapolate the data to this exact situation still constitutes speculation/conjecture.

To be fair, how does one learn to tuck his head when falling when one never falls? Heck, the one time I've fallen in recent memory (just after getting clipless), I put my arm out while falling despite knowing that's a bad thing.