Do you wear a helmet

Civilian_Target

Just to get some idea on the helmets debate, I'm just curious to see who actually wears a helmet around here! I'm in the 'mostly' category myself

ungratefuldead

I don't have one......is it mandatory?????

dulpit

I never wear a helmet... However that is going to change, i got a helmet over weekend but it's too small,(i have a big head...) so as soon as i get a proper sized one i will...

joker77

I usually wear one. I had a great one a while ago (Giro Atmos) which I always wore, until some lowlife swiped it. I was loathe to invest as much money in one again, I was wearing a old one of my younger brothers, but it was sh*te and just annoyed me so I'd taken to not wearing any. After the debate/campaign a couple of weeks ago I invested in a new Giro Monza, it's not as light as the Atmos and you definitely feel like you're wearing a helmet the whole time, but I've gotten back into the habit of wearing it again.

TherapyBoy

I never did, wouldn't be caught dead in one. Then I read the paper before I picked up my new bike last Friday. Two people died from falling off their bikes, neither wearing helmets. I thought someone might have been trying to tell me something so I bought a Giro when I picked up the bike. Damn the editor of the Independent!!

MicraBoy

Always.

rubadub

ungratefuldead wrote:

I don't have one......is it mandatory?????

It is not mandatory, hope it never will be either.

I said "no never", but would if going mountain biking.

Two people died from falling off their bikes, neither wearing helmets

The vast majority of people who die in car crashes are not wearing helmets either and it could well have saved them. Seatbelts & airbags offer relatively little protection in a car compared to helmets- so saying you wear one is sort of like saying you wear long sleeves or gloves on a bike for protection. I do wear seatbelts in a car & long trousers on a bike for protection.

I never did, wouldn't be caught dead in one.

Most people wear them for that reason- hoping they wont be seen stretched out on the road dead while wearing it! But some studies show that a poor fitting or badly designed helmet can actually potentiate the damage due to its ergonomics and the dynamics caused in the crash.

ba

i always wear a helmet when with the club, but never when cycling alone.
and if the weather is really good i would be tempted not to wear it.

HJ Simpson

I always wear a helmet. It wont save me if a car drives over me but if it knocks me off the bike it will offer some protection. I have a Giro Zen its the perfect fit for those of the larger cranium btw!

youcancallmeal

No, never. Been thinking about getting one though. Anyone know where you can get these type of helmets?

rubadub

HJ Simpson wrote:

I always wear a helmet. It wont save me if a car drives over me but if it knocks me off the bike it will offer some protection.

A motorbike helmet is designed for proper road use and would offer more protection if a car drive over your head.

Would you not consider getting a full motorbike helmet?

Does anybody out there wear one on a bike?

dulpit

rubadub wrote:

A motorbike helmet is designed for proper road use and would offer more protection if a car drive over your head.

Would you not consider getting a full motorbike helmet?

Does anybody out there wear one on a bike?

There's a kid who cycles up and down outside my house most days who wears a full motorbike helmet while cycling his BMX... He also always has a radio strapped onto his handlebars... (he's a strange one there)


Would a motorbike helmet not be a bit heavy for cycling? And also, overkill?

DITTKD

http://www.argos.ie/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=30001&langId=-1&catalogId=1500000801&productId=1500093607&clickfrom=name

rubadub

dulpit wrote:

Would a motorbike helmet not be a bit heavy for cycling?

Well it is not too heavy on a motorbike, and bikes have decreased in weight a huge amount over the years, so slowing down due to excess weight is not really an issue, the slower you cycle the better. If you are so worried about the dangers of cycling, then slowing down a little should be no reason to complain.

dulpit wrote:

And also, overkill?

Many seem to think cycle helmets are designed to deal with crashes with other vehicles, it can put a false sense of security in people's minds. A motorbike helmet will offer more protection for a little extra weight. I personally think it is overkill, but some people consider others are complete idiots for cycling without a helmet, yet are content with a bit of packing foam on their head, with some of the comments made I would expect to see people in full leathers and motorbike helmets all the time. I travel at or near the speed limit for a lot of my journey, I regularly pass out mopeds.

http://www.cyclehelmets.org/papers/c2023.pdf

http://www.argos.ie/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=30001&langId=-1&catalogId=1500000801&productId=1500093607&clickfrom=name
only conforms to CE EN1078 which is not that strong.

kenmc

Maybe I overestimate the intelligence of most people, but I seriously doubt that many people think that a bike helmet will save them in the event of their head being driven over. I don't even know if a motorbike helmet will save you in that instance, certainly not if it is one of those without a jaw-guard type.

What a cycle helmet *might* do is prevent you splitting your skull open in the event that somehow you and your bike lose the fight against gravity, and you end up head first into the road or kerb. It *might* help. But there again it might not, but either way I doubt that it can possibly make things worse. So on that basis alone I figure that it's worth wearing one - even if only decreases your odds of fracturing a skull by 10%, or even 5% or 1%, that's still a tiny advantage to wearing one, so on that basis alone what have you to lose by wearing one?

