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Old 05-17-14 | 07:37 PM
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Helmet Hair

So, i've been commuting to work/school 60 miles a week consistently. Sweat is not much of an issue because my arrival commutes are downhill. However, I always get the imprints of my Giro Revel helmet. My hair is short 3" clip on top. How are you guys dealing with this? Not a big issue but curious on what everyone does...
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Old 05-17-14 | 07:43 PM
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Buzzed. I've been getting a buzz cut since I was little, and by myself with the clippers since I was around 12. My wife even bought a pro set for me to replace my dead cheapos!

Yeah so helmet hair just doesn't happen, not enough there to cause a problem.
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Old 05-17-14 | 07:45 PM
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Old 05-17-14 | 08:01 PM
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I wear a head sweat cap under the helmet. Keeps the helmet imprints away.
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Old 05-17-14 | 08:25 PM
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I'm an accountant. I don't think anyone's paid attention to my hair at work in 20 years.

I probably have helmet hair sometimes and don't even know about it.
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Old 05-17-14 | 08:32 PM
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I just took the beanie step as well. Helmet imprints would stay visible for 2 hours or more. I also ride along the river and get lots of bugs trapped in my short hair so I'm thinking it may solve both problems.
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Old 05-17-14 | 08:50 PM
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Summer buzz cut old #2 across the top at the barber shop.
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Old 05-17-14 | 09:57 PM
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I'm a woman with very short hair, a pixie cut. Here's the key: your hair has to be completely dry when you put on the helmet. The longer it has been dry the better. It's almost like your hair wants to be the shape it was 30 minutes after it first dried and will try to default back to that style. I usually just have to use my fingers to mess up my hair after taking the helmet off to get rid of the helmet imprint.
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Old 05-17-14 | 11:27 PM
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I ain't got no hair, but I get a nice, noticeable welt on my forehead from the helmet's padding...
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Old 05-17-14 | 11:37 PM
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Get one of those shower caps with a towel in it that the guy on Shark Tank was pushing a few months ago.
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Old 05-18-14 | 12:31 AM
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I bike to a business-dress marketing department, so helmet hair isn't an option. A helmet liner keeps all your hair equally compressed -- that means no hair sticking up into the vents, so it's all equally compressed. Flat, but even, so no helmet hair.
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Old 05-18-14 | 01:00 AM
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From: In The Middle Of "Out There" / Downtown "Lost Angels"

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I find a Classic cotton bicycle cap works most days for my 15 mi. commute. I buy them on sale for $5-$6 (Nashbar usually).

During heat waves (just coming off a week of 90+ temps w/ several days 100+ here in L. A.) l would grab a Headsweats *Dew Rag*. Though I now have gone into Summer Mode and gotten the fall/winter accumulation buzzed off. I'm also trying out a couple of cycling caps made from a *wicking fabric* like the fabric in the Headsweats.

An Important Plus of using something between your Sweaty, Greasy hair/scalp and the helmet is reducing/eliminating the development of the dreaded HELMETFUNKY pad syndrome!!
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Old 05-18-14 | 02:00 AM
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Maybe just lose the helmet?
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Old 05-18-14 | 04:17 AM
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I started having my hairdresser meet me before work, at work each day rather than at my house.
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Old 05-18-14 | 04:47 AM
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"I put on my wig again, to cover the helmet imprints after I put off my helmet." would do the trick.

Last edited by bulevardi; 05-18-14 at 04:51 AM.
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Old 05-18-14 | 04:50 AM
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I used to have short hair before and had that compulsive helmet imprint syndrome too.
But since my hair grew until my shoulders, it lies flat, and don't have any other hairdisorder issues anymore,
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Old 05-18-14 | 05:59 AM
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Peel it like a grape...
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Old 05-18-14 | 07:47 AM
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Originally Posted by rekon
My hair is short 3" clip on top. How are you guys dealing with this? Not a big issue but curious on what everyone does...
Just a few ideas. Helmet or not.

For Men:

1. Keep it short or shave it off.

2. Join a gym close to work. Shower and style there.

3. Get a job where no one cares.

For Women:


1. Style it really short or grow it really long. Cute "in between" styles and spiked doos are out unless...

2. Join a gym close to work and style there.

3. Don't look good in a crew cut? Grow it long, pull it into a pony tail. Helmet hair is impossible. For professionals, when you get to work, twist the pony tail into a bun and pin it up in on minute (with practice).

4. Get a job where no one cares.

HINT: If you are trying to land a rich law partner or doctor, get the cutest hair style possible, make the investment in a cheap car and pay for parking until the whale is landed. After the honeymoon see 1-4 above.

Last edited by JoeyBike; 05-18-14 at 07:53 AM.
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Old 05-18-14 | 08:08 AM
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skull cap
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Old 05-18-14 | 09:03 AM
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Originally Posted by JoeyBike
Just a few ideas. Helmet or not.

For Men:

1. Keep it short or shave it off.

2. Join a gym close to work. Shower and style there.

3. Get a job where no one cares.

For Women:


1. Style it really short or grow it really long. Cute "in between" styles and spiked doos are out unless...

2. Join a gym close to work and style there.

3. Don't look good in a crew cut? Grow it long, pull it into a pony tail. Helmet hair is impossible. For professionals, when you get to work, twist the pony tail into a bun and pin it up in on minute (with practice).

4. Get a job where no one cares.

HINT: If you are trying to land a rich law partner or doctor, get the cutest hair style possible, make the investment in a cheap car and pay for parking until the whale is landed. After the honeymoon see 1-4 above.
For men or women:

1. Buy the company. Fire anyone who gives you grief about your helmet hair.

HINT: If you are trying to land a rich law partner or doctor, wear a lot of tight lycra all the time. They won't ever look high enough to notice your hair.
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Old 05-18-14 | 09:08 AM
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I keep my hair shorter than 1/4 inch #1 on the DIY clipper set, so this is never an issue. I ride too often to worry about having some fashionable hair style, 100% function over form. In winter i wear a hat, thickness depending on the ambient outdoor temp under helmet in place of the pads. In summer the short hair also means sweat evaporates more quickly, and i say cooler because air can get to the skin.

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Old 05-18-14 | 09:48 AM
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Yea put on a hat when you take off the helmet .. then it will be hat hair, more socially acceptable.. LA is all about vanity ..
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Old 05-18-14 | 03:35 PM
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how about this solution... is there a helmet out there that's ventilated and does not give you helmet hair. My bern helmet doesn't give me helmet hair but it has absolutely no ventilation!
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Old 05-18-14 | 04:15 PM
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Originally Posted by JosephG
Buzzed. I've been getting a buzz cut since I was little, and by myself with the clippers since I was around 12. My wife even bought a pro set for me to replace my dead cheapos!

Yeah so helmet hair just doesn't happen, not enough there to cause a problem.
Yep...buzzed for me as well. #1 all around. Do it myself about every other week.
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Old 05-18-14 | 04:22 PM
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Originally Posted by cat
Yep...buzzed for me as well. #1 all around. Do it myself about every other week.
It's the best! #1 here too. I just don't feel comfortable with my hair any longer than that at this point. I clean it up once a week, but give it a once over every other day.
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