Do you wear a helmet?

[craig1985]

Well yes, it is the law here. 99% of the time whilst cycling in France, England, and Italy I wore a helmet because apart from my own safety (it once saved my life) and that if I had an accident and hit my head, even though I had travel insurance, I didn't want to take a risk by them turning around and saying 'no helmet, GAGFC' (go and get ****ed ****) and not covering me because insurance companies are sneaky *******s. When I climbed in the Pyrennes I took my helmet off whilst going uphill but I was put it on for the desent (I was amazed to see people desending down the Tourmalet wearing just a cycling cap). I went for a ride around Verona and didn't bother too much.

 

[elapid]

I started riding in Australia where helmets were compulsory. I have lived in the US and now Canada where helmets are not compulsory, but I continue to wear a helmet because of safety issues. A good friend had a low speed crash without a helmet and suffered significant brain damage. This resulted in a long recuperation, behavioural changes which damaged personal relationships, and a career change having been one of the world's leaders in his field. All because of a simple low speed crash without a helmet. A helmet is not going to save me if I am hit at 60 kmh or fall while descending at 80 kmh, but I know it will help in some situations, many of them I encounter daily when commuting or training.

 

[Zoncolan]

In Serbia wearing a helmet is optional. I wear one anyway.
A number of friends had some pretty nasty crashes, I still didn't want to wear one. It is too hot, my hair gets all goofy underneath... And then I had my first head-on collision with tarmac. That was over three years ago, and I never went on a ride without a helmet since. Not even to the market!
Guess you could say I'm a pu$$y and couldn't take a bit of pain, but at 44 and a father of 4, I'm not supposed to be terribly brave.
Had two major crashes since started to wear a helmet, both at around 40 km/h. Don't know if it saved my life, but it sure made those headaches more bearable.
It can be a real b!tch this time of year wearing a helmet with 35-40 degrees C temperatures. You don't even have to climb to boil your brains under a helmet, but it sure beats scrapin'em off the tarmac.

 

[usedtobefast]

helmets have saved me more than once. they are optional in california, but not
for me. better safe, than sorry.

 

[Arn Old]

Wearing a helmet is a no-brainer for me. My guess is since it's mandatory in competitions, more and more people wear helmets at any time, especially young guys inspired by professional riders' look.
There's no law about bike helmet in France and I would say about half sport cyclists on the road wear a helmet.

 

[danyela]

Iit is the law in NZ where I am but if it wasn't I would still definately wear one anyway, except perhaps if you were just cruising down the road to a cafe or something, but either way, helmets are good!

 

[Cobber]

Yes I wear a helmet and yes it has saved my life.

 

[LugHugger]

I haven't voted, mainly because I choose to wear a helmet sometimes. On a club run, I do. Partly because it promotes a responsible image to those who see us in club colours and partly because there's always the risk when riding in a gang that random accidents happen. On the other hand, when riding on my own or with a couple of friends I/we may not wear a lid. I can't justify this, it's just the way it is for me.

 

[Anonymous]

used to for racing if i had to, but never for training... dont have one now for recreational riding, although the more twitters i get from pros saying their giro just saved their life the more i consider one..

 

[elapid]

used to for racing if i had to, but never for training... dont have one now for recreational riding, although the more twitters i get from pros saying their giro just saved their life the more i consider one..

Hi Dim. In all seriousness, can I ask why you don't wear a helmet?

 

[usedtobefast]

Hi Dim. In all seriousness, can I ask why you don't wear a helmet?

yeah, they don't call it a "skid lid" for nothing.

 

[53 x 11]

I'm an Australian and as such have to wear a helmet. I’ve got no strong objection to using it in racing or training as something has to be better than nothing. That said I do feel that having a helmet on give drivers an excuse to give me a little less room on the road as their thinking is "well he's protected". I cant really back this up with hard evidence, its just a feeling I’ve got after spending 5-7 days a week for the last 8 years on the road working as a messenger and a highish level amateur racer.

