Assuming that we are all grown-ups, is it OK that we just gauge the risk involved and wear a helmet when our individual assessment merits it?
If so, do you think it would be necessary to wear one whilst cycling along a gentle riverside walkway/cyclepath?. I mean, nothing could go wrong. Right?
Oh FFS, not this AGAIN!
TJ will be along shortly to pontificate and we'll all be as bored as we were when this was done yesterday, the day before, the day before that, etc, etc, etc.
[/Thread closed]
Maybe you shouldbd wearing a bouyancy aid too. You never know....
It's Ok CF - I'm waiting for TJs clever answer to this one 😉
Thats TJ that destroyed a helmet twotting his head on an unseen branch " whilst cycling along a gentle riverside walkway/cyclepath" 😳
Nearly ripped my head off FFS. Bloody helmets - lethal things 😕 😉 I'll have to buy another one now.
ban the branch!
I would happily ride along a riverside path without helmet and I have more to lose than most as my head is simply magnificent.
Riverside paths are fine with no helmet. Even jumping (within reason) I've found to be ok without one, although I do wear it more often than not. Damaged my knees and elbows more than my head (which is still yet to hit after a year of jumping pretty much every day).
Judge it for yourself I say, as long as you’re aware of the risks make your own assessment and act on it.
Maybe you shouldbd wearing a bouyancy aid too. You never know....
A bouyancy aid wouldn't keep your face out of the water if you were unconcious so a lifejacket would be better and probably a drysuit too to be on the safe side.
Funny how a lot of it is culture. If you go snowboarding or skiing without a helmet no one looks at you funny, but on a bike people give out dirty looks. Just use your common sense...
Bloody hell, when I think back to my BMX days & the daft stuff I did back then...& all without a helmet. If I were having a pootle through the park then probably not, but then again I probably be accompanied by my two boys so I'd don a helmet to set an ecxample to them.
Alwys end up joining the tutting brigade but its totally up to you.
OK - one last post (I hope)
TJ is always lecturing us that helmet wearing is about weighing up the risks. He is often heard to be saying that they are of no use unless some sort of "extreme" riding is involved.
Imagine, therefore, how much we giggled when he managed to crack his helmet on a low-hanging branch on Wednesday evening on an otherwise innocuous bit of path. He'll try to tell you that without a helmet he'd have missed it. He'd be lying 🙂
Without a helmet, he'd have a sore head. With a helmet he has a sore head and a broken helmet to replace. 😉
For my next trick I will get hit by a meteorite.
Helmets are totally unnecessary most of the time.
Only wear your helmet on the day you are planning having an accident I say. 💡
What! you don't plan your accidents...
did you see stars TJ?
Only the guys I was riding with
Haha but point was he was wearing one so his risk assesment was right. 
Anyway according to earlier posts when riding on riverside paths and such it's joggers 'on the wrong side of the path' we need to worry about.
😀 <fails to stifle a s****>
Must have been some branch to break a helmet.
OR TJ's particularly hard head underneath that caused it to explode.
something very solid al - a real hard impact - outer shell on cheapo helmet cracked and I think Its fair to assume that the poly compressed. Immovable object meets unstoppable force
its when taking a gentle ride down the canal path, or messing around doing wheelies outside your house, that accidents seem to happen, probably when you have not bothered with a helmet!
some years ago, a friend of mine who was a world-class rollerblader (X-Games medalist) died near his house in Barry, Wales after skating down to the local shops, stumbling and hitting his head against a lamp post (no helmet)
this was a guy who could get 10 foot of air on a vertical skate ramp, and do flips and spins at will - always whilst wearing a helmet
RIP Richard Taylor
I will always wear a helmet, even when riding to the shops...why not?
I've attended too many accidents involving dirt jumpers not wearing helmets and ending up with serious head injuries / coma in hospital..why not wear a helmet?
Glad your in one piece teej.
I took a tumble last night on a steep climb, went over sideways off the edge, bike followed me and the end of my lockon grip smacked the back of my lid pretty hard...sure the base of my skull wouldn't have enjoyed that!
I always wear one on and off road when riding alone or in a bunch, I'm also pretty vociferous about my clubmates wearing them on the road
BUT if I'm pootling along with the kids/my wife on a smooth cycle path I don't wear one...rating the risk level as low
Thats TJ that destroyed a helmet twotting his head on an unseen branch " whilst cycling along a gentle riverside walkway/cyclepath"Nearly ripped my head off FFS. Bloody helmets - lethal things I'll have to buy another one now.
How do you manage it? I've bounced off 6" diameter branches loads of times and the helmets are fine!
Coffeking - the helmet was reaching the end of its life anyway and the impact has hard - hard enough to compress the poly would be my guess which is the point at which a helmet should be replaced. As a cheap helmet the outer shell was just a very flimsy bit of plastic.
The poly will spring back if compressed - but it is weakened and will not perform well if hit again. If I am wearing a helmet then I want it to be as effective as possible. Any helmet given a hard impact should be replaced.
I think the wqord "cheapo" may have been relevant 😉
Which takes me back to a post on a previous thread which quoted the old Bell Helmets ad "If you've got a $5 head get a $5 helmet"
I think its not about the person wearing the helmet its the people it affects if you crash and have not. I dont want to see my best mate licking his elbow or picking bits of his skull up on a weekend ride.
