Lady Jane

This is EXACTLY what happened to my ex-husband. He was not wearing a helmet and was killed, his lady friend had a helmet on and was unhurt.

girl27

All over the planet, there are people with head injuries who can't even read this post. Some of them might get to see it, but won't remember it, a minute from now. My friend Heidy is one of those people.

Doctors can perform miracles in surgery. You might rely on them one day. But had Andrei Kivilev actually lived last spring, after sustaining a massive head injury, and extensive swelling in his brain, his wife and family would probably have spent the rest of their lives feeding him, dressing him, and taking him to bike races in a wheelchair.

There's worse stuff than dying, after an accident like that. There's worse stuff than getting 105 instead of Ultegra, so you can protect your life as you know it. You'd have money left over for good bib shorts, too. At least.

Good luck, friend.
RIP, Kivi.

HaroX2

Sometimes I wear one of my 7 helmets, and sometimes I don't. When I choose not to wear the helmet, I always wear a ballcap, which is alot hotter than the helmet would be.... I just get tired of wearing them sometimes I suppose. I have wrecked before (6 or 7 yrs. ago) and actually busted the side of the helmet I was wearing.... All in all it's a good habit to wear one. I sometimes see the Pro's during the Tour De France w/o them though. Ever notice? I don't ride on the roads, unless they're covered in gravel or grass. I don't always make my Kid's wear their helmets, but everyone's heard of the person who just fell over & happened to hit a curb. I wonder if these stories are all linked in someway. Kinda like a joke everyone's heard. Better not to take a chance I suppose...

JoeTown244GL

gattm99
I have NO problem with your position as long as you have "Do Not Resuscitate" tattooed on enough body parts that at least one will be legible after your accident. Perhaps on your forehead, buttocks, and one foot? The cost of your poor, misinformed and foolish decision should not be passed on to the rest of us. Your potential stay in the ICU, brain surgery, rehab and 40+ years of someone changing the Veggie Boy's diaper and reading a Barney book to you every night is expensive, and all too common. Medical science can keep you alive, but it can't restore dead spinal cord tissue or brain cells.

Kansas has a no-helmet law for motorcyclists and Kansas pays to keep plenty of former bikers on life support and in the Kansas State Home for Macho ex-Bikers Who Now Eat, Breathe, and Crap Through Tubes in Larned. So, I really truly support your decision to risk your life. Could you be so kind as to support my decision to support your decision by carrying a notarized DNR on you at all times?

See no flames, just sarcasim

gattm99

exactly

supcom

The scariest thing about not wearing a helmet isn't dying from an accident, it's suffering a brain injury. I can give you an example of a person I know who had one.

The fellow was in his car going about 30 MPH when his car slid on ice sideways into another car. In the impact, he hit his head on the drivers side window (the window did not break). He was unconscious for only a few minutes and spent the next four days in intensive care barely conscious from the morphine pain killer. From looking at him, you could not tell he had an injury. No broken bones, no fractured skull, no bruises. Only one very small cut.

After he was moved out of intensive care into a room, his mother had to stay with him round the clock so he would not go wandering off. Every 20 minutes he would ask what happened and why was he in the hospital. He had no memory of the previous two months of his life and could not remember anything for more than a few minutes. It's like your computer crashing before you save the file. He could not walk around the hospital ward without getting lost.

It took several months for him to recover his short term memory to the point he could function on his own and drive a car again. He actually was lucky. Many people who have similar head injuries never recover fully. They have varying degrees of short term memory problems. They sometimes can get with extensive use of a day planner but must keep detailed notes of everything. That's assuming you can function at all.

I met another man who had a head injury at work. He was a VP of a construction company. He now works menial jobs and has to keep a set of directions with him on how to get home. He cannot even find his way to his apartment from the bus stop without a map, let alone drive a car. He claimed his accident left him unable to feel any emotions.

Although these are not cycling injuries, certainly cyclists are not immune from this type of injury. It's true that no helmet will prevent death or injury in any accident. There is no safety precaution that will make you immune from any accident. But if you have ever known a person who suffered a brain injury, you'll give second thoughts to riding without a helmet.

Laggard

All pro riders in Europe are required to wear a helmet. The only exception is only during the final climb of a mountain top finish.

And you ain't no pro.

BigT

Back in my MTB days I was on a deeply rutted single track and at high speed I took a roller...unfortunately I realized while I was in the air that the trail was curving to the left underneath me as I flew straight. I know it was my bad to make the jump without knowing the terrain (back then I was young and fearless). Nevertheless, I ended up off the trail trying to brake furiously. My brakes couldn't slow me quickly enough and I ended up flying into a rock lined (man-made?) creek. Upon impact I broke my computer, left brake lever, rear DR, and bent the bottom bracket. The only damage to me (besides bruises, whiplash, etc.) was a broken left pinkie, and a gashed eyebrow that needed a half-dozen stitches. The plastic shell on my helmet split where impacted and the foam was dented!

khuon

They say that one should replce their helmets every few years due to general breakdown of the materials. I end up replacing my helmets due to other reasons for the breakdowns...

I can buy a new helmet but I have yet to see any stores around me where I can pick up a new head.

Here are the reasons for the last two times I ended up having to replace my helmet...

https://journals.neebu.net/khuon/archives/2001_04.html

https://journals.neebu.net/khuon/archives/2002_10.html

bitemail

The worse thing someone can do I harass someone that dosent want to wear a helmet. On hill days I may not wear a helmet to stay cool and I hate when people give me **** about it. ITS MY LIFE!

slvoid

You're right and it's a free country, as long as it's YOUR business and not MINE, you can do as you wish.
Just as long as it's not MY business which it is, once you become a burdeon on MY tax money and MY medical insurance premiums when YOU end up being spoon fed for the rest of your life.

