View Poll Results: Helmet wearing habits?
I've never worn a bike helmet
178
10.66%
I used to wear a helmet, but have stopped
94
5.63%
I've always worn a helmet
648
38.80%
I didn't wear a helmet, but now do
408
24.43%
I sometimes wear a helmet depending on the conditions
342
20.48%
Voters: 1670. You may not vote on this poll
The helmet thread
06-28-12, 04:27 PM
#2751
Senior Member
I scored today. I'm back to riding after 20+ years, and have been hemming and hawing about helmets. $40+ for something I'm not sure I'll wear?
I was at a thrift store today and got a Specialized Chamiox(sp?) for $3....yeah. No cracks, doesn't look very worn at all. So at least now I'll give it a try.
I was at a thrift store today and got a Specialized Chamiox(sp?) for $3....yeah. No cracks, doesn't look very worn at all. So at least now I'll give it a try.
06-28-12, 05:44 PM
#2752
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06-28-12, 07:55 PM
#2753
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I recently started wearing one, when I found one that is better what I've tried before. Today, I wore it for only half the ride. Too much humidity. I will probably drive until the weather changes, or until I get the next level of helmet upgrade.
06-28-12, 09:44 PM
#2754
Senior Member
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Played a lot of pick-up football growing up and never had a head injury. When I got into the organized game, the helmet became a weapon. Got recruited to play some flag football and ended up with someones front teeth stuck in my forehead. What's the point? Helmets have thier place in protection, so don't cry when you get bonked without one. I think most people can make an inteligent choice about what they need.
06-29-12, 08:44 AM
#2756
Senior Member
Because I just don't give a **** about what the public thinks about me - especially those members of the public who are so mud-dumb stupid that they automatically think "Organ donor! Darwin candidate! I'm going to yell stuff at him!" when they see an unhelmeted cyclist.
My pipe-dream, WRT public perception of helmet use, is to return folks to a time where people let people decide what is best for themselves. Me putting on a helmet to placate the above-mentioned mud-dumb stupid crowd does not further that goal.
My pipe-dream, WRT public perception of helmet use, is to return folks to a time where people let people decide what is best for themselves. Me putting on a helmet to placate the above-mentioned mud-dumb stupid crowd does not further that goal.
06-29-12, 08:46 AM
#2757
Senior Member
Vancouver is currently hosting Velo City 2012, and as you may guess, along with bike lanes, and bike share, our helmet law is a hot topic.
In this mornings paper is an article featuring a Dutch economist, educator and cycling advocate Hans Voerknecht who is not a fan of helmets.
https://www.theprovince.com/news/News...#ixzz1z6PW4S9o
In a related side bar story, there's a story that says, "Statistics show helmets help save cyclist lives: coroners service"
Read more: https://www.theprovince.com/news/Stat...#ixzz1z6Q7sTZw
of course these are laughable statics, and "prove" nothing of the sort, they just perpetuate the poor argments people use to justify the "importance" of wearing a helmet
In this mornings paper is an article featuring a Dutch economist, educator and cycling advocate Hans Voerknecht who is not a fan of helmets.
https://www.theprovince.com/news/News...#ixzz1z6PW4S9o
In a related side bar story, there's a story that says, "Statistics show helmets help save cyclist lives: coroners service"
Read more: https://www.theprovince.com/news/Stat...#ixzz1z6Q7sTZw
of course these are laughable statics, and "prove" nothing of the sort, they just perpetuate the poor argments people use to justify the "importance" of wearing a helmet
06-29-12, 08:48 AM
#2758
Senior Member
The trouble is, most people are making their choice using bad or biased information, and/or they are making their choice for emotional reasons (fear, the need to fit in with the group) rahter than rational ones.
06-29-12, 08:50 AM
#2759
Senior Member
How does one overcome this very human tendency...?
06-29-12, 10:48 AM
#2760
Senior Member
Mikael Colville Andersen is one of the speakers at Velo City and he was interviewed on CBC radio.
Click on this link
https://www.cbc.ca/thecurrent/episode...ille-andersen/
then click on the listen to the audio button to hear how he describes the "primitive" debate North Americans are engaging in (re: helmets)
Last edited by closetbiker; 06-29-12 at 11:35 AM.
06-29-12, 01:38 PM
#2761
Senior Member
06-29-12, 02:16 PM
#2762
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I think the choice should be when you ride without one. It's not that big of a deal to strap it to your head. I don't ride my cruiser with a helmet. I don't ride a mup trail with my wife with a helmet. When I'm road riding with friends and do some speed on the hills, helmet's on. Helmets on MB riding.
Last edited by curbtender; 06-29-12 at 02:25 PM.
06-29-12, 04:48 PM
#2763
Senior Member
Here' s the stance from one of our major dailies, cycling advocates aren't being honest (eg - they're lying)
https://www.theprovince.com/Cycling+a...532/story.html
I guess if you disagree, the differing viewpoint just has to be wrong, and you just have to be right.
Geez. I thought the conference was about learning about things you might not know about. Who's crazy enough to listen to the Dutch anyways? Just at look at what they're like....
B.C. policy-makers shouldn't pay much heed to Dutch cycling advocate Hans Voerknecht and all the other true believers at the Velo-City Global 2012 conference who've turned cycling into their religion.
As advocates, their views are one-sided and unreliable because they believe one thing - everyone should cycle - and they ignore all facts that don't support that don't support that view
As advocates, their views are one-sided and unreliable because they believe one thing - everyone should cycle - and they ignore all facts that don't support that don't support that view
I guess if you disagree, the differing viewpoint just has to be wrong, and you just have to be right.
