Banned
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the semi-resiliant foams used in helmets are by their nature brittle and are prone to cracking & destructive shear deformation during the impact as they conform to the wearer. they would not do their job otherwise-ie dissipating & spreading energy over time/distance/surface area by compression, deformation & shear. the whole process is a destructive one, right down to the cell structure of the foams themselves. so long as the foams remain positioned and located between the wearer and the point of contact , they are capable of and are indeed performing their function.
Excuse me? How dare you presume to evaluate my understanding based on a simplistic explanation given for the sake of your little pea brain.Originally Posted by caterham
you sure speak with a lot of authority for someone that has such a simplistic understanding of how & why a helmet dissipates energy. the semi-resiliant foams used in helmets are by their nature brittle and are prone to cracking & destructive shear deformation during the impact as they conform to the wearer. they would not do their job otherwise-ie dissipating & spreading energy over time/distance/surface area by compression, deformation & shear. the whole process is a destructive one, right down to the cell structure of the foams themselves. so long as the foams remain positioned and located between the wearer and the point of contact , they are capable of and are indeed performing their function.
A cracking helmet isn't conforming to anything. It's moving out of position, no longer between the wearer and the point of contact, where it is no longer capable of performing its function. Besides, regardless of how it works it sure as hell isn't preventing any skull cracking or absorbing more than a small percentage of an impact at speed and to the best of my knowledge, no designer, no physician, no regulating authority, or anyone else except for some ignorant safety nannies has ever claimed otherwise.
Mods, this thread is cooked, move it over to A&S where it belongs.
Bicycling Gnome
LOL - I have a feeling I should now leave this thread alone.
Maybe we should put a poll up on it (if that were possible) so people can indicate which side has convinced them most.
Kind regards to all.
I'm going to get my helmet out of the back of the car and hang it on my bike seat to remind me to put it on. I do look like a right twa* when wearing it, but I suppose that's preferable to sitting in a chair with dribble coming out of my mouth and grunting.
Maybe we should put a poll up on it (if that were possible) so people can indicate which side has convinced them most.
Kind regards to all.
I'm going to get my helmet out of the back of the car and hang it on my bike seat to remind me to put it on. I do look like a right twa* when wearing it, but I suppose that's preferable to sitting in a chair with dribble coming out of my mouth and grunting.
Part-time epistemologist
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If you want to dive into this mess, then check out the "helmets cramp my style" thread in A&S. I would be shocked if anyone writes anything not written in that thread. Originally Posted by vmaniqui
i am a new biker - and just curious - maybe a stupid question. i am in california and when i checked online it says that bike helmet are required for a person under 18 years of age. if you do wear them what's the best one to have? any input ? appreciate it.
https://www.bikeforums.net/advocacy-safety/96298-helmets-cramp-my-style.html
Part-time epistemologist
My opinion ...
The efficacy of cycling helmets is probably wildly overstated to the public. Will it save your life? Almost certainly not. Might it prevent a boo-boo? Certainly could. Note that there are some reasons to believe that helmets could cause injuries too. Long story short, cycling helmets are designed for the types of injuries little kids suffer. If my memory is correct, they are designed for a standing two-meter fall onto a hard surface.
If a 100+ page thread isn't your thing, here is a good summary of the research.
https://www.cyclehelmets.org/
The efficacy of cycling helmets is probably wildly overstated to the public. Will it save your life? Almost certainly not. Might it prevent a boo-boo? Certainly could. Note that there are some reasons to believe that helmets could cause injuries too. Long story short, cycling helmets are designed for the types of injuries little kids suffer. If my memory is correct, they are designed for a standing two-meter fall onto a hard surface.
If a 100+ page thread isn't your thing, here is a good summary of the research.
https://www.cyclehelmets.org/
Senior Member
helmet or no helmet...if one of those nyc mta bus, or a garbage truck, or a tractor trailer etc. ever to run over u...i'm pretty sure u r a goner.
like the above poster have mentioned...check out the 1000 pages thread about helmet. this have been debated to death. if you are under certain age, i understand it is the law that u must wear a helmet. but if u are an adult and know how to take care/handle of urself, wearing a helmet is ur perogative.
like the above poster have mentioned...check out the 1000 pages thread about helmet. this have been debated to death. if you are under certain age, i understand it is the law that u must wear a helmet. but if u are an adult and know how to take care/handle of urself, wearing a helmet is ur perogative.
Senior Member
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1: If you can imagine me being flung through the air after impact and landing on my head, the helmet saved my skull from cracking like an egg shell, it did the job it was made to do, even though it was shattered into 5 pieces and blood soaked. It didn't protect part of my left ear which was gouged away, plastic surgery is a marvel isn't it?
2: The straps of the helmet sliced part of my scalp to ribbons, right to the bone. I now have some nice scars...if you want some pics......
