As a permanent resident of that thread, I can tell you that it is an obnoxious waste of time.

Sadly, helmet threads often start with the potential for interesting discussion, but are soon perverted by smug and arrogant "Wear a helmet if you value your brain" and "I had my life saved a dozen times by my helmet just this week!!!" posts, followed shortly by acres of studies and endless mud slinging, and then into the cesspool of the A&S thread.

I have to admit, though, that I'm slightly surprised to see so much mindless helmeteering on a vintage thread. Folks who were riding 20 or 30 years ago tend to realize that cycling isn't really a very dangerous activity, or at least doesn't have to be. To hear the number of lives "saved" by helmets on this thread, you'd think that cycling in the pre-hardshell days would have produced a 50% mortality rate.

But what do I know. Maybe falling off and landing on your head is the new normal. You guys are welcome to it, I guess.

I wear a helmet for the same reason I wear gloves and good cycling shoes ...... comfort (visor and it is rare day when it's over 68 here) and to avoid skin wounds on the extremities. Which to say..being a foamhead is preferable to the skinned alternative. Helmet tech hasn't really evolved much since the mid '70's...until the last couple of years when concussion worries started a new tech mindset. I've a cracked helmet on my wall of infamy.

I always get a kick out of this in my neighborhood. Invariably, mom is riding her bike with a couple of her kids, both children wearing a helmet, but no helmet on mom... Never understood the reasoning on that one.

Because kids are much more likely to crash than adults (and their crashes are much more likely to be the low-speed affairs for which helmets are most effective), because their heads are proportionately much larger and heavier, and because their neck muscles are relatively weak.

Usually.....yes, I wear a helmet. My riding schedule dictates that I'm often alone. I also want to set a good example for my daughter.

The only exceptions is if I'm doing a short ride around 2 miles or less, such as to the store, then I tend to leave the helmet at home.

I didn't vote because there is no "sometimes" option. I always wear my helmet on group rides because they are usually required on group rides, and because the chance of a crash is increased when riding in a group of strangers. I rarely wear a helmet on short errands or on my short commute through residential streets. I mostly leave my helmet at home on solo rides, especially if riding in areas without heavy traffic.

Yes.

+1. A thoughtful and credible reply. Not only am I much less likely than my daughter to fall, but I am less likely to bang my head on the concrete if I do. I admit it's complicated trying to explain this to a 4-year-old, though.

Lol
I get odd looks from guys with helmets on sometimes when riding without one and wonder if that's why.

Road and trail yes, city no.

May I quote you Howard? Ok,thanks. I will.

Never on a bike without one on. If you've ever had your noggin bounce off the pavement, I believe you would always wear one too.
Bicycle helmets saves lives and prevent more serious injuries.

Well, you just better not waste any taxpayer's money by getting hurt doing useless and frivolous things like racing motorcycles and jumping out of airplanes. And if you fall off your bicycle and suffer a neck injury because you weren't wearing a neck brace, well, pay for it out of your own pocket, you irresponsible man.

As usual, these wear or not wear threads are hilarious, however, one thing I never have figured out is this. The do-gooder's say that motorcyclist and cyclist should wear helmets because it makes them safer, then why don't they wear helmets in their car. It would make them safer (although to what degree, I don't know). And then we could say, if you have an auto accident without your helmet on, it comes out of your pocket. I bet that would stop these helmet thread's in their track's. Just say'in. P.S I do wear a helmet, but that is my choice.

Do you wear a helmet when working from a ladder?

When cleaning the gutters?

While sledding or skiing? I am sure more people visit the emergency room in our town from sledding injuries than cycling.

How many skateboarders wear helmets?

How about while driving your car? You would undoubtedly be safer.

Maybe sprinters and hurdlers should wear helmets, have you ever seen one fall and smack their head on the ground? Ouch!

My daughter also races cross country..... damn, all those kids should have helmets.... they run down hills at breakneck speeds and sometimes crash, trees and rocks on those trails.

