[Closed] another helmet saved my life thread

Gator skins don't puncture because they are made of wood, a famously non grippy substance...

Helmets are good, but, the chances that was lifesaving are pretty damn slim. Still totally worth it as any sort of head injury is worth stopping/reducing.

As you've just discovered, Gator skins are brilliant at anti-puncture but useless in the wet. IME changing the pressures won't help.

They say 4-seasons are better but TBH I'd go as wide as your rims will allow in winter, 28mm with a bit of luck...

northwind you are probably right and its total speculation but the speed that my head bounced off the road was pretty damn scary and really got me thinking about how important they are

...and the helmet makes your head an inch or two bigger all round, and therefore more likely to hit the ground with. Don't believe the hype...

...and get some better tyres.

fair point, thanks for the feedback will get some better tyres ! 🙂

Wrap the old tyres round your helmet for added protection.

good plan Dave, also might help me fit in at Wolverhampton 🙂

I can't believe the pressure some folk inflate their tyres to.

Try the 15% rule:

BIKEQUARTERLY.COM "http://www.bikequarterly.com/images/TireDrop.pdf"

Back in the day before helmets were magical things my head bounced off the road, it bled a little hurt a lot, but I got back up and road off.

Am I missing something Al? Your link recommends 105/125psi for a 100kg rider...

Back in the day before helmets were magical things my head bounced off the road, it bled a little hurt a lot, but I got back up and road off.

But one of the long term effects was poor spelling 😉

yeah dude if it was life saving you would still have pretty horrific injuries even with a helmet, like brain damagage, coma etc

Am I missing something Al? Your link recommends 105/125psi for a 100kg rider...

That seems right to me. It's what I use.

Am I missing something Al? Your link recommends 105/125psi for a 100kg rider...

I weigh 78kg and my bike weighs about 9kg, so a total weight of 87kg. With a weight distribution of 40:60 and with 25mm tyres, that recommends pressures of about 65/100psi. 65psi in the front? That can't be right, can it?

I used gatorskins for years and never had a problem with grip. I know there are better, but for commutiong you need to balance grip with lifespan and puncture resistance.

Was this roundabout anywhere near a petrol station by any chance? Diesel attack?

Do they do skills courses for commuters 😉

Seriously, it may be technique as much as tyre pressure?

Re: the helmet - on the road I tend to think it'll save me from concussion, nasty cuts with blood everywhere and bruising if I fall off and no one hits me. Well worth wearing one for.

No petrol station, here is the evil roundabout [url= http://goo.gl/maps/L75oF ]http://goo.gl/maps/L75oF[/url]

@waswas yes technique had a lot to do with it 🙁

I wouldn't have thought it life saving either, if the lorry driver would have been watching porn on his lap top like most others and not noticed you down a helmet is unlikely to save your noggin,

And had you been commando the girth of the mushroom effect enlarging the target area might have meant that your head might not have hit the deck at all ?

But who will know? Only laboratory testing in a controlled environment helps to sell Helmets to the masses.

Hitting the ground hard can cause serious head injuries, so a helmet could well have saved a lot of nastiness. Possibly death. People have died from hitting their heads on the floor from a standing position.

However, if he hit his head hard, I strongly doubt that not having a helmet would have meant his head would not have hit the floor. They're not that big!

Hmmmm ???? I know some one who died and they didn't hit their head on the floor ! And they weren't wearing a helmet?

Lots of people have died, some haven't yet ?

molgrips - Member

Hitting the ground hard can cause serious head injuries, so a helmet could well have saved a lot of nastiness. Possibly death. People have died from hitting their heads on the floor from a standing position.

Sure, helmets can save your life. But they don't turn a fatal injury into a nothing- they can turn a minor injury into nothing, or a bigger injury into a minor one, and so on. Which is totally worthwhile obviously.

But they don't turn a fatal injury into a nothing.

Can you prove that?

But they don't turn a fatal injury into a nothing

I don't think anyone thinks that they do. Straw man of major proportions there.

I landed on my head on a rock from about 10ft after going OTB off a ladder drop in the Alps this summer.

