spinnaker

Helmets cost as little as $30. They will protect your head just as well as the $170. Unless your LBS has the correct equipment and training, they are not qualified to evaluate the condition of your helmet. Buy a new helmet.

neurocycler

Actually I can get you one cheap, sure it belonged to a rat and has been sitting in fixative for a while, but cheap nonetheless. Probably best to just wear a helmet now that I think about it...

patentcad

Correct. Consider a new helmet, even if it's a cheaper model from the same maker or some other brand that Nashbar or somebody else is blowing out for $90. They're not that hard to find. The means to ascertain whether a helmet is 'OK' after a crash is well beyond any local bike shop. Think Xrays, engineering analysis, etc. The helmet could look fine but it may not be and it may not properly absorb impact in the next crash.

Err on the side of caution in this case. Something to think about. While you still can I mean.

George

I started riding at 65 and here I am flying down this hill at 25mph. Fast for me at the time, all of a sudden I didn't have any wheels under me. Cracked helmet, torn shorts and jersey. While I was laying there testing my arms and legs, it shot into my mind, THE BIKE. I was 10 miles from where I parked. Anyhow, I have a lot more I could say about it, but the bike was alright, I had a few cracked ribs and a lot of road rash. My ribs were sore for 4 months. I would never think about riding without a helmet.

I wish you and your friend the best of luck and a speedy recovery, good luck.

eb314

I wear a helmet because I haven't crashed my bike yet, so I'm due. It looks cool too.

SoNiK

My GF went fell hard last year January. She was doing around 25 mph and cracked her brand new Giro Atmos in ten places that I could count. I suspect that without the helmet she would be dead or getting her nutrition through an I.V.

To the OP, I wish you and your friend a full and fast recovery.

wannaride

Thanks for the words of cheer. I had no idea that there was much controversy about wearing one. My friend is very lucky she had on a helmet. It's hard to complain about a wrist when someone takes a headshot. Breaking your right wrist when you are right handed is no fun and the wrist guards sound like a great idea now.

ride26fast

+1 on me probably being dead if it weren't for my helmet.

i also heard that the way the vents in the helmet are designed, it actually does keep your head cooler than wearing no helmet..

operator

It's called freedom. Do what you want, but don't try and convince others that your view is superior, whether it be helmet or no helmet.

farrellcollie

I was glad I was wearing mine this past August when I went down (actually over the handlbars) due to stick being thrown up into wheel (little tiny thing - not a branch or anything - the size of a finger at best). I took the skin off my chin, broke wrist and two fingers and cracked the helmet - going down flat straight road that I travel almost every day on commute.

HigherGround

How does freedom of speech figure in here?

PhrogBoy

When I was 17 (a long, long time ago) my bike was hit from behind by a hit and run driver.

I was launched (unconscious) across two lanes of traffic to awaken on top of the double yellow. In the ER I wondered why my hair was falling out - I had landed on my head and proceeded to slide down the pavement on my grape, giving me a nice road rash on my brain case.

I now wear a helmet.

merider1

Um...no, the original saying is "cold conked" - Urban dictionary is not a reliable source and yes, I realize the saying has been *******ized over the years. And before you tell me otherwise, read definition number two. Just sayin'

https://www.urbandictionary.com/defin...term=cold+cock

merider1

I'm sorry, I'm into sayings and no, it's not the "old" saying. The saying is cold conked and somehow through slang it became cold cocked (I guess...I never heard that before except in inappropriate conversation). Again, please check link below.

https://www.urbandictionary.com/defin...term=cold+cock

merider1

My view isn't superior and I'm not trying to convince anyone of that (so silly to try to even insinuate ). I present a cracked helmet where my head hit the pavement. It was cracked all the way through and had I not been wearing it, the doctor at Ojai Hospital Emergency Room suggested that I might not even be here to talk about it. It's called being intelligent. Do what you want, but don't try to convince me that the ignorance of not wearing a helmet is a political stand on one's freedom of rights. It's stupidity, pure and simple. But like I always say, "it's your head, not mine."

twahl

Never heard "cold conked" nor have I ever heard "cold cocked" used with any sexual connotations, until I read the above reference.

In any case, helmets do prevent some injuries and even deaths, the lessen some injuries, and they very rarely cause them, so I don't get the superior attitude of people who choose not to wear them. I agree they have the right to be a dumbass, but the right doesn't make it a superior position.

helmet > no helmet, arguing otherwise demonstrates that you probably won't suffer much from a traumatic brain injury anyway.

Double D

Why does it have to be a 170 dollar helmet? Plenty of other helmets meet the SAME safety standards for a lot less. A helmet with more "bling" might be a nicer fashion accessory but standards-wise it won't keep you safer.

Double D

Missing the point of the internet.

merider1

It doesn't have to cost that at all. In fact, a $16 helmet at Target or Walmart is just as safe as a $200 helmet elsewhere. Every helmet sold has to pass a test for safety by this organization: https://www.smf.org/stds.html

Here is the helmet I bought yesterday for $25.00 (on sale):

https://www.performancebike.com/shop/...tegory_ID=4210

<---avatar pic shows new helmet

joecool2727

I often ride without a helmet when im by myself. Not sayin its safe or that i dont need one, jus that i dont care to put one on. One time i fell goin down hill and got really bad scrapes on my palms (doctors had to scrub them to get the gravel out ouch) and a bad knee gash, didnt hit my head.
From then on i always started to wear gloves. I fell again around Christmas and got some bad road rash on my thigh and also put my hands out, but was wearing gloves. Nothing to the head. Hands were fine, not a scratch. Lesson is wear gloves.

Double D

Re: cold-cocked/conked/any sexual connotations, real or imagined...



It somehow seemed applicable, LOL, sorry.

Double D

Not sure if you were agreeing or not but just to clarify, that was pretty much my point.

GP

Where do you buy them? If I get a new one, I don't want a generic model or something made in the PRC
for low bid. I want something lighter, more memory and maybe a better graphics card.

merider1

I was agreeing.

merider1

ebay

you can get anything on ebay.