Ghost Rider

I totally agree.

kenmc wrote:

Maybe I overestimate the intelligence of most people, but I seriously doubt that many people think that a bike helmet will save them in the event of their head being driven over. I don't even know if a motorbike helmet will save you in that instance, certainly not if it is one of those without a jaw-guard type.

What a cycle helmet *might* do is prevent you splitting your skull open in the event that somehow you and your bike lose the fight against gravity, and you end up head first into the road or kerb. It *might* help. But there again it might not, but either way I doubt that it can possibly make things worse. So on that basis alone I figure that it's worth wearing one - even if only decreases your odds of fracturing a skull by 10%, or even 5% or 1%, that's still a tiny advantage to wearing one, so on that basis alone what have you to lose by wearing one?

DeepBlue

rubadub wrote:

only conforms to CE EN1078 which is not that strong.

What other standard should cycling helmets be conforming to?

dulpit

kenmc wrote:

What a cycle helmet *might* do is prevent you splitting your skull open in the event that somehow you and your bike lose the fight against gravity, and you end up head first into the road or kerb. It *might* help. But there again it might not, but either way I doubt that it can possibly make things worse. So on that basis alone I figure that it's worth wearing one - even if only decreases your odds of fracturing a skull by 10%, or even 5% or 1%, that's still a tiny advantage to wearing one, so on that basis alone what have you to lose by wearing one?

Exactly why I'm getting one, not to save me from death from the hands of a car, but to protect my head should my bike ever feel the need to separate itself from me...

Killgore Trout

rubadub wrote:

A motorbike helmet is designed for proper road use and would offer more protection if a car drive over your head.

Would you not consider getting a full motorbike helmet?

Does anybody out there wear one on a bike?

Lets have a bit of sanity here! Owning both a motorcycle and a bicycle I can say that the prospect of wearing a motorbike helmet on a bicycle is laughable (I'm still wondering if you're taking the mickey). You'd need to cycle dead slow so as not to overheat, besides lack of ventilation a moto lid is going to be around three times as heavy as the cycle one - adding pedalling activity it'd be way too cumbersome and uncomfortable (unless it's ok to turn up to places smelling like you've been inserted into an elephant's orifice) It's as mad as suggesting wearing motorbike leathers while cycling, or having lycra bib and a cycling top on while motorcycling

DavyD_83

Only when i've been made 'for insurance purposes'. Personally i find them irritating. Wear em if you want

rubadub

kenmc wrote:

even if only decreases your odds of fracturing a skull by 10%, or even 5% or 1%, that's still a tiny advantage to wearing one, so on that basis alone what have you to lose by wearing one?

If the odds are only decreased slightly, but the wearing of one increases the chance of a crashing sufficiently more- then it is more dangerous to wear one.

I work with heavy machinery and wear saftety goggles, but there are sometimes where the wearing of them will obstruct my vision to such a degree that my hands are more at risk than my eyes, so I chose not to wear them.

If I was mountain biking I would wear a helmet, I do not on the road. I also couldnt understand what harm their could be in wearing helmets until I read the various studies on it. Some factors I already knew, like distraction and false sense of security, others surprised me

DeepBlue wrote:

What other standard should cycling helmets be conforming to?

There were other standards in the PDF link I posted. At least it does have some standards, but if you look at a helmet like that it can appear to offer a lot of protection, this is bad especially for kids. What is the first thing you see kids doing when they get a pair of shin guards or hurley helmet, they start lashing each other over the heads with a hurl to check it out!

I would hate to see kids ramping on bmx's with only a helmet like that, I have often questioned if helmet wearers (esp. those who think non-wearers are crazy) bother to wear arm or leg protection, many seem to only value their brains, I would hate to see some kid crippled from a knee injury since he thought he was safe wearing an essentially cosmetic helmet.

Killgore Trout wrote:

I can say that the prospect of wearing a motorbike helmet on a bicycle is laughable

20-30 years ago many people would have thought wearing any helmet on a bicycle is laughable, some still do, and many think wearing a helmet out walking or in a car would be laughable too.

Killgore Trout wrote:

You'd need to cycle dead slow so as not to overheat, besides lack of ventilation a moto lid is going to be around three times as heavy as the cycle one - adding pedalling activity it'd be way too cumbersome and uncomfortable

Some people cycle very slowly, equivalent to walking exertion. As I said if you are that concerned about safety then the slowing down is not an issue, it is safer to cycle slowly. Being cumbersome and uncomfortable is the reason some give for not wearing a regular helmet too, feeling it might put them more at risk of an accident, same goes for leg and arm protection gear.

Killgore Trout wrote:

It's as mad as suggesting wearing motorbike leathers while cycling,

I have worn a leather motorbike jacket in the ice on my bike, I feel it offers more protection to me than a helmet would. I have considered getting knee & elbow pads for the ice.

kenmc

rubadub wrote:

If the odds are only decreased slightly, but the wearing of one increases the chance of a crashing sufficiently more- then it is more dangerous to wear one.

Are they really only slightly reduced, does it really increase the chance *sufficiently* more and is it really more dangerous to wear one?