Cuts and bruises and a wrecked helmet, but I'm not eating through a straw now.

Not going to repeat the experience without a helmet to see what happens, whatever the internet arguers say.

So that's why I was finding my 120psi 23mm Gatorskins a bit slippery in the snow last year.

I landed on my head on a rock from about 10ft after going OTB off a ladder drop in the Alps this summer.
Cuts and bruises and a wrecked helmet, but I'm not eating through a straw now.
Not going to repeat the experience without a helmet to see what happens, whatever the internet arguers say.

I think a lot of the the creationists (the helmet nay-sayers) on here, are the result of not wearing helmets, and their rantings are the consequence of blunt head traumas?

So that's why I was finding my 120psi 23mm Gatorskins a bit slippery in the snow last year.

There are probably several factors at play there..... 😉

But I found Gatorskins slippery too, to the point that I could wheelspin away from traffic lights when the ground was damp. Lost it a few times on roundabouts too, luckily managed to catch it and stay upright.

GP4seasons seem much better. As above, lower pressures will help too.

"and the helmet makes your head an inch or two bigger all round, and therefore more likely to hit the ground with."

And therefore restricted the total movement of your head, and cushion the impact.....thats still a good thing.

Having hit the front of a car hard and leaving bits of lid in the bodywork work i'm happy to wear a helmet.............. but you won't make me wear one 🙂

I weigh 78kg and my bike weighs about 9kg, so a total weight of 87kg. With a weight distribution of 40:60 and with 25mm tyres, that recommends pressures of about 65/100psi. 65psi in the front? That can't be right, can it?

Nope. The link suggests 45% and 55% weight distribution. For 87kg that is 39kg front and 48kg back. So around 75psi front and 90 psi rear for 25mm tyres.

I'd treat that as a starting point and check that I was getting the recommended 15% drop when the wheel was loaded. Then try changing pressures up or down and road testing it.

I landed on my head on a rock from about 10ft after going OTB off a ladder drop in the Alps this summer.

Cuts and bruises and a wrecked helmet, but I'm not eating through a straw now.

Not going to repeat the experience without a helmet to see what happens, whatever the internet arguers say.

Straw man. I've not seen anybody argue helmets aren't advisable for techy off road.

Going to the shops or riding to work? Different scenario.

molgrips - Member

I don't think anyone thinks that they do. Straw man of major proportions there.

Er, what? The OP seems to have walked away without any head injuries worth mentioning, so presumably he thinks they do.

Straw man. I've not seen anybody argue helmets aren't advisable for techy off road.

I'm not 100% sure what a "straw man" is, but I'm just sharing my thoughts on the matter. I'm not arguing everyone should make the same personal choice as me.

And I don't expect anyone would ride the Mega qualifer track (where I stuffed it) sans helmet.

It just irks me a bit that people make the sort of idiotic and pointless statements as above.

Can't believe I've let myself get embroiled in a STW helmet debate. I'm off to give myself a stern talking to.

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well that's easy for you to say.

The above is about as much use as the crap .gif it was supposed to show,

anyway back to the thread.....

Is that the TJ searchlight image? I tried to post that on the last helmet thread and just got the string of http stuff like that!

I tried that one first, it didn't work so went with groundhog day, both are pretty worn out on helmet threads i guess.

chakaping - Member
I landed on my head on a rock from about 10ft after going OTB off a ladder drop in the Alps this summer.

Cuts and bruises and a wrecked helmet, but I'm not eating through a straw now.

Not going to repeat the experience without a helmet to see what happens, whatever the internet arguers say.

I did similar to this sans helmet when I was 15, knocked myself out.
Now I work insurance and am married with two kids. It obviously caused some kind of permenant brain damage.

people often have slides in the rain on roundabouts...
I'd take care on roundabouts in the future.
change your tyres as you've lost confidence in them and good riding is all about confidence.
I use GP4000S tyres because even though they're expensive, they instill a lot of confidence. And I'd rather be skint than broke.

at first I thought that tyre drop article thing was bollocks, then I calculated what my pressures should be and it seemed bob-on, albeit a bit lower at the front and a bit higher at the back, but only 5psi or so.