IronMac

I'm beginning to consider a corkboard for stupid things I see on the 'Net.

So, my turning my bike around means I increase the risk of an accident? Sorry but if I were to cycle in a straight line I'd invariably hit something or not get home ever.

chipcom 

Turning your bike around is a simple thing, part of riding a bike. Attempting to launch yourself off a ramp while trying to turn your bike around in mid air is a voluntary action one makes that obviously increases the risk of going down and thus injury. The fact that you cannot understand such a simple concept means that perhaps you should include yourself on your corkboard.

Doug5150

I put rubber-block pedals on my commuter bike, just so that I could ride it barefoot if I wanted to... but I have since found out otherwise that my feet tend to sunburn very easily, so I haven't done that yet. :|
~

rando

not wearing a helmet does not = veggie all your life.

wear something on your head or not, just don't preach.

assess your own risk, do what you feel is right.

I can't believe we still have these threads.

Butterthebean

like crime, prejudice and WalMart, they will never go away...much to our detriment.

stokessd

Ironically the folks I see out here in Indiana are almost always helmeted. All skill levels. But most of the riders I see are completely encrusted in spandex and garish jerseys regardless of skill level. It's part of the "new" bicycle culture that the industry has sold. In order to bicycle, you'll need a complete outfit including high tech socks. The industry says you can't possibly do the bicycle thing right without all the clothes.

Nobody has yelled "wear a helmet" to me yet; maybe that's the midwestern politeness.

I see a lot of kids helmeted up these days too. It's a wonder the human race survived before styrofoam partial head buckets.

Here in Indiana there isn't a motorcycle helmet law either.

Sheldon

JPMacG

I always wear a helmet and don't even think about it any more. Putting on a helmet is part of getting on my bike. I'm not convinced it makes biking any safer but I'm willing to give the safety proponents the benefit of the doubt.

However, I refuse to wear a multi-colored superhero outfit or $12 hi-tec socks.

ottawa_adam

Yawn, this topic has been covered extensively in the A&S forum. There's even a sticky there. I referred to the link on the first page of this thread.

DaBOB

What about us newbies. Maybe we want to say something the others didn't.

Yeah, I'm too cool for a helmet but I like to set a good example so I wear one anyways.

What's the saying: "I'd rather have it and not need it than need it and not have it."

Bicycles can become second nature, like walking or running. The problem being that, especially for street riders, you can't control other people's actions. So, while you may be the best in the world, nothing is going to stop that F-250 driver on his cell phone from ramming into you.

Or here's another example. I was riding down this sidewalk the other day that I've been down a million times. I noticed something funny on my bike and looked down for a second. To my surprise a new sign had just been installed on the sidewalk and after a loud thud I opened my eyes to find myself sitting on the ground and pieces of my bike scattered all over the rode. Luckily my only injuries were some huge bruises and a little whiplash, luckily.

Your head is probably the best thing to invest in for safety so I see nothing wrong with a helmet. Sure I might not wear it to take a quick ride down the street but for anything else it seems to make sense.

Then again I went to Japan recently and bikes are sort of second nature to their entire culture. There are as many people on bikes as there are walking or driving. I didn't pay specific attention but I don't remember seeing many helmets... unless they were for fashion.

JPMacG

I'd argue that every conceivable topic related to bikes has already been discussed ad nauseam. If we stopped revisiting old subjects this forum would become a static FAQ list.

tpelle

I've seen exactly TWO adults riding bikes without a helmet, however I almost NEVER see kids wearing a helmet (unless they're small kids riding with mom or dad).

I also almost NEVER see motorcyclists wearing helmets. I notice, though, that the "crotch-rocket" riders (except for my nephew, who exhibits bad judgment in almost everything he does) tend to wear helmets, but the "chopper" riders never do. I think the sportbike riders tend to be a little more OCP.

Doug5150

One thing I can tell you about bicycle safety--I wear an eyeglasses-mounted rear view mirror, and it has saved my can lots of times from cars moving up behind me. I always have a rear-view mirror along.