Geez. I thought the conference was about learning about things you might not know about. Who's crazy enough to listen to the Dutch anyways? Just at look at what they're like....
Last edited by closetbiker; 06-29-12 at 04:53 PM.
06-30-12, 01:42 PM
#2764
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Today was heat instead of humidity. I was wearing mine when I saw a cyclist lying on the road without one. His arms and legs appeared to be fine, but I don't know about his head. The police officer he was talking to could benefit from some exercise, but he's not likely to get on a bike today.
07-01-12, 07:59 AM
#2765
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What is pathetic is that the anti helmet cult refuses to admit that if a helmet saves the life of even one person in a years time, they still are against helmet useage. Then there is the fact that helmets prevent untold smaller injuries, road rash etc.
07-01-12, 09:05 AM
#2766
Senior Member
TED talk with Mikael Colville-Anderson - "Why We Shouldn`t Bike with a Helmut"
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07-01-12, 08:03 PM
#2767
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"Think of bicycles as rideable art that can just about save the world". ~Grant Petersen
Cyclists fare best when they recognize that there are times when acting vehicularly is not the best practice, and are flexible enough to do what is necessary as the situation warrants.--Me
"Think of bicycles as rideable art that can just about save the world". ~Grant Petersen
Cyclists fare best when they recognize that there are times when acting vehicularly is not the best practice, and are flexible enough to do what is necessary as the situation warrants.--Me
07-01-12, 09:27 PM
#2768
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You never seem to tire of thinking of reasons to wear a helmet related to your assumptions that other people (YOUR peers) are ignoramuses and the need to appease them.
07-02-12, 06:46 AM
#2769
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I think whether or not you should wear a helmet is also very dependent on the type of danger you are exposed to. If you go for rides on sundays on paved bike roads when there is no one out there and you stroll at about 20 km/h then you can probably get away without a helmet.
If you sprint through city traffic at breakneck pace then you are probably better off with a helmet because chances are, you are going to crash at some point. Even if you do everything right, someone else may do something you did not see coming. Small spaces and opening car doors are always a problem.
I dont wear a helmet. Probably should though. One thing is that in this country, there is really no bicycle helmet culture. The only ones who wear them really are people with full gear on, spandex on racing bikes, and small children. That should not matter, but the truth is, it kind of does. Most people here do not even think about it. Helmets are for kids and racers, that is pretty much how it goes. Its not uncommon here for kids to cycle 10+ km to high school. Some of them do so at pretty decent speeds and through all sorts of traffic. None of them wear helmets. And by none, i mean not a single one that I have seen, ever. Luckily our infrastructure is geared more towards cyclists than perhaps any other country.
Its weird, becuase just across the border in Germany, i notice a LOT more people using helmets. Even though i do not think there is a requirement.
If you sprint through city traffic at breakneck pace then you are probably better off with a helmet because chances are, you are going to crash at some point. Even if you do everything right, someone else may do something you did not see coming. Small spaces and opening car doors are always a problem.
I dont wear a helmet. Probably should though. One thing is that in this country, there is really no bicycle helmet culture. The only ones who wear them really are people with full gear on, spandex on racing bikes, and small children. That should not matter, but the truth is, it kind of does. Most people here do not even think about it. Helmets are for kids and racers, that is pretty much how it goes. Its not uncommon here for kids to cycle 10+ km to high school. Some of them do so at pretty decent speeds and through all sorts of traffic. None of them wear helmets. And by none, i mean not a single one that I have seen, ever. Luckily our infrastructure is geared more towards cyclists than perhaps any other country.
Its weird, becuase just across the border in Germany, i notice a LOT more people using helmets. Even though i do not think there is a requirement.
Last edited by Grim Ace; 07-02-12 at 06:52 AM.
07-02-12, 08:40 AM
#2770
Senior Member
There's a reasonable approach to the matter, and there's a politically successful approach to the matter. Rarely do the two coincide...
07-02-12, 12:31 PM
#2771
Senior Member
Look! Here's a bike skills class being offered! https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...-Parsippany-NJ Bet they require helmet usage.
What's better: bike skills class with helmet usage mandatory or no bike skills training and no helmet usage...?
What's better: bike skills class with helmet usage mandatory or no bike skills training and no helmet usage...?
07-02-12, 12:48 PM
#2772
cowboy, steel horse, etc
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Many organized bicycling events require helmet usage due to insurance coverage requirements or other liability concerns.
(I could swear I've typed that before in this thread)
In other news...
Some hilarious captions on these photos, some helmet oriented:
https://buildsafe.tumblr.com/
(I could swear I've typed that before in this thread)
In other news...
Some hilarious captions on these photos, some helmet oriented:
https://buildsafe.tumblr.com/
Last edited by LesterOfPuppets; 07-02-12 at 12:56 PM.
07-02-12, 05:39 PM
#2773
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Why not bike skills class along with an unbiased review of the available facts re. bicycle helmets, so that the individual can make his/her informed decision?
07-02-12, 06:20 PM
#2774
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I wish more helmet manufacturers would start making high vis yellow helmets.
07-02-12, 06:35 PM
#2775
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I see more and more people every day running safety green helmet covers around here.
Perhaps we'll see more helmets in the color in a couple of years. The whole red/black/white theme is really played out in the bike world.
Perhaps we'll see more helmets in the color in a couple of years. The whole red/black/white theme is really played out in the bike world.