That being said I dont always wear my helmet but it doesnt mean its right, more convenient and stupid probably.
Well said alexxx.
You have actually touched on my reasons for feeling strongly on this general area. Basically I lost a nephew a couple of years back in a Motorbike accident. He was seriously into his motorbikes and riding. We'd often discussed the issues and his response was in the "thats how I want to go" area. (Given that I stopped biking a while back when I realsied that I wasn't actually immortal!)
He got his wish, it was very sudden and he probably didn't know too much about it. However, its the aftermath for the people who he left behind thats the real kicker. I now understand what my family went through when I was similarly selfish about my own safety. So I do take reasonable steps to mitigate the risks in what I do. You obviously can't take all risk out and perhaps its not even desirable to do that, but simple practical things.....well why not? Certainly I'd never seek to justify my selfishness with pointless and facile arguments about whether those steps were effective or not.
Anyway, very happy that TJ's ok and that being the fella he is he's taken it all in good part.
Anyone got a link the the story about the lad who was hit by a bus while pushing his bike across a pedestrian crossing?
His helmet [i]possibly[/i] prevented him suffering a head injury.
I never wear a helmet while walking across pedestrian crossings...
Must have been some branch to break a helmet.
I've broke one when I didn't duck far enough under a branch when riding. The branch actually ripped a fair hole in the helmet - hate to think what sort of mess I'd have been in if I wasn't wearing it.
Someone pushing a bike is a pedestrian. Pedestrian saved by helmet. Ergo, all pedestrians must wear helmets.
I've broke one when I didn't duck far enough under a branch when riding. The branch actually ripped a fair hole in the helmet - hate to think what sort of mess I'd have been in if I wasn't wearing it.
No mess, because you'd have been more careful when going under the branch?
BUT if I'm pootling along with the kids/my wife on a smooth cycle path I don't wear one...rating the risk level as low
Do you insist on your children wearing one?
Do as I do, not as I say. My 4 year old reminded me to don it taking him to nursery, so the message is sinking in.
Knowing that I survived numerous jumps and drop offs on a Chipper in just a pari of shorts wouldn't make me feel betterif any of my boys screwed up just once and cracked their heads on the kerb.
I think I have just been trolled.
All this thread is proving that if you hit your head against something hard when either your head or the "Something" is moving a helmet saves more serious injury.
If you can quantify the risk of it happening and its low don’t wear a helmet
If it’s high probably best wearing one.
On a salutary note, my Aunt died through a head injury out walking her 2 dogs, they bolted unexpectedly and pulled her over hitting her head on the pavement.
Nah Brassneck...you're right I know its hypocritical of me...yep they always wear them... wheras I never did as a kid....by the same token when I was my daughters age 8 I was off fishing all day literally miles away from home in the middle of nowhere....no way I'd let her do that though...parenting paradox 😕
0range5 - Member
Funny how a lot of it is culture. If you go snowboarding or skiing without a helmet no one looks at you funny, but on a bike people give out dirty looks. Just use your common sense...
Yeah I thought this while reading the other thread, I also thought you don't see helmets at the local ice rink (well not ours anyway). what's it got to do with this? well there's a surface should you hit will hurt, you have skaters dodging in and out of people who can barely stand up who could easily get knocked\fall over - yet no-one insists on helmets.
I really don't see a problem not wearing a helmet in some situations....
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[url= http://emj.bmj.com/content/27/1/48.abstract ]
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No mess, because you'd have been more careful when going under the branch?
Possibly not, as I've done it once without a helmet on as well (lots of pain and lots of blood!).
Now, if only someone else had been using their helmet for its other useful feature- putting a video camera on- this thread would be a lot better
I saw a shocking sight on Argyle Street in Glasgow on Friday. Middle aged woman, no helmet, travelling on the pavement at under 5 miles per hour came off her bike. Head smashed into pavement and within a few minutes, the gaping wound on her head had led to a pool of blood about 5 feet in diameter encircling her as she lay poleaxed. Ambulance came and took her away, prior to that she was out cold for a full 5 minutes. I don't think she could have been cycling any slower.
I doubt she'll make that mistake again, assuming she survived. 🙁
Had a bad smash on Monday, glad my lid took a lot of grunt!
14mph. Still have a headache but better than no helmet and contact with tarmac.
(On road too)
Don't wear a helmet if you don't want to-its your brains.
Northwind - Member
Now, if only someone else had been using their helmet for its other useful feature- putting a video camera on- this thread would be a lot better
I was right behind TJ when it happened, but I'd done a risk assessment and had come to the conclusion that having a bit, sticky-out, helmet cam on my head was asking for trouble given the low branches 🙂
I was right behind Druidh when it happened - i always send the 2 lambs out to slaughter when riding.
Branch contact with mine today on our Gypsy Glen hangover killer. Glad i had my lid on as i was riding like a tool... very very indistinct direction choices and general wibbling around! 8)
Lol, I came off riding down a ex railway ath which had been tarmaced over 😳
Then 10 mintues later I did it again and smashed my helmet to peices, it was funny as ****. Glad I was wearing a helmet, myy friend wet himself...... 😆
People are clever enough to choose when and when they don't want to wear a helmet.