Mandatory Full Face helmets in enduro for 2015

Just read a link on FB saying that it looks like it’s going to mandatory, also 2 piece FF may not be allowed!

Whos enduros?

UKGE

Parachute here I come !

Some discussion on the Ride.io forum, with some posts from Steve Parr on the subject of full face helmets,

http://ride.io/forum/index.php/topic,273527.msg2072390/topicseen.html#msg2072390

Yep, that’s the one, but it also looks like the 2 piece type helmets might not be allowed either?

Another reason not to enter UKGE then.
Full face on the transition stages and I’ll boil in the bag!
For me enduro is one bike & kit for everything. If I have to start carrying 2 lids I’ll just not bother entering.

Another reason not to enter UKGE then.

What are the other reasons?

If I have to start carrying 2 lids I’ll just not bother entering.

Agreed, I’ve only done one but fancy a couple next year. I’d really really rather not carry an open facer on my back as I’m braaaaping down a stage risking it bouncing about distracting me and/or providing a nice fulcrum for my back to arch around when I crash…

If other series follow this then it looks like I will definitely be buying a MET Parachute to be fair i was considering it anyway.

Pretty sure this is part of a new set of rules which will bring enduro racing in line with other disciplines. All enduro races will have this rule.

Only races running under UCI/BC rules, nothing to stop you having your own race with its own rules

Presumably only if sanctioned by the BCF though? Otherwise you can do what the hell you want.

Back to motorcycle enduros then? Where you can still wear an open face helmet.

Boring.

I’ve got a FF, now I have a choice of boiling it it all day, or taking two lids and a bag, which also sucks.

Seems like there are ways round it, but they are just chosing to blanket policy a rule that it seems on paper considerably less people want than don’t.

Can’t see me entering any Enduro races that force you to wear a FF.

No issue climbing with your FF on the bars IME.

Likely to adopt EWS rules.Which means you have to wear a helmet on transition stages as well (Fabien got penalized for this iirc) and the full face has to adhere to full face safety standards (No Bell Super2,no Parachute).
The other reasons for not entering ukge is that it’s bloody expensive and largely pish.

No Bell Super2,no Parachute

The bell doesnt, but the parachute does as far as I’m aware.

Can’t see me entering any Enduro races that force you to wear a FF.

Me neither. Really wanted to do some next year too but I’m f***d if I’m slogging uphill in a downhill helmet. I run HOT, I’d be in pieces.
I hope the enduro1 series doesn’t bother.

Parachute is f1592 cert so you can race in it

Bell 2r isnt

You need that for all BC dh races

Steve’s just clarified on the facebook that this isn’t a BC ruling but is UKGE only (so far) The arguments for UKGE are pretty different from the sport as a whole.

I don’t like the idea but I do like the precedent he’s set- trying to create a single set of rules for every enduro is basically impossible, rules that work for, say, the madness of the scottish series won’t work for an entry level race. If Steve thinks it’s right for UKGE, he should do it, if anyone disagrees, they can start their own enduro series, with blackjack and hookers.

(Get on it Hels!)

Just kind of remains to be seen- do BC decide to follow UKGE’s lead and treat all races like they’re top end races, or do they use this as the precedent for different rules for different events. Because let’s be honest, trying to have one set of rules that works for a semi-professional world event and the forfar funduro is just kind of obviously completely insane.

Rorschach – Member

Likely to adopt EWS rules.Which means you have to wear a helmet on transition stages as well (Fabien got penalized for this iirc) and the full face has to adhere to full face safety standards (No Bell Super2,no Parachute).

EWS didn’t have a mandatory fullface rule for all events last year

Full face standards are a bit tricky, there’s a lot that don’t meet F1952 as it’s not been that widely accepted by the industry. And there are pisspots that meet F1952 so what that implies for 2-piece helmets is messy.

Word on the street is that BC won’t be regulating/insuring Enduro after this year. So organisers will all have to get private insurance, and could well be very risk averse (ass-covering), which is happening anyway in light of some recent sad incidents. (what, you mean you didn’t make the rider wear a full face helmet ? I am sorry, your claim is refused under section 17.7.c(i) – pay your own legal fees)

It would make sense for UK organisers to get together and agree some rules, along the lines of EWS.

Sorry Northwind but I am afraid Inners MTB are getting out of the game after this year, although some of the team plan to carry on with Scottish Enduro Series.

So what’s the evidence base for the decision?

Looking at ews rules they leave it up to the organiser of the the events as to safety gear.The parachute meets ASTM F1952 but that does’nt actually specify that it has to have a chin bar.Not sure if it meets SNELL standards.

hels – Member

Sorry Northwind but I am afraid Inners MTB are getting out of the game after this year, although some of the team plan to carry on with Scottish Enduro Series.