Basketball players fall and crack their noggins often... helmets for them too.
Heck I worry about Lebron hitting his head on the rim.

I really don't know why we all don't put on a helmet each morning as a part of our wardrobe.... think how safe we would all be!

I never realized riding a bike was so dangerous.

I hate wearing a helmet and never did as a child, and I've turned out fine. Regardless, I tend to usually wear one. I've seen at least 3 crashes in the past few years where a helmet probably saved someone from a far more serious injury.

I've never wrecked in a car or needed my seatbelt, but I wear that thing too. 99.99% (some randomly made up number) of the time I won't need my helmet, seatbelt or other safety device. It's that .01% chance that I will that reminds me to use it.

Wear them or not, that's your choice. My daughter still relies on me, so anything that I can do to ensure that I can support her just a little bit longer...even if it may not even work....is enough for me.

Ya know, I never really paid any attention to that before. But I do most of my riding on or near the BG trail, so most drivers are pretty aware. Can't really say the same about PEDESTRIANS though, LOL. EDIT: BTW, I'm 51, & I'm probably twice as cranky & grumpy as most folks. Get out of the way, ya damn pedestrians!!!

The worst riders on the local M.U.P. are always wearing helmets...

-D

...................I resemble that remark.

................Not new, I started doing it many years ago..........wait, you said normal. Scratch my last.

..........this one needs to be cross posted to the A+S thread. Classic Helment Thread material.

Where do you think I gleaned all this wisdom? lol

when i started riding again as an adult several years ago after i moved to a better climate in seattle, i used to hear pedestrians, drivers and cops spitefully yell out, "where's your helmet?" (or worse). about two years ago, things seemed to change. we elected an everyday, bike-riding mayor that all but stopped enforcing the helmet law, and i started seeing a few more helmetless riders on the road and trail.

i use lights at night out of respect for myself, drivers and other cyclists approaching me on the trail. it's uncool, disrespectful and stupidly dangerous to ride at night without a white/clear light up front and a red one in back. both mine blink.

oh ... i do wear a cinelli cycling cap. i don't mind it until i start sweating too much, then i'll stow it in the bag. i think drivers appreciate seeing something on the rider's head. i wish i could reassure them even more, but my disposition disallows it.

On all the actions I have on a helmet..
We ain't talking about "neck braces"..

That's probably true for 5 and 6 year olds, but what about 12 and 13 year olds? They are no more likely to fall than a 50 year old and their necks are probably as strong or stronger!

Skydiving helmets are among the dumbest things I have ever heard of. Of course, the idea of a skydiving helmet probably seems perfectly rational to the "a helmet saved my life a dozen times!!!" crowd around here. I mean, hell, if a helmet can save the life of a cyclist who gets run over by a dump truck, then why not one saving the life of a skydiver who impacts the ground at 150 MPH?

When I was 12 I fell off my bike on a regular basis. As a middle-aged adult, I haven't fallen off a bicycle since I quit racing, a couple of decades ago.

One of the facets of the "You have to wear a helmet!!!" argument seems to be the idea that crashing on a regular basis is normal and necessary. I suppose that may be why so many people crash on a regular basis, although I guess that's a bit of a chicken/egg question. At any rate, I don't see any reason to accept safety advice from people who can't manage to go for a bicycle ride without hurting themselves.

Say what you want, but we do wear helmets. Funny thing though, one of my instructors doesn't wear a helmet.

The instructor on the right is helmetless, whereas, the instructor on the left has helmet, and my timid ass in the middle with the red helmet..

https://www.cehoward.net/o86.jpg

Ditto for the racetrack, always helmet and full leathers. that goes for the street too..

https://www.cehoward.net/1poster.jpg

On the skydive again, when I land, you are supposed land against the wind. But, for some reason and I can't turn the chute to land against the wind, I will have to land with the wind, and that be touching down at about 30 to 40 mph, helmet is much needed, I assure you..