The police in my home city are very strict on the helmet laws but are constantly letting people speed, talk or text on mobiles (both of which are illegal) and pull some manoeuvres that stunt men would be proud of. All of which are much more dangerous for a cyclist than whether or not they choose to wear a helmet. I have been hit by cars more than five times and car doored twice, once I ran into the back of a car and this one was entirely my fault. Each time the first question the police have asked me was "were you wearing a helmet?" rather than "can you give us details on the guy who just car doored you and drove off while you were lying on the ground with crushed ribs?". Why should my helmet be more important than the crime that has just been committed on my body? (That sounds a little dirty).

Also the argument that even when your going slowly if you fall off you head is moving at 50 kmph when it hits the ground is total BS. If this was a real problem shouldn’t there be a serious campaign to get tall people to wear helmets? After all when they fall their heads must be moving very fast. I actually fall over a lot more when running or walking than when I’m on my bike, I guess I’m just lucky that while uncoordinated at least I’m not tall.

Anyway. My team gives me lovely Laser Genesis helmets and they are excellent. End silly rant.

 

[LugHugger]

Anyway. My team gives me lovely Laser Genesis helmets and they are excellent. End silly rant.

Feel the flow. Work it

 

[elapid]

I'm an Australian and as such have to wear a helmet. I’ve got no strong objection to using it in racing or training as something has to be better than nothing. That said I do feel that having a helmet on give drivers an excuse to give me a little less room on the road as their thinking is "well he's protected". I cant really back this up with hard evidence, its just a feeling I’ve got after spending 5-7 days a week for the last 8 years on the road working as a messenger and a highish level amateur racer.

There are actually studies that support your statement. Drivers supposedly think that riders wearing helmets are more capable than those that do not, and hence they feel comfortable in getting closer to helmeted riders. I don't have the references on hand, but they are available.

 

[53 x 11]

Feel the flow. Work it

Harness in the good energy, block out the bad. Harness. Energy. Block. Bad. It's like a carousel. You put the quarter in, you get on the horse, it goes up and down, and around. Circular, circle. Feel it. Go with the flow.

 

[splintersp3]

i always wear a helment now but back when i was younger i resisted it and never would because i wanted to look cool like my favorite pros. My parents were good friends with a brain doctor who had seen many bad falls that lead to brain damage and becasue of this my parents were adamit that i must wear a helment on all rides. To escape this whenever i wanted to go for a ride i would scout out there location in the house and make sure they were busy, then i would sprint to my bike as fast as i could and take off before they could notice.
My Mother eventually forbid me to ride after a while, but once i got out without her seeing...or so i thought!! About 2 miles into my ride i noticed a van that looked like hers coming up. The van got right on my *** and as i looked back i discovered that sure enough it was my mom! She began honking and yelling, which ****ed me off and made me decide to continue on despite her recklessness. Believe it or not she followed me for a good 20 miles on some super twisty and dangeruous roads before she finally had gotten enough. She zoomed past me and i took a major sigh of relief that my mother had not just killed me!
Unfortunitly my bike was locked up and i was not allowed to ride for almost a year after this.

 

[splintersp3]

Am all for helments in pro tour races today, but i wish pros were still allowed to take them off if a stage ends on a climb, like they did for a few years. Nothing was more thrilling to watch then when the big guns threw off there helments at the foot of a great climb such as the alp d huez. It was like ok, game on. I'm getting goosebumps just thinking about it.

 

[mofiki]

I only wear a helmet when participating in group events where helmets are required. I have little faith that these cheezy foam structures actually do much at all to help avoid major injury in a crash however as a "skid lid" it probably would be effective. I also feel the manufacturers put alot of mis-information about there effectiveness out there and most fall for it. I look at the costs of the helmets most desired by bikers and think to myself what a ripoff. Prices exceeding well above $100 is BS. I think that's why most of my friends I ride with don't wear them either. It really is insulting not to mention really ****es me off that any products targeted to bikers are priced so far out of line. It's not that I can't afford it, I can easily afford it, I'm just not that stupid. I say let the manufacturers keep it. But, that's getting into another topic so I'll stop there.

 

[Boeing]

I see far too many johnny too fast freds with out but it is their nut.

Giro has saved my life and I dont have to eat with a straw so I am down with the helmet.