How about if we forget the enduro, and just get in the hookers?

Ah, I see on Facebook it’s not a British Cycling thing, it’s Steve Parr pushing it as ‘his’ rule for next year.

Well, it’s his ball, and his game, and he’s pretty obtuse at the best of times, so like it or not, it’s happening.

I also disagree with his mentality of one rule for all, blanket policy. Just shows, there hasn’t been a great deal of thought put through it. The Enduro1 races have been run on some of the flattest areas in the south of England. Jesus, 2 years ago they had an Enduro at Swinley forest. So, we should be wearing full faces for events like that? And for the likes of the QECP enduro’s?.

Life isn’t that black and white, not should it be. Part of me hopes the backlash makes him apply SOME common sense to his decision.

At £45 for two days Northwind you could never make that pay !

I’ve done a few races with a full face and it’s really not an issue for the ups – either carry a 2nd lid or just get on with it. There’s a lot of rucksacks out there that hold helmets really securely so that they aren’t noticeable on the downs. I would wear one even if it wasn’t in the rules, and I noticed many pros do as well, because it’s quite easy to crash when racing and any crash at speed can result in a smashed face.

^^I agree with kane, it’s not that bad and if you’re trapping, a crash is more than likely gonna do some damage, I’d rather it wasn’t to my swede.

hels – Member

At £45 for two days Northwind you could never make that pay !

Oh but just imagine the scenes when all that grassroots effort pays off and the World Prostitution Series sets up on tweed green.

kane – Member

I’ve done a few races with a full face and it’s really not an issue for the ups – either carry a 2nd lid or just get on with it.

One of the worst crashes I’ve had in an enduro was in a mandatory fullface event- sweat in my eyes in a pedally stage! (and ironically riding down a stage that thousands of folks have ridden on XC bikes)

I crashed twice in an early Inners one as well for much the same reason, I got so overheated on a long pedally descent (the flat bit in the classic) that my concentration was screwed. That was mostly because of using a very cheap helmet, mind, but then that’s what a lot of people will be using if they suddenly need a full face to race.

I don’t know how big the risks really are, but I don’t like the idea of landing on my back with a helmet attached, or catching it on a tree.

Meanwhile, whenever I ride these trails on any other sunday, I don’t think I’ve seen a single fullface helmet. And in absolutely every enduro race ever, if you feel like a full face is the right choice, you could wear one.

Finally, a way to engage with the Dog Walking community.

UKGE’s lead and treat all races like they’re top end races,

😆
Yeah, Afan and Grizedale are top end hardcore enduro race destinations. Can hardly tell them and finale ligure apart.

Word on the street is that BC won’t be regulating/insuring Enduro after this year. So organisers will all have to get private insurance, and could well be very risk averse (ass-covering), which is happening anyway in light of some recent sad incidents

This x100.BC wanted the same standards of safety coverage supplied at dh events,at enduro races.If they were to insure them.Thats a LOT of marshals.

Hels, if Inners MTB are getting out any idea what it will mean for the Scottish Enduro series? Will it just become purely a No Fuss series?

To think I’ve entered the Dudes of Hazard in November to see what it’s like (after a mate has been raving about the series this year) with a view to entering the full series with him next year if I enjoy it. I hope it doesn’t spell the end with Inners MTB pulling out.

TBH if the rule comes in surely its a bit of a leveller. Everyone has to lug a FF lid about now no matter what, how you choose to manage that is entirely personal carry a piss pot or sweat your transitions out in a FF lid. Is it really so terrible?

And there are pisspots that meet F1952 so what that implies for 2-piece helmets is messy.

The chin bar is tested to the same drop and penetration standards as the rest of the helmet, but only if the chinbar is present

The EWS at Tweed love probably should be been full face as it was one of the most technical rounds of the season, yet the one that didn’t require ff

Tbh its stupid not to go fullface, most ukge stages are run on dh tracks that would require a full face to race on at a dh event anyway

If everyone has to wear one its a level playing field,
ukges will still sell out in a few hours,
the mini enduros, some enduro1 stages also use dh stages That likewise need a full face when racing at a dh race, I can’t see that they wouldnt still be popular

Just man up strap that helmet on the back

Kimbers gets it.

The ethos of Enduro racing is to time riders on mainly technical downhill stages, if your enduro organiser has a course that involves loads of pedaling and can be done in an XC lid then it sounds boring and you should probably find a proper enduro to enter.

As Kimbers said, most of the decent races take in stages that incorporate DH tracks, if getting too hot during transition stages is going to be a genuine problem for most people then lobby organisers to give you more time to transition….if the organiser has you breaking your neck to make the transition time then you may as well go and race XC.

Agree with Deviant 100%