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Damn it, I’m out of popcorn. Will marshmallows do?
Not for a helmet thread. You need the combination of crunch on the outside, and squishy in the middle like head!
On a bike you can go from sitting down at 20mph to headfirst into the road in the blink of an eye.
Is now a good time to mention that the helmet you are putting your faith in only needs to be tested up to 12 mph?
Despite that I do wear a helmet religiously for: Mountain biking (I'm too rubbish to never come off, theres lots of hard stuff to hit, and I've killed two helmets), Road biking (where on a decent I can exceed 30mph, cars are travelling fast etc). But I don't wear a helmet for a ride to the local supermarket to get a loaf of bread, or 3 miles to visit a friend, or along the local canal to a Cafe I like to visit etc. Why? Because I've decided that my convenience, comfort, and physical appearance at the other end all outweigh the potential risk from falling off. I'm almost exclusively doing these non-helmet "rides" in good weather, and daylight. The alternative would be to walk or run. I don't wear a helmet for those (and have tripped/fallen more doing those than on the bike). I believe that not wearing a helmet actually makes me more cautious - I won't ride down a small flight of stairs for example, and I would anecdotally support the evidence from the study a few years back which said car drivers gave you a wider berth without a helmet*. I also think its important to communicate a message that cycling as a means of moving around every day isn't a high risk activity, doesn't mean special clothing, and is as practical as possible. If one good thing comes from lockdown it could be "denormalising" cars as the way to travel 0-3 miles - good for the environment and our health. Go to Malmo, Amsterdam, Copenhagen etc - you will see all sorts of people using bikes for transport, and few of them are in lycra with polystyrene hats on, and plenty aren't even in glorious neon and reflective stuff. (FWIW I don't believe presumed liability has anything to do with that).
*I actually think that it might not just be the helmet - riding a bike in fairly normal clothes seems to get a wider berth than riding in cycling kit... almost like people see you as traffic rather than someone doing their sport on the highway.
Helmets are horrible to wear and offer very little in the way of protection even when well fitting and worn properly and its a tiny minority who wear them properly and have well fitting helmets. Those adjustable cradles mean an ill fitting helmet. If you can get a finger in between the shell and your head at any point its ill fitting. If you can pull it forwards to touch your nose or backwards to touch your neck its ill fitting. If you can get a mars bar in your gob the straps are not done up properly
I think this is all rubbish. You can't bang on about rotational injuries being exacerbated by helmets, then claim they are all being worn too loosely.
Is now a good time to mention that the helmet you are putting your faith in only needs to be tested up to 12 mph?
12mph of what? Your forward speed? Speed of car relative to bike? Speed of head onto ground?
Go to Malmo, Amsterdam, Copenhagen etc – you will see all sorts of people using bikes for transport, and few of them are in lycra with polystyrene hats on, and plenty aren’t even in glorious neon and reflective stuff. (FWIW I don’t believe presumed liability has anything to do with tha
No riding to the shops no, but most people don't dress up like that here when riding to shops. However those people who are actually on a bike ride for fitness are dressed in lycra and wearing helmets just like the rest of is.
I just beg folk to – you know the mantra – follow the science
Hmm but the science is far from definitive here. Science tells me that if my head hits the ground or the A-pillar of a car I'd rather it be protected by polystyrene then nothing. You seem to ignore that science cos it backs up your preference. Confirmation bias is also a scientific thing 🙂
I don’t wear hi-viz, although my current road Goretex jacket is flouro yellow which I wear only in the rain, mostly visibility is lower. Don’t like it at all, have always preferred black or white, but it is what it is.
I only use lights in the dark. I commute most days into Newcastle city centre. Hi viz or DRL make no difference in my experience.
I wear a helmet on the roads now because my wife tells my kids to and they think I’m a hypocrite otherwise. It’s not for protection from cars, but occasionally it crosses my mind if somebody steps out or if I have a mechanical failure it’s unlikely to be worse than a bare head.
Interestingly, lately I’ve been out on the fixie into Northumberland a few times without a helmet and I get almost zero waves/nods - which makes me want to go helmetless more often if I’m completely honest. Not trying to sound like a smart arse there, just suits my inner sociopath.
I wear one off road pretty much 100%, but mostly for branches, and to keep the rain or sun out of my eyes.
Lets not go down the route of “putting new riders off” tangent,
what a moronic thing to say. You ask for opinions and then state "except for opinions which say...."
WHy?
I wear a helmet for everything except London hire bikes. Partly because it's light, comfy, well-ventilated, partly because for "sport" cycling it looks right and partly because I don't want my obituary to read: "The cyclist, who was not wearing a helmet...."
Hire bikes - no chance, you ride them very differently and one of my major bugbears is people conflating sport/leisure cycling with transport cycling. You don't wear fireproof overalls and a helmet to drive to the shops but you do in motorsport. Same thing for cycling. IMHO. Make it accessible, make it look normal.
I always use lights, day or night, any weather, road or CX (not MTB cos I'm rarely, if ever on the road then). They do really help, especially in dappled sunlight where even quite bright colours can get washed out or blend in (yellow hi viz is particularly bad at that actually!). Plus there's always the possibility that on a long day out you'll encounter bad weather, fog etc or be out later than intended.
Hi viz - well I do own a couple of bits of it, the most obvious being a Rapha pink / reflective gilet but as a general rule I'll wear whatever I feel is most appropriate for the weather and rely on the lights.
Oh and please, for the love of God - wear what you want, use lights/helmet if you want but if you see someone not wearing a helmet... SHUT THE **** UP. It's not your place to judge them and tell them what you think they should or should not be wearing. I've seen / heard so many judgemental bellends recently, the "experienced" cyclists riding around during lockdown and imparting their opinion to any and all "newbie" cyclists. You sound like a ****. Shut up.
My biggest impetus to wearing hi-viz has been driving, and realisinhg how often I don't see cyclists. I'm not the best driver (probably) but I'm not completely blind so I suspect I'm not alone.
Helmet? I doubt it will help but it might when the inevitable London driver fetches me off with a car door or a thoughtless manoeuvre.
There are 1000s of cyclists in Cambridge, the vast majority ride day and night with no helmet, no light, no high Viz and quite often no brakes! Yet the streets aren't strewn with dead bodies, you see very few bike / car accidents, possibly the fact that there are so many cyclists they have achieved critical mass and drivers are more aware of them. I never wear a helmet cycling round town, although do use lights at night (and working brakes).
Yet the streets aren’t strewn with dead bodies, you see very few bike / car accidents, possibly the fact that there are so many cyclists they have achieved critical mass and drivers are more aware of them
A function of fewer cyclists being hit because of different driving behaviours. Not because they aren't wearing helmets.
12mph of what? Your forward speed? Speed of car relative to bike? Speed of head onto ground?
Impact speed (obviously, aren't you an engineer?)