I'm really glad this came up. I just lost my second helmet. Except for times like now when I am inbetween both helmets and paychecks, I always wear one if I'm leaving my block. But, and I hate to admit this, both times I've realized my lid had run away, I have felt happy to have an excuse not to wear one.

The first time it happened, I took it as an opportunity to get a cooler one. I think it was a Bell BMX helmet. Looked cool on the web but was just dumb in a different way once it got strapped on. That one got ganked last weekend (seriously, who steals an old helmet?) and I am now in the market again. I've looked up some of the helmets suggested but I guess I have different tastes than some of you (though I would like to hear more about the Bell metro).

So ... who has a low profile helmet that would look really out of place on a spandex clad rec rider (no offense, just not my thing). I'm going to get a new helmet any way but it sure would be nice if I actually liked it. $50 is nothing to spend on safety but its a lot to drop on something that you hate.

Ok, I used to be a helmet nazi, but then I discovered the wonderful world of cycling caps. I know its not a good reason but I look so much cooler when wearing one. Now if we could get a helmet to look like a cycling cap I'd wear it always.

I think I've convinced myself that if buy a cool enough looking helmet I'd be glad to wear it, so lets hope I survive another few months so I can go buy a nicer higher end road helmet that looks like an alien on my head...I like those.

My buddy never leaves the house without his $80 snowboard-style lid on when he rides. But I ask you, is it really worth it to invest a crapload of money on a device that is really intended to crack apart, or is it ok to simply purchase a cheapy helmet? Personally, I don't ride with one, cuz I'm totally badass.

Snowboard helmets aren't meant to crack apart.

If you don't have a brain, why waste money on a helmet? There's nothing there to protect.

I still have my cracked in half Specialized Air Force helmet that saved my life last summer hanging on my wall at home. I was lucky I didn't wear my $100 Giro helmet that day, would have been a waste of $$$.

Nor is your head.

Ok, ok. But once the integrity of a helmet has been comprimised (ie. severe impact), to my understanding it is to be replaced. So, getting back to the real question, does it make sense to buy an expensive helemet or not?

I say so. Yeah, when you smash your head you might lose a nice chunk of change on replacing it, but for me, having something that is comfortable enough that you hardly know it's there and looks good too is worth paying more for.

A cheap helmet is fine as long as it's certified or whatever. Helmets only get expensive when they start getting super-light, have advanced air hole placement, or go with your neon yuppie bike.

BMX helmets, by the way, are meant to protect even after numerous falls.

Now I really want to comment on this. I really can't stand people calling other people dumb stupid and brainless because they decide not to wear a helmet. I'm sorry but its a personal choice that isn't hurting anyone, save potentially hurting the one making the choice.

Just as we have the choice to ride brakeless or even run lights or swerve through traffic. Riding without a helmet isn't going to kill you, its just that riding with a helmet could possibly save your life. I don't wear a helmet and I understand the risks associated with it, I'm not stupid, I'm 21.

Amen Reverend. Point taken. I will sit my ass down and be cool now.

I'm like BostonTrevor, I didn't then I did, now I don't but tomorrow I'm gunna....(and hopefully that will be the end of it).

I too have read all these studies that say helmets save lives but they have huge methodological problems. Then you read studies about other countries where bicycle ridership is amazingly high and you realize that the more bikes on the road the less likely a car will hit you (they in fact expect bikes to be there and look out for you). So you want to get more bikes on the road but who's going to bike if they have to wear a helmet? The helmet makes riding a bike appear dangerous, like riding a motorcycle.

Still, if I crash, I'd rather have a helmet than no helmet....

In some ways, it's the responsibility of this group (what?) to make wearing a helmet a cool thing. On my college campus, messenger bags are EVERYWHERE. It's almost scary. You guys made *them* cool. Do it for helmets and we all win.

Chuckie

In Thailand, where there are about as many motorcycles on the road as there are cars, I used to see motorcycle accidents on a daily basis. Sometimes 2-3 in a day.
It was a way of life in Bangkok that people die riding their motorcycles. No one wears helmets there. That doesn't seem right to me though.

Wouldn't it have been smarter for them to have been wearing a helmet if there was even a tiny chance that they would have lived another day by tolerating the minor inconvenience of having something strapped to their head?

I'm sure in those countries where there are high rates of bicyclists, it is just not an important statistic to count how many people die everyday from cycling accidents where a helmet could have saved them. It's not that accident rates are lower, it's that the government doesn't really give a crap enough to keep track of the deaths.

i have one. a giro eclipse. but i hate it to death. i only wear it when i ride to work on the weekends.(7 miles) riding to class i just put on a cycling cap so i can look super sexy riding around

Oh man, I gotta get one of those helmets off of ebay or something. You could probably fit a helmet or at least a decent helmet lining in there and then you'd be the king of the road.

This would make helmets cool... sort of. I may just get one for my Bell Metro.
https://www.helmetshades.com/catalog/items/item81.htm

For a short ride, maybe not. Most of the time it's on though...it can get pretty hairy around here, esp. in lousy weather.

When riding brakeless, the helmet is almost certainly on. Got a Pro-Tec with removable earflaps for the cold.

Wear one when I ride the mtb, because I expect to fall. It hasn't saved my melon yet, save for some pokey branches and tree limbs, no impacts.

I am looking for one that I can stomach to wear when I ride the street or commute, but I'm an aesthetic snob, and dont want a neon facehugger clinging to my head.

Checked out the Bell Metro, which is probably what I'll get. The protec with earflaps in on the short list too (they make earflap kits for the metro I think).

How them earflaps work out anyhow - do they work?

Yeah, for the most part it works well. But...

It's got a weak velcro attachment that goes under the chin, and it comes off from time to time...when I'm flying down the street it looks like I've got wings sprouting from my head

I've been thinking about digging out one of my old school Cooper hockey helmets.

I'd look like a total goof, but I doubt anybody would mess with me.

MEAN!! GRRRRR

*slapshot*

Wow, I thought mine is the only one left in the whole universe . Does your say "Mit Gott fur Koenig und Vaterland" as well? (a quote from memory, my German sucks)
v.

I went out and bought an old fly away helmet a few years back when the city of Boston made us wear them to deliver. The thing was like wearing a broiler on my head. After I quit that job I gave up on the helmet. With the start of this winter I began to wear it again and will now have to go out and buy something a bit more ventalated so as not to cause some kind of heat stroke come summer time. But then again I could just put that money towards a new frame.

You know, minus the ear covers ( which are removable anyway ), the Giro snowboarding helmets look pretty urban ( check out the Nine.9 and the Fuse ). No idea whether they hold up to bike helmet standards though ( I'd look the standards up and compare them, but I couldn't be bothered ).

Now thats a good point. Besides, like my motto-no brains, no headaches (and now, no helmets)

It is calculated risk, but I'm guessing most people would change their minds if blood was p1ssing out of their head. People are just like that.

How about we change the topic away from the pros/cons and what people think about actually waring a helmet to what constitutes a good helmet? For example, the Giros I mentioned about earlier have built-in earpieces you can connect both your cell and mp3 player to. Many street/bmx/freestyle helmets also have less of an 'aero style and more 'back of the head' protection.