elcruxio

Go on, point out here and now the fully kitted roadies. You can't can you? You never can. You open with a silly statement fit for a five year old and can never actually even point out the individuals you try to mock.

I could bet a 100$ that you could not point out a poster here who fits in your example and get it right.

LesterOfPuppets

Sun deck Charlies? Is that a thing? Is there skiing in Nebraska? Do they wear helmets?

I know about as much about Nebraska as rydabent knows about riding a bike to a store/bank/post office/date/business meeting.

rekmeyata

HAHAHA!!!! Well you won't hear me complaining about what you said! I think today though Americans are made of corn syrup not sugar!!

I ride in the rain, I don't care a whole lot about it unless it's a downpour with lots of lightening going on.

The older our nation becomes the more weenified we become. That happened to the Romans too and everyone knows what happened to them.

905 

I think you're both right. It's almost like matter and antimatter colliding. If years of watching sf have taught me anything, it's that the safest place to be is very far away from the explosion. My fervent wish is that you won't ever visit the Large Hadron Collider at the same time.

It's true. As Edward Gibbon wrote in the final volume of The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, "The Vandals, Visigoths and Huns had a weenie roast."

Gothic Sunshine

Well, yes, but to be fair comfort is a big reason why most patrol officers wear a type II vest under the uniform shirt, rather than going with a bulky type III or type IV. Cops generally wear type III or type IV only if the situation specifically warrants or they are patrolling a really bad area. Also, the phrase bulletproof is kind of irritating, because no modern armor is or should be billed as such by professionals, as no armor is totally bulletproof. For example, a type III vest is rated to protect against 9mm rounds, but 9mm rounds can and do sometimes get through the armor.Also used specifically for situations requiring a dedicated oxygen supplyAside from a small pile of rocks, there isn't a type of rock or mountain climbing I can think of that doesn't specifically require such equipment, because one slip and you can easily go down.I've been in a boat without a life jacket before, and it wasn't a big deal. Granted, it was my family's boat. That said, now that I'm older and have more knowledge, I'd wear one, because if I go overboard I might well have been knocked overboard or otherwise injured. The thing is, a lot of safety accoutrements are situational. I consider helmets the same. Cruising down the beach boulevard, shopping, or heading to my college for class/work? Not really any need, and I don't wear a helmet during these rides (which make up almost all of my bike riding). Mountain biking? Definitely a need, and I would never go on a mountain biking trail without a helmet. I don't race, but if I did I would always wear a helmet. Helmets aren't bad per se, I just don't feel the need to always wear one. I wear it when I'm doing something particularly dangerous.

rydabent

lester

Well-------------I agree with the fact you know very little. I ride somewhere between two and three thousand miles a year depending on the weather. And I DO run all those errands you claim I dont, except on a date. I have been married 47 years, and my wife dont let me date. And I do wear my helmet on all those rides.

CarinusMalmari

I suspect that must be one of the reasons they don't wear those by default, at least not around here

I wonder if they would use those if they were climbing bicycle sized rocks.

Not that it says much, but utility boatists generally don't wear life jackets.

There's this thing called the burden of proof, and bicycle helmets advocates are very reluctant to make claims about their helmets. But even if we ignore that, bicycle helmets only protect a small part of the body, so even if they would be 100% effective in protecting the upper head, they would still be fairly ineffective IMO.

People who promote helmets the loudest are often clueless about bicycle safety. Anyone who mentions helmets before (or even without) methods of accident prevention is, in my book. In fact, anyone who promotes helmets as anything other than an additional safety measure, should probably read up a bit on cycling safety.

Ironically you give yourself a big fat hint to the fact that you ignore that the cyclist is for all intends an purposes a very important part of the bicycle. It's for example the motor of the vehicle, and when I picture myself on a bicycle in rest, I've one leg on the ground to keep my bicycle-cyclist system in a very stable upright position. When in motion, a bicycle wants to stay up because of the two wheels which function as gyroscopes.

I think "cycling enthusiast" and "poverty stricken" will cover most cyclists in the US of A, but that's just my somewhat informed guess. Also, the common American cyclist isn't that relevant to define the common cyclist. Which would be a utility cyclist, that will generally ride a boring bicycle at fairly low speeds.

Sure, but that's beside the point. Those are good reasons why a lot of people dislike helmets, that go beyond the BHA nonsense that people don't wear helmets because they're superficial vain idiots who care more about their hair than their safety. Also, if someone claims that in their experience helmets are uncomfortable and a hassle, that's really not debatable.

CarinusMalmari

If you look past my Dutch charm, which involve a lot of wielding my opinion like a blunt ax and beating people senseless with it, you'll see that I'm not oppositely charged to a BHA. (Still, you might want to wear a properly certified helmets when the Geneva Bicycle Helmet convention happens.)

