My hair is curly (and a little grayer and thinner now, but not bald). I just brush it back and put some gel in it when it is wet and it curls up. When I get to the office, I comb out the depressions with my fingers. It is usually damp from the ride, but if not I add a little water from the bathroom sink. I like it short on the sides and back and a little length on top to allow it to curl up, but I don't know the numbers used on the clippers. They usually cut the top with scissors using their fingers to gauge the length.

I actually find this hair problem worse when I do that -
I always end up looking like the Joker from Batman. Not a great way to enter a meeting, unless of course the room is tilted to a villainous angle and packed with your loyal henchmen....

I choose not to look into the mirror.

As of today, I'm bald. I shaved my head for the first time. I'm cold!

Still got the 'stache?

I never used to have a problem with helmet hair, but now that I am sporting an afro, it's a whole different ballgame. Jamming my hair under the helmet results in several rows mini-mohawks by the time I reach my destination, and even light sweatiness generated by riding means that it takes even longer for the hair product that I use to dry, which means that I'll have a sort of whitish sheen on my hair until it does. Unacceptable on both counts. I solve the problem by only wearing my helmet on my way home for the day. That's not a solution for everyone, but it works for me.

3 and 2 for me...

And no, I'm not balding (just thinning)! A few years ago I consciously chose a buzz so I could (a) never comb again, and (b) wear a bike helmet without hair-effect

Yes, but I cut it back a bit. It's not quite so enormous now, but it's always evolving, so I will probably enormify it again as well as grow my hair back. I don't know if I can get used to being this cold. I didn't have much hair, but it made a difference.

Unless my hair is super short, the windblown look needs fixing.



Yep.

I just wet my hair when I get to work and re-comb it.

Chemo took care of the hair issue for me five years ago. I have kept it shaved (no attachment on the clippers) ever since. Love not having that sort of maintenance need.

Interestingly enough, now that it's longer and I style/comb it, it usually looks better after the helmet. with my old buzzcut I would get the three mohawks depressions from the helmet which didn't want to go away afterwards. With my hair combed over and dry, it normally just takes a splash of water and a few seconds of mussing to get it back to GQ levels (okay, maybe not that level). If I have just showered and styled, I will probably skip the helmet altogether. The wind will mess with it in a different, but more forgivable way.

Cycling cap under the helmet (avoids the helmet mohawk), short hair, and a quick trip to the sink upon arrival.

I keep a comb in my bag. I don't use any styling products in my hair. I get my comb wet and make my hair look less like a mess.

You're a long haired hippy as far as I'm concerned. I shave my dome every 1-2 days. And wearing a helmet while bald is not all it's cracked up to be. The helmet indentations on your scalp and forehead last for an hour or more. I have to be careful if I have a meeting where I have to look somewhat presentable first thing in the morning.

Have you been able to find a skull knit cap to go under helmet? It can serve as sort of artificial hair, i've found. Both cutting the air against the skin, and creating a warming layer.

- Andy

From a July 2014 thread on the Living Car Free subforum: "Helmet hair anyone?"

I have a cyclist friend with alopecia, and he always rides with a cotton (I think) like skullcap under the helmet, otherwise in the summer the sweat is intolerable (it sucks to not have eybrows). Surely it would help in the cold too.

many years later (post-brylcreem) ... I decided that none of that is worth the trouble. Grown long, tied back, and when it's mussed I just smooth it out with my hands and I'm good to go. To the extent that anyone cares anyway.

I just use a hairmet

I don't think I'll shave my head again, at least not for the foreseeable future. It's too drafty, and I don't like the look. But hey, I tried it. I'm wearing a cap inside now.

When I had a substantial amount of hair, it was the curly type that would stand up on end, so helmets didn't mess it up much. Sometimes it would make those indentations, but running my fingers through it would usually even it out.

Buzz cut since I was in the 9th grade in 1994, #2 blade every 2 months for most of that time. Nothing affects my hair.

Hummm, Helmets don't look fashionable except on Fabian Cancellara so one won't make me more fashionable. They don't have anything in them to cool my head in summer or keep it warmer in winter. The rate of head injuries as a percent of all bicycle injuries is the same in countries that don't wear helmets as in countries that do so one apparently won't protect my head. And it messes up my hair instead of giving me that natural healthy northern European windblown look.

uh oh

My hair are long red and curly. I like them soon after the shower when they are soft with big volume. The problem with the helmet is that the curls disappear with sweat and I look like a wet pet. The hair attached to my head makes me nervous. I don't feel at ease and it seems I've been under a thunderstorm.
If I don't wear a helmet is even worse because if the wind together with the air humidity in the mornings.
When I arrive at work I try to use curly hair cream but it doesn't solve the problem.
Believe it or not. ..This is the main reason that forces me to use the car instead of my bike. I hate having helmet hair. It seems that I don't care of my look and don't respect my colleagues.