Helmet on road?

I always wear a helmet on the MTB had enough head first moments to know they are essential. For some reason I hate wearing one on the commute. I have no reason just don’t like it. I seem pretty alone in not wearing one.

Anyone else ride without or am I just mad?

I don’t on road either.

I see quite a few roadies round my way not wearing helmets, but I always wear mine; even just for the 1.5mile cycle to the local Tesco; feels wrong not wearing it.

I do.

There we go, both sides covered.

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99.9999999% of the time, yes. Modern helmets are light and well ventilated so I don’t really see a reason not to.

The law says you have free choice.

I wear one simply because it might one day save my life if I land on my head.
Although the last time I fell off on the road I landed on my chin so the helmet made no difference at all!

Trends to be older roadies round my way that don’t wear them. I always do except if I’m nipping to the shops down the road.

Sometimes I do, sometimes not.

Modern helmets are light and well ventilated

but not as light and well ventilated as no helmet.

I dont see the point in not wearing one tbh – with the way people drive, why take the risk? After all, you may think that your skills are not going to let you down (fair enough), but the unforseen CAN happen – case example – I got knocked off the bike by a car that hit me from behind, ending up with my head hitting the kerb – no helmet, no me.

I didn’t used to but in a previous job many of us cycled and we all had to leave through the first police gate at the same time. This meant that the second police gate just at the exit to the island became the Champs Elysees every night. It was enough to persuade me to wear a helmet.

concrete is hard, cars and trucks are hard, lamposts are hard, heads are soft and squishy. The speed at which your head might hit these hard objects is just as fast as hitting that rock when you come off your MTB. its a no brainer…

I don’t. Normally it’s just me and the over 60’s that are sans helmet.

The law says it us up to you but I’m just going to come out and say it and I don’t care if anyone takes offence. I think it is bloody stupid not to wear a helmet and I will not ride with anyone who does not wear one.

I don’t. I don’t off-road either unless it’s a trail centre or an event.

Lots of older (50+) roadies round my way that just wear a cap. Us young guns (49-) tend to wear them.

I always do, wouldn’t risk it on the commute and short pootles normally include the kids so I want to set an example to them.

Having seen a good friend come off onto their head at the weekend and the results of the helmet and 3 days in hospital and counting with a fractured vertebrae with another bit of broken bone floating around in it you would wear one.

Basically he got up and we got to hospital, no helmet and it would have been a hearse coming to pick him up.
This is what the doctors said.

The speed he came off at was about the same you get on a road bike/commute.

Make your choice before Darwinism does.

I do on my 4 mile commute.

Set off the other morning without it, got half way there until I relaised and decided to go back for it as it would be just my luck that “today would be the day” that I needed it.

Personal choice. I always wear one on mtb, but on the road it’s 50/50. Does feel nice not wearing one and I do ride a lot more carefully if I’m lid free.

Don’t bother on my commute, but then it’s only a 5 minute pootle. Always wear it one out on the road bike though, feel quite exposed without it. It is quite strange when out on a club run when there are folk not wearing them, have mixed feelings about it as its got potential to really ruin my ride!

The usual helmet saved my life stories. .. Ho hum.

Interesting that the ‘old roadies’, who will have ridden rather more miles than most seem to have survived.

This will only end in the usual way, so I’m out.

I think it feels weird riding without one as I have been riding with one for so long. A bit like riding with no shorts on but less likely to get you arrested.

You are TJ & I claim my £5. 😯

I just remembered something, those of you who have done speed awareness courses will recognise it!

Apparently the human body (and specifically the skull IIRC) is designed to withstand impacts at up to 20mph as that is as fast as we can run (I can’t). Anything over this and we risk serious injury, if you look at a chart of serious injury/death against speed it kicks up quite sharply after 20mph.

So if you’re likely to be doing more than 20 you should probably consider wearing a helmet.

I dont see the point in not wearing one tbh – with the way people drive, why take the risk?

Yes, but that assumes a helmet will save you if you get run over. The jury’s out on their overall effectiveness tbh.

I wear one because I think they’re effective in some situations (mainly mtb), but I’m hardly consistent, considering I don’t wear any body armour or a hi viz jacket.

So if you’re likely to be doing more than 20 you should probably consider wearing a helmet.

I thought they were tested at 12mph?

I never wore one when I started. Then when the first hardshells (bell Tomac) came out I wore one all the time.

Never fallen on my head off roading, but been whacked loads of times by branches and stuff.

On road I just always wear one.
Then had the ‘it saved my life moment’ the back wore right down to the bit that holds the pads.

Just last week though my off road ride finished with an uphill and I removed my lid…nice it was.

The old roadies thing is quite interesting. Started road riding in my teens in the late 80’s and I think was probably one of the first generation to wear helmets as a matter of course. I’m wondering what prompted this change in thinking? Maybe a push to market by the manufacturers? Better helmet design? I don’t think the pro-peleton was obliged to wear helmets until much later (early 2000s’?)