A helmet helps you avoid injury if you crash, while a rear-view mirror helps you avoid crashing in the first place. So you tell me, which is more important?

All the people I see wearing helmets, and yet it is still very rare to see any that have rear-view mirrors of any kind. They'd be safer just easily being aware of what traffic was behind them all the time. A rear-view-mirror law would make much more sense to me than a helmet law.
~

deraltekluge

For me, the most persuasive argument for wearing a helmet is that it's required by law, here. I can't believe that a bike helmet will make a significant difference in preventing anything but superficial head injuries, but even superficial injuries can be painful and bloody, and I don't believe that a helmet will do any harm, either...so, because it's the law, I always wear one.

alpinist

The only time I "used" my helmet so far was on an MUP, not in the street.

I'll skip all of the details, but it wasn't severe, but would have been worse without it.

What makes me wonder is when I see people riding with their helmets strapped to their racks, or hanging on their messenger bags instead of on their heads while they are riding in traffic. I saw that at least twice in Seattle in the last week. I just thought "Why do they even have a helmet?"

norsehabanero

we have police that ride our bike trails here, but they ride with helmets but with the straps tucked up,
and not buckled, alot of good that does, and a nice message it sets

alpinist

Just want to add - I met a guy a couple of years ago that ALWAYS drove his car with a helmet on. I met him on a snowshoe trip I went on with an outdoor club. This guy said that the majority of deaths in car accidents were related to head injuries, so he always wore a helmet while driving his minivan. I thought he was kidding at first. I was carpooling with him, and he drove from Seattle to the trailhead and back with that helmet on, and all points between. He was completely serious.

DaBOB

Ha, I'm in Seattle and saw that just the other day. I almost asked the guy about it when he stopped.

For a while I used to ride a free-ride bike everywhere (commuting and everything) and the only helmet I had was a full face so I would take it off on hot days. But then it was such a slow bike and I was always on sidewalks so it didn't really matter much.

OttR

This, of all things, finally makes me stop lurking and post here. This is a pretty sad attitude. I live in Reno, too and it's too bad you think I'm not "real" cyclist. I guess even not owning a car and riding my bike pretty much everywhere isn't enough to qualify me. But you're right about not having a "real" bike; I'm too poor to afford one.

I was thinking the other day that I should get out and meet some of the cycling community around here, maybe meet some cool folks. If your attitude is representative of them, I think I'd rather hang with the wobbly Huffy riders instead. They sound more fun.

And by the way, I'd like to know where you see all these helmet-wearing "real" cyclists. Because by my estimate the sans-helmet riders outnumber the helmeted here by about 20 to 1 at least. But I guess those are all the wannabes and Huffy guys. You must be talking about the cyclists in their cycling outfits that do actually only ride once or twice a month, on the weekend, if it's not too hot or too cold. Are those the "real" riders? Yeah, those guys seem to wear helmets more often.

You know, it is possible to come to a rational decision to not wear a helmet. It's not about being "too cool" (I would make any helmet look good ). It's the same reason I wouldn't wear one in a car: I don't think the risk justifies it. I've read almost that whole helmet thread in A&S (I skipped about 20 pages in the middle) and read every study posted in that thread. I've come to what I believe is a rational, educated (as much as possible) conclusion. Bicycling -- done safely -- is no more dangerous than riding in a car, probably less. You might disagree, and that's fine. You can wear your helmet and I'll not wear one. I just don't see why some helmet wearers feel the need to insult and put down those that choose differently.

Sirrus Rider

No.. Most places I ride everyone is helmeted with the exception of the Illegal Aliens on Bike Shaped Objects.

For those of you who are truely passionate about riding who don't think they need to wear a helmet and who think a brain injury cannot happen to you because of your tremendous cycling skills think again.