I think we can all agree that walking across the road increases your risk of getting hit by a car and dying. But you cannot inverse logic this to say that if you never ever cross a road, you will never get hit by a car and thus you will never die.

Statistically speaking, the less time you spend on the road, the less chance you have of getting hit. But it doesn't follow that you should not stop for lights, and zip through crossroads in order to get off the road 2 minutes quicker.

And when you're playing what-if's and maybes, all bets are off. If only I'd gotten stopped at that last traffic light then I wouldn't have had a crash... etc.

rubadub

kenmc wrote:

Are they really only slightly reduced, does it really increase the chance *sufficiently* more and is it really more dangerous to wear one?

Thats what you have to figure out or deduce for yourself and make up your own mind, it really depends on the person, I personally feel safer without one, if I had a child I would want them to wear one. Many posters are point blank saying there is absolutely no reason not to wear one, and cannot understand how it could possibly put you in danger to wear one. Some remarks are quite insulting in these threads trying to deride peoples comments as though they are idiots, when they have not even bothered to find out how wearing a helmet could put you at risk.

I think we can all agree that walking across the road increases your risk of getting hit by a car and dying.

And we can all agree wearing a helmet in such a case could lessen your chance of injury. So why not wear one? I have had 2 mates killed in road accidents when walking, and numerous people including myself sustain head injuries while walking, I still do not wear a walking helmet though.

I am not saying it is the cyclists fault that motorists give them less room, some seem to take it presonally as though it is something they (the cyclist) is doing wrong. If stats showed cars gave them more room with a helmet, and I could find a helmet comfortable enough I might well wear one.

vektarman

I always wear a helmet, especially since my workmate was killed when his bike was barely touched by a jeep but lost his balance and fractured his skull against the kerb, he wasn't wearing a helmet.

cunnins4

I never wear one (except in a triathlon when they're compulsory) but i've started cycling to the top of Howth a lot recently and always fly down as fast as I can, so I'm gonna start wearing it on those trips. I don't think it'll offer a huge amount of protection, but going 65kph+ i'd prefer to have something on my head to take some of the impact if I come off. I hope I won't find out.

oobydooby

I usually wear one. I always wear one if there's a good chance that I'll fall off the bike and otherwise I wear it out of habit. Also wear a high-viz and use lights and carry the whole lot around with me in a little backpack. I've long ago given up on looking cool. I would not preach at others to wear one unless they are likely to fall off the bike i.e. children, mountain bikers, drink-cyclists, learner cyclists, fast cyclists.

ThOnda

youcancallme>al wrote:

Anyone know where you can get these type of helmets?

They are basic helmets for BMX or dirt-jumping, so they have tons of them in all cycle shops. I really do recommend you to go there and try it on your head, because they don't have adjustable parts, just removable pads to make them fit onto your head.

There is only one study - ONE! - that says that cyclist wearing a helmet is being overtaken by cars in closer distance. So, what's the point about this discussion?

Helmet could and should reduce stress to your head (brain) when your head hits something hard, mainly due to some accident or fall. Helmet won't make you immune to crashes with cars. I admit that I can fall from my bicycle.

Motorbike helmets are only for motorbikes. However there are motorbike style helmets, called "fullface". Their function is to protect even the face. There are specialized helmets mainly for DH biking, however I have bought this one and the chin protector could be removed.

Going to skateparks regulary, I can see that some kids don't wear helmets. But only before first bigger crash. There are lots of them showing their false teeth, stiches and bruises. Those wear not only helmets, but also some other protection.

Having kids - how would you teach them to wear a helmet (or other protection) if you won't do so? If you think that your kids in 4 years are the best and most skilled bikers in the world and they won't fall, do whatever you want.

And last thing - helmet doesn't equal MTB. Most of the crashes and falls are on the public roads and in the traffic. The slower you are in the traffic, the worse stability you have. Being in the country on MTB, you are aware of the danger and you are focusing more on what are you doing on a bike.

So, I am wearing helmet on my bike all the time and I am going to necourage everybody (and especially the young ones) to wear at least helmet, glasses and gloves.

(Note: Thank you for patience if you read all this. Feel free to report all language mistakes I made.)

Civilian_Target

DeepBlue wrote:

What other standard should cycling helmets be conforming to?

Snell?

monument

No, never for me.

dohouch

On recent trip to USA and staying with the brother, (de old git) I came under a lot of pressure to wear one and did. As a result I've decided to buy one of the newer , lighter , well aereted ones. I'm cycling more and had a recent embarassing fall. Getting of the bike left foot still on pedal I swung the right leg back, put it down behind me, but there was a hole and went tumbling backward and whacked the back of the old skull of the concrete. Had whip-lash(strained neck mussels) for about 2 weeks.

The argument that convinced me was, fixing a broken leg or arm is run of the mill suff, but fixing a broken skull, Well I don't want to even think about it.

RainyDay

Always, since a colleague showed me his cracked helmet after coming off his bike onto the bonnet of car that pulled out in front of him. Better a cracked helmet than a cracked skull.