Edit: oldgit, as you say, maybe it was around the time of the hardshell helmet when they actually became effective?

Double edit: similar thing seems to be happening with skiing. A few years ago nobody wore helmets, now everyone seems to wear them. Manufacturer probably saw the gap in the market and had a big marketing push!

So if you’re likely to be doing more than 20 you should probably consider wearing a helmet.

That explains why I’ve been injury free for so long! 😆

I use a helmet 99% of the time.

My mate recently had a car pull out of a side road in front of him. He was in ICU for a number of days, and then HDU for another few weeks. He now has a lot of titanium holding his face together, is missing several teeth, has a fractured vertebrae in his neck (fortunately didn’t affect his spinal column), and a very nice scar on his temple coutesy of his helmet breaking due to the impact, plus some other supeficial wounds.

If he hadn’t been wearing his helmet he may well have bypassed ICU / HDU and gone straight to the morgue, or alteratively been in a vegetative state for the rest of his life!

My dad and a friend were mowed down by a taxi from behind on their commute to work. My dad was wearing a helmet. It was in bits but saved his head. With a nasty broken leg he was off work for 6 months but made a full recovery.
His mate wasn’t so lucky. No helmet, head and neck injuries in hospital for some time. Off work for 1.5 years. Still walks now with a slight stoop.

The police asked to keep the helmet to show kids on safety talks.

I don’t understand why people don’t wear helmets when road riding. Especially roadies. You won’t be so “cool” with a busted head.

The usual helmet saved my life stories. .. Ho hum

Good point. If only we had a way of communicating with those who didn’t wear a helmet and as a result didn’t have their lives saved.

Derek Acora to the forum!

http://www.ecf.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Cycle-helmets.pdf

This was interesting I thought.

What it is, rotational injury?

Interesting that the ‘old roadies’, who will have ridden rather more miles than most seem to have survived.

Its certainly true you dont see the dead ones 😕

I wear mine almost all the time

I doubt it will save my life but it has reduced the severity of injury on numerous occasions

Only time I ever wear a helmet on the road is if it’s required (eg a sportive) or I’m riding in a group. And I’m only 38. Yes I know it may save my life one day, but I just don’t like wearing them on the road. in 15 years I’ve never had a serious road crash (yes, I know!), so I just don’t see the point of diminishing the ride experience to counter the miniscule risk of needing one. Yes, it’s probably stupid, lazy, illogical, selfish etc but spare me the lectures. I’ve heard it all before.

Yes, but that assumes a helmet will save you if you get run over. The jury’s out on their overall effectiveness tbh.

So you’d rather not wear one on the notion that wearing one might actually make matters worse for you when you get hit? I would have thought simple physics / material science would make it quite clear that head plus road equals messy, whereas head plus road minus durable material equals not so messy?

Whats the attraction / benefit of not wearing one? Aside from not messing up anyone’s flowing locks?

To balance the other stories:

I slid on some ice, fell on to a grass verge and hit my head on the ground with not a great deal of force. My helmet still split along the side, so I’m just not convinced they do very much at all in a more serious impact.

TBF older roadies would have grown up on far quieter roads, quieter than any of the younger guys on here could possibly imagine.
Even for me cycling out of London as a teenager I’d hardly see a car, especially on Sundays.
Plus then it was hairnets which were quite useless as my three missing teeth can confirm.

Interesting point on thinking the “ride experience” is better without a helmet. If I go out without one it scares the bejesus out of me, especially when picking up the pace, so ride experience is diminished. I guess it’s a similar appeal to open top motoring though!

So you’d rather not wear one on the notion that wearing one might actually make matters worse for you when you get hit? I would have thought simple physics / material science would make it quite clear that head plus road equals messy, whereas head plus road minus durable material equals not so messy?

Whats the attraction / benefit of not wearing one? Aside from not messing up anyone’s flowing locks?

Well there is some, albeit far from conclusive, evidence that not wearing a helmet affects the way other road users behave and makes them more likely to give more space. Graeme Obree summed it up quite nicely when he said to look wobbly on your bike to get other user to give you more room.

Never used to wear one on the road before I had kids, but since I insist on them wearing theirs, it’s hardly setting a good example if I only wear mine sometimes…

After several years, it now feels so normal that one day when I somehow set off without it, it felt very, very strange..

Apart from the tenuous “rotational injuries” and the ONE study that seemed to suggest a correlation (note: 1 limited study a causal relationship does not identify) between helmets and drivers passing closer, I struggle to see a reason to not wear a helmet, whereas I can see a pretty obvious potential drawback of not doing

but not as light and well ventilated as no helmet.

Not as light, sure, but aren’t there manufacturers now claiming that they have designed the vents so well that you get more airflow to the scalp than on a naked head? I may have dreamed that?