All in all, I wear a helmet to obey the law here in Oz and to protect my noggin....simple.
Originally Posted by stevegor
I don't post here much at all these days, but this topic took my attention. I won't try to argue my point with long wordy scientific reasonings or bore you with my detailed stories of my accidents, but.....From personal experience from my worst accident, (hit by a car doing 50mph from behind, fract vert, leg and head injuries), my helmet did two things:-1: If you can imagine me being flung through the air after impact and landing on my head, the helmet saved my skull from cracking like an egg shell, it did the job it was made to do, even though it was shattered into 5 pieces and blood soaked. It didn't protect part of my left ear which was gouged away, plastic surgery is a marvel isn't it?
2: The straps of the helmet sliced part of my scalp to ribbons, right to the bone. I now have some nice scars...if you want some pics......
All in all, I wear a helmet to obey the law here in Oz and to protect my noggin....simple.
Wow... glad to hear you survived such a horrific ordeal (no photos necessary, I believe you)! Our floor-managers son died from slamming the back of his head on to concrete. Nothing spectacular like yours, just an awkward fall going down the drive on his skateboard.
Yeah, no debates from me either... it's mandatory in NZ too, so no point discussing.
.
Senior Member
too bad...helmet didn't save this person:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3blm...eature=related
and here is an irony of a guy who doesn't wear a helmet and survive:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTDMfQkfmNU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3blm...eature=related
and here is an irony of a guy who doesn't wear a helmet and survive:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTDMfQkfmNU
crazy bike girl
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https://www.bicycle.net/2007/giro-hel...-over-by-truckOriginally Posted by vincentnyc
helmet or no helmet...if one of those nyc mta bus, or a garbage truck, or a tractor trailer etc. ever to run over u...i'm pretty sure u r a goner.
Senior Member
Amazing!
Bicycling Gnome
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I once had the unfortunate job of pulling two 14 year olds out from under a truck. They had had their heads run over too, but they didn't do so well. One was dead underneath the truck and couldn't be resucitated and the other died about twenty minutes later.Originally Posted by jur
Amazing!
I really don't think that any cycling helmet I have ever seen would have made much difference to them. Everything was in pieces, like a broken egg in a plastic bag. When I was trying to open the airway on one of them, everything was crunching.
I wonder if that guy's helmet actually came off and got run over. He is in far too good condition to have gone through having several tonnes run over his head. Having seen what that does to heads, I don't believe him.
No way was his head run over. Those wheels have about 3 tonnes on each one of them. He might have bounced off one of them.
Senior Member
Yep I also thought that if run over 'properly' even a motorcycle helmet would have trouble saving your head. I had the impression his head was sort of squeezed out of the helmet by virtue of the wheel edge aligning with the edge of his head.
Amazingly lucky.
Amazingly lucky.
Senior Member
My mum ran over my foot when I was getting ready to close the garage door. When I shouted "you're on my foot!" she stopped - on my foot. Around 300kg probably on that wheel, but it didn't do any damage, since it was just the edge of the tyre on the end of my toe. On a lighter note, if you get run over by the right kind of truck, you'll be fine!
Senior Member
It seems to me that if your time is up, no matter whether you have a helmet or not, you'll be joining the choir invisible regardless. I choose to wear a helmet because it matches my groovy lycra outfits, WHATEVER, like WOW 
There are other reasons, besides safety, for wearing a bicycling helmet:
- Keep the head warm in cold weather
- A place to attach lights (headlight that points where you're looking, blinking taillight for visibility)
- Spot for attaching a mirror to see behind you
- With a visor, it can keep the sun and rain out of your eyes
If you would say that an ordinary hat can do some of that; fine -- you're right, but hats that are made to do all of that would probably look even more silly than a helmet.
- Keep the head warm in cold weather
- A place to attach lights (headlight that points where you're looking, blinking taillight for visibility)
- Spot for attaching a mirror to see behind you
- With a visor, it can keep the sun and rain out of your eyes
If you would say that an ordinary hat can do some of that; fine -- you're right, but hats that are made to do all of that would probably look even more silly than a helmet.
I... Don't care.
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And pinecones. Falling pinecones hurt.Originally Posted by msincredible
My helmet has protected me from falling acorns.
I'm not gonna debate wether helmet protects the noggin or not, as I don't have any major proof of it, but all I can say is, if not for my helmet, I'm sure I could had a big gash on my head when I had my major splat last year (my head hit the concrete). To me, its the same as with wearing cycling gloves, it will not prevent bone damage on a fall, but it sure helps not getting your hand grated by the concrete. I try to wear both regularly on my bike rides. No, its not required here either.
Senior Member
I only wear my helmet at night, because it holds my blinky quite nicely.