 

[runninboy]

my first helmet was v1 pro, god that thing made my neck stiff
the helmets since then are so comfortable i usually am not even aware i am wearing one. Just so used to it.
However all the time i see guys climb a hill near my house with the helmet on the bars.
On a side note my friends and i always wave to other riders. It is not a big deal to me but some of my friends have actually turned and chased down guys and asked them if they are too good to wave. One day i raise my hand to wave to another rider and my friend says 'DONT WAVE" i thought i heard him wrong and then he explained the exceptopn to the always wave rule is you dont wave to guys not wearing helmets. But you always chase them down and drop them whenever possible( which we did)
Later i learned the reasoning was usually they were some cat 5 freds or some higher cat who thinks he belongs in europe. Or worse a triathlete
So as you fly by him you say just loud enough for him to hear "get a helmet"
and then you keep hammering so he cant catch on.
Its a pretty fun game
Once i saw a helmetless rider on a TT bike on some long rollers, so i u turned and chased , as i got close, i saw he was being filmed by a camera car. When i got within a few bike lengths i heard him talking smack to the car it was like a dream come true. I smiled at the camera and waved as i passed him. The guys in the car went nuts laughing and the guy got ****ed and tried to get my wheel. I must admit i had to push really hard to keep him from catching me, but he finally sat up after a couple minutes.
It was one of my fav moments on a bike

 

[philcrisp]

I posted this question last time this thread was run but here goes again. Did anyone read the research before making a decision?

 

[Steampunk]

Along with many of the good reasons listed above for wearing a helmet, I also have three children, two of them who are old enough to ride. How could I ask them to wear a helmet if I didn't?

 

[elapid]

I posted this question last time this thread was run but here goes again. Did anyone read the research before making a decision?

My decision was based on the fact that it was compulsory to wear a helmet when I was in Australia. However, I continue to wear a helmet now in a country where helmet use is not compulsory based on my own crashes, the low-speed crash of a friend not wearing a helmet resulting in significant brain damage, and friends who work as occupational therapists treating brain injuries.

I did a quick PubMed search of "bicycle and helmet" with 514 scientific papers written on the use of helmets in bicycle users. I read the first 40 abstracts and all but one paper concluded the helmet use decreases the risk of serious brain injury; brain injury rates have decreased since helmet use became compulsory in countries like Australia; and the most common reason for cyclists presenting to hospital following a crash was head injuries in countries without compulsory helmet laws (Japan, Taiwan, Sweden and Israel were the papers I read) and that the incidence of head injuries in these countries was unacceptably high. Other papers concluded that the ability of a helmet to protect against brain injury depends on proper positioning of the helmet and, depending on the study, this varied between 46-100%.

 

[philcrisp]

I did a quick PubMed search of "bicycle and helmet" with 514 scientific papers written on the use of helmets in bicycle users. I read the first 40 abstracts and all but one paper concluded the helmet use decreases the risk of serious brain injury; brain injury rates have decreased since helmet use became compulsory in countries like Australia; and the most common reason for cyclists presenting to hospital following a crash was head injuries in countries without compulsory helmet laws (Japan, Taiwan, Sweden and Israel were the papers I read) and that the incidence of head injuries in these countries was unacceptably high. Other papers concluded that the ability of a helmet to protect against brain injury depends on proper positioning of the helmet and, depending on the study, this varied between 46-100%.[/QUOTE]

 

[philcrisp]

I did a quick PubMed search of "bicycle and helmet" with 514 scientific papers written on the use of helmets in bicycle users. I read the first 40 abstracts and all but one paper concluded the helmet use decreases the risk of serious brain injury; brain injury rates have decreased since helmet use became compulsory in countries like Australia; and the most common reason for cyclists presenting to hospital following a crash was head injuries in countries without compulsory helmet laws (Japan, Taiwan, Sweden and Israel were the papers I read) and that the incidence of head injuries in these countries was unacceptably high. Other papers concluded that the ability of a helmet to protect against brain injury depends on proper positioning of the helmet and, depending on the study, this varied between 46-100%.[/QUOTE]

Have you read any of the non-medical research?