LHS believes the risk of rotational injury is so low that this is not needed. I am not so sure. Some estimates are as high as 30% of all head impacts the injury is worsened.

So TJ you are basically saying that by wearing a helmet should you crash you will WORSEN any potential injury —-?!?! Think about what you are saying here and ask yourself this – why do you bike at all??? I reckon you may have had a bump to the head before (without helmet) and this is my you say such silly things!!!! There is prob a lot of young riders (you sound as if you could be one of those ‘kids o the street’) who read and contribute to this forum – why do you feel you should make statements like wearing helmets worsen your head injuries???I bet their parents will thank you if they crash without a helmet coz some dude on singletrack said it was bad to wear one and end up f*cked up!!!

Think then type!

(motherly) Rant over!

Mimi – can you read? Or are you a troll?

Tj repeatedly says
There is good evidence that in some circumstances helmets can make injuries worse. How often this occurs is not known. To say this is not the same as saying “helmets actually make accidents worse” There are people who do argue that you shouldn’t wear helmets at all because of this – including neurosurgeons. Myself I don’t – or else I would never wear one. Even the TRL found this effect

mimi123

you sound as if you could be one of those ‘kids o the street’

Ermm – are you sure you are not trolling. I am a 50 yr old man

e mail me and I’ll send you links the the research and the rebuttal of it.

This is a forum for open debate i believe, is it not. Everybody is free to express thier own opinions in a polite fashion, PLEASE. Read the information provided and then make your own decision based on your preference and more importantly your own experiences. It would be nice if people avoid jumping on others posted comments in a rude aggressive manner.I keep saying it but we are all CYCLISTS. i.e same tribe.

For what it’s worth, I sometimes see people in the supermarket wearing bike helmets. Even otherwise normal looking people, wandering around the shop wearing a helmet. I guess it just pays to be careful.

(Whether or not they then take off their helmet to cycle home I don’t know)

The most amazing thing is the bravery of cyclists; you’ll go out there, facing certain death, serious injury, disfigurement and worse, protected only by a polystyrene hat.

People who believe in helmets, I salute you.

yeah I am a troll – got pink fluffy hair and everything – def not the type for helmets- infact I dont even wear shoes when I go biking!

For what it’s worth, I sometimes see people in the supermarket wearing bike helmets. Even otherwise normal looking people, wandering around the shop wearing a helmet. I guess it just pays to be careful.

(Whether or not they then take off their helmet to cycle home I don’t know)

Lol! Seen it a lot – even folk who go to costa and keep their helmet on perhaps they think its for this purpose who knows?

For what it’s worth, I sometimes see people in the supermarket wearing bike helmets.

Was that in Lidl? if so I’d say that’s a sensible precaution.

Can’t believe everyone is tap dancing around the big issue here, so I guess I should raise it. What tyres for riding without a helmet?

Big foamy ones.

Preferably with stabilisers.

a snooker ball dropped approx 6 inches above head

Why do you have a snooker ball in your house? You have a billiard room?

Blimey, some posh folk on here!

Back on topic – I *always* wear my helmet no matter what I am doing on a bike, because I want it to be habitual. That way, I won’t be humming and hahing over whether I should or not because there’s SOME road where I want to go and it might be a bit busy but not too bad etc etc etc.

After all, it only takes one car to take you out.

Underpants – check
Trouser – check
Shoes – check
Helmet – check

Just another item of clothing.

There is a Consultant neurosurgeon over on Scotlands west coast who has stated his concern about the number of serious high spinal injuries he is seeing from mountainbikers. 10 in one year quadriplegic.

Perhaps the halo neck brace might help reduce this or the airbag jacket.

Are you all going to go out and buy them? it would appear that serious neck injuries leading to lifelong paralysis are far more common than serious head injuries that lead to lifelong serious disability

http://news.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/hi/technology/newsid_7886000/7886427.stm

Dunno, if me and my mates wore those jackets we would never get any riding done because everyone would have yanked out everyone else’s chord within 5 minutes 🙂

I must admit that watching the stormtropers disappearing into a big ball of airbag as they fall off would be amusing

I went over the handlebars of my bmx when I was a kid, I’ve got a small dent in my skull. If I had been wearing a helmet I would have been ok. I had to give up boxing and martial arts in my teens on my doctors advice, even with a head gaurd the risk to that area is too high. I would never ride a bike without a helmet again and regret the day that I did. It doesn’t matter to me what % of accidents are avoided or the % of damage a helmet saves, it’s about looking after yourself. Even if you just got a slight graze on your head surley it’s better to graze a helmet??

Often the people who ride without helmets talk of ‘more enjoyment’ and act like some kind of hero. When/if you fall you won’t ride bareback again trust me.

it would appear that serious neck injuries leading to lifelong paralysis are far more common than serious head injuries that lead to lifelong serious disability

Maybe it’s cos the majority of MTBers already wear helmets? 🙂