JoeyBike

It's not just cyclists resisting helmets.

[h=1]11 Reasons People Don't Wear Helmets While Horseback Riding[/h]
I like reason #5: It will mess up my hair!

And something I didn't know:

"Riding helmets are made specifically to withstand a fall from a height or a blow to the head by a hoof. Bicycle, hockey, baseball and other helmets are not made to protect the head from these incidents."

So for the "no evidence that helmets save lives" contingent here, this opinion concurs. If a bike helmet won't help falling from a horse or taking a hoof to the melon then there sure is a narrow range of head-bumps where a cycling helmet would do any good.

Reason #6: I am an experienced rider.

HaHa. How experienced is the horse? At least my bike doesn't have a mind of it's own.

I won't spoil any more. Check out the link. Sound familiar?

LesterOfPuppets

I bet some cycling helmets would work for horsey riding. Not road riding helmets, but some BMX or city biking helmets. Some of those Bern bike helmets even look like horse riding helmets.

prathmann

Maybe, but I suspect one would want a helmet with a more substantial outer shell to withstand hoof impacts. Among bike helmets I'd opt for my old Bell Biker over any current model.

One of our club riders was involved a while back in a collision with an equestrian. But the horse chose to come down on her thigh with its hoof so we didn't get any indication of bike helmet effectiveness in that situation.

wphamilton

I like the one that claims that Cowboys "of yesteryear" would have worn riding helmets if they'd known enough about it

JoeyBike

People who WON'T be wearing bicycle helmets like...ever:

https://www.google.com/search?q=big+...w=1366&bih=623

and...people who wore helmets before drying their hair first:

https://www.google.com/search?q=mens...w=1366&bih=623

rydabent

Lester

This is a cycling forum. I really dont care one whit what the hay burner set wears. Why is it the anti helmet crowd always tries to bring in sports that have nothing to do with cycling? If you want to bring in the fact that other sports have safety equiptment that is fine, but that should be as far afield as this thread should go.

JoeyBike

^^This is a tad narrow minded. And no fun at all.

We all have heads that are all pretty much the same when it comes to surviving physical forces applied to them. How those heads react to mishaps in other sports gives us what is called a "frame of reference". Perhaps you have heard of that term?

I've been here on BF since 2007 and so far, like you, no one cares one whit how I feel about what others post here.

mconlonx

You may be suffering from amnesia: there are plenty of posts here where pro-helmeteers bring up helmet use in other activities to support their assertions. Motorcycle helmets come immediately to mind, and someone posted a study regarding tangential force as it applies to brain injury which focused on skateboard helmets.

tl;dr rydabent translation: Why is it the pro-helmeteers always try to bring in sports that have nothing to do with cycling?

LesterOfPuppets

I wear horse helmets on my tall bike all the time. Their designed for higher falls.

Bike helmets only tested for two meter drops.

chasm54

Last week I drove a golf ball into the back of another golfer's head from 250 yards. Careless of me, it knocked the poor guy out of his golf cart.

Fortunately he wasn't seriously hurt, is a friend of mine, and won't be suing me. But it has made me realise that golfers shouldn't be allowed on the course unless they're wearing a helmet. After all, we can't be too careful...

rekmeyata

I disagree, I thought it was quite amusing!!! LOL!!!

mconlonx

Be the first. Start a trend -- get one of those white aero helmets with the speed dimples.

rekmeyata

Yeah, Like the white with the speed dimples idea, then maybe some golfer will take his club to his head thinking it's a golf ball!

curbtender

I figured at some point people would hit each other in the head to prove their point...

JoeyBike

I am extremely cautious of other golfers when I throw my clubs. And my slices are more likely to require hockey shin guards than helmets. My biggest fear golfing is getting a citation from Wildlife and Fisheries for harassing the geese in the lake as my over-water shots tend to skip along the surface through the waterfowl outside of hunting season.

In truth I figured out how to save a ton of money and time golfing about thirty years ago. I go to the sporting goods store, pick out a decent set of clubs (nothing too fancy) and drive directly to the lakefront - toss all of them off of the seawall at once. Saves a ton of dough on greens fees and an ungodly amount of free time.

rekmeyata

Great idea, lets do it, first I swing the club at your bare head, then again with a helmet on, and you tell me which hurt worse; then we'll switch, you hit me bareheaded and with a helmet on then I tell you which hurt worse and then we'll report here if we are pro or anti helmet after that.

905 

I'd be staunchly pro-helmet too if someone was hitting me on the head with a club. Don't know much about golf, but any game where you're wielding implements called irons and woods suggests taking whatever cover is available in the event of demonstrations of the sort you're suggesting.



Any excuse to post links to videos from Caddyshack is not to be missed.