Back in my college days I had a friend who I gone to grade school/junior high with who was a gifted road rider. He was a cat three and are raced and trained regularly. One day he was riding over to a friends house sans helmet and he hit a patch of sand. Well, he went down and he hit his head and he wound up with right side paralysis. He eventually recovered enough to walk; however, he never rode a bike again. In all likelihood if he had been wearing his helmet he may have still been riding until this day. Keep this in mind when you start feeling your oats and feeling bulletproof to the point where you feel that you do not need a helmet.

Catweazle

Reason enough to wear one on a bike, then, because in that car you have the protection of seat belt, probably air bags, if the car was built sometime in the past 30 years a protective cage (body shell) around you which us engineered to absorb some degree at least of the impact.

In comparison, on a bike you have nothing other than the helmet, and if you're unfortunate enough to hit that patch of sand (or whatever) the wrong way it could well be that your head hits the bloody deck before you even get a change to throw an arm out to absorb a bit of impact!

All those 'studies' don't actually inducate diddley-squat, if you kick back and examine them logically and rationally, because the decent research hasn't been done and the research which has been done is built on flawed study designs and unsubstantiable assumptions. Yeah, I've read 'em too.

Butterthebean

I believe there have also been several insults thrown around by some NON helmet wearers as well. It has hardly been one sided.

That being said, I do not think it was anyone's intention to insult you, although I can see how those "real cyclist" comments would upset you. Tell me, would you have been so upset if he had mentioned a city other than Reno? It seems that caused you to take it rather personal.

JanMM

Answer: Both.

OttR

I don't like the whole 'some people aren't "real" cyclists' attitude that's pretty common on here and I've seen it a lot since I've been reading this forum. It was his mention of Reno that got me to post about it though, yes. And it's also the "not wearing a helmet is stupid and you're a Darwin candidate if you don't" comments that I was referring to when I mentioned insults.

I think the "real cyclist" thing is more sad than anything. Every day I'm downtown here I see lots and lots of cyclists. The bike racks in the casino parking garages are full. The bike racks at the bus station are full and overflowing. These are mostly people riding to their jobs. They do it every day (and hardly any of them wear helmets). I want to know why these people don't count as "real cyclists". Even the homeless guys on their bikes, why are they not "real cyclists"? All these folks are on bicycles, even if they are crappy ones, so they're cyclists. They face the same dangers and challenges all cyclists do. And they probably have spent more time with their feet on the pedals than any non-commuting, expensive-bike-riding, "real cyclist".

Maybe instead of looking down on these people, try offering friendship and some helpful advice, some of that knowledge you've gathered reading bike forums all day long, maybe some of your old gear that you aren't using anymore.

The bike I'm riding now was given to me, by someone who likes bicycles a lot. It's not a very good bike, but I appreciate it and I'm happy to have it. The guy who gave it to me was one of those homeless guys you see riding around in raggedy jeans, someone who some people on here would not consider to be a real cyclist. But I think his act of giving me a bicycle to ride was more in the spirit of "real cycling" than this attitude of looking down on riders just because they are on a Huffy.

(I didn't want my first posts here to be so negative. I do like this forum a lot. There is a lot of helpful advice and good people here. It's just this attitude that bums me out.)

jefferee

Fixed.

FWIW, I always wear my helmet. My rear-view mirror and secondary rear light are both attached to it and it may save me from some bleeding and stitches some day. If I ever get nailed by a vehicle going 30+ MPH I don't believe for a second that the helmet will make any difference in the outcome--either I will hit my head and die, or I won't and (may) live.

stokessd

I stand corrected. The wife and I were out on a 30 mile morning ride and 6 spandex encrusted riders came around a corner going the other way and I said "hello" and I got a "get a helmet" shouted back at me. I resisted the instinct to yell "**** you", and yelled the much less pleasing "helmet nazi" back at them.

If I wasn't with my wife, I would have swung around and caught them and discussed the studies, and statistics of helmet use. And challenged their brainwashed attitude toward styrofoam yamaka use.

Sheldon