Driving with no seat belts? Be my guest.
Machine shop without goggles and hearing protection? Be my guest.
Painting and lining fiberglass without ventilation and filters? Be my guest.
Unprotected one night stands? The list goes on.

corysold

My old girlfriend's 8 year old cousin was killed falling off of a bike when she was not wearing a helmet. Fell going about three miles an hour, died three days later. You don't have to be going 40 MPH to get injured on a bike. If you won't wear a helmet for yourself, wear it for your family so they don't have to go through something like that.

cypher252

I always wear a helmet even on my mountain bike I feel its even more important now I'm on the road. Your head travelling at twenty miles an hour bouncing against tarmac there really is only going to be one winner and it won't be the squidgy thing that used to be your head.

Ryan

You didn't look like an idiot, you are an idiot when you don't wear a helmet.. No offense but, your excuses are very lame.. You can't put a price on your life.. If you can afford an expensive bike you could probably afford an helmet.. As far as wind, the helmet I use the Giro Pnuemo, is for one thing very light and has so many vents air flows right through it..(you'll forget its on ur head) You can get them for as low as 109.00 now.. Lance's new helmet is out now and that ones supposed to be better.. Come on man get serious about cycling, and buy a helmet..

Ryan

Man thats a shame, very selfish.. I know my family particularly my mom, always worries about me cycling becuase its a dangerous sport.. And I realize that, however the least I can do is wear all the safety equipment I can. However minor accidents happen more, and the saftey stuff will come in handy. It would be terrible if someone was to die in cycling, in a little accident just because they were to "cool" or whatever to wear a helmet.. Think about the people who are thinking about you..

Laggard

The stupid "helmets are too hot" excuse. If pros can wear them during the TDF in July for five to six hours a day, then you can handle it, you big baby.

I'll come right out and say it: YOU'RE IN IDIOT IF YOU DON'T WEAR A HELMET.

Spoon

What about shin gards and safety glasses? Why not wear steel toe shoes, wrist protectors and a chest plate to protect against being impaled on a tree branch? Without leg armor, a dog could cripple a person. Why take such risks?

What kind of psycho climbs stairs or drives a car 70 mph without a helmet? It's just not worth the risk!

Life is more fun without a net.

I'm certain that if helmets only came in solid black or solid white, there would be a lot fewer people wearing them.

khuon

There are some who do ride this way you know...


My last helmet was solid white.

dobber

Thats why I use the handrail. And last time I looked, the automobiles chassis was designed to protect the passenger, assuming said passenger was using the proper safety restraints. Then theres that whole thing about defensive driving, driving within ones abilities, obey the posted traffic laws.......


Spoken like a true youngster, full of spite and vinegar, believing one is immortal.

Laggard

My helmet is solid white.

Your arguments are stupid. All the protective measures you so cutely mentioned are excessive.

As someone else mentioned, your only protection on a bike is a helmet. And before you say it, trust me - I'm a better bike handler than you and I've almost gotten clipped several times.

whitemax

Thanks for all of the comments. I rode this morning with a helmet and working to become more comfortable with it. I have a cheap Bell helmet which whistles quite a bit but according to Ryan above there are models that will cut down on this factor. I was planning to start using one before I posted this thread but again, I wanted to see what kind of experiences others here have had. Lots of valid points made here. Thanks again.

Ryan

Well let me ask you something if you fall hard on your shins, you might be hurt a bit, however if you fall hard on your head you'll probably die.. Many mountain bike riders do ride with full protections.. But I've never seen someone on a road bike crash and land on their shins...

And the Giro Pnuemo is a really great, yeah to some it seems expensiv but keep in mind its always gonna be on your head.. Any helmet with the roc 3 or 4 type system is probably very very comfortable, I know mying has roc-4 and is very comfortable. Also look for a crap load of vents.. Another is the Giro Eclipse pretty cheap and almost like the pnuemo..

slvoid

You want to be 'cool' and kill yourself, get wiped out in a blaze of glory? Go ahead, just don't complain when I laugh my butt off at you cause you got killed falling over and smashing your head against the curb unclipping at 5mph.

And if you think it's just all for the sake of you and you alone, try that argument again when you have children and they tell you it's uncool to ride without a helmet.

Inoplanetyanin

Hello whitemax.

As I understand your title, you really wanted to hear stories where people DON'T wear a helmet.

I currently don't wear one riding mostly on sidewalk or quite streets in a suburb of Los Angeles. The reason I don't wear it, is because it's very inconvenient to carry a helmet to where the bicycle is stored, and carry the helmet back every time. I do a lot of walking and carrying a helmet around for only 20 minutes use is very inconvenient.

I am thinking about finding some solution for that, as I really feel uncomfortable riding without it.

Best wishes.

PatLuc

Well, I bought the Wal-Mart helmet! I had a "good" helmet 10 years ago in my mountain bike days, and lost it along the way. This $12.00 hemet looks to be made as well as that older helmet was. I also wanted to see how I did with it before I buy an expensive one.

What's weird is that I wear my helmet every day for my short commute. Here in Wisconsin, home of Harley, no motorbikers wear helmets. Therefore, I feel a bit like a tool. What's weird is that you almost always see serious bicyclists in helmets, but you never see serious motorbikes in them! Well, at least the Harley guys. Riders of jap bikes or BMW's always have nice helmets, but probably good brains to match.

I will say this though, I feel safer on a motorcycle any day than on a bicycle. I rode motocross bikes and mountain bikes, and I was way more prone to crash the bicycle than the motorcycle. The motorbike was more forgiving.

Pat