Do you people wear helmets and gloves??

[lewis1641]

when you are hit by a car a lehmet helps by protecting your head against solid objects. like the car. and the ground.

No.
A helmet protects against linear impact by slowing down the rate at which your head makes contact with the ground. It only works at low speeds, like when you fall off your bike at 10mph.
At higher speeds, you are more likely to suffer what's known as a rotational head injury. This is where your head twists as it hits an object at speed, such as the car windscreen heading towards you at 50mph.
Helmets don't help at all here; because they effectively make your head wider the speed at which it rotates when it twists is faster, so there are a lot of arguments to suggest a helmet reduces your chances of survival at these speeds. There are some experimental helmets designed for motorcycling that have a second skin which slides off on impact, but because cyclists need well ventilated lids this is a technology that won't be coming over to bikes.
I'm sorry to say that if you are involved in an accident involving a car, the chances are you're stuffed, helmet or no.

fair enoughski. i didnt realise that. just goes to show the marketing of stuff - i feel invincible with my lid on!

 

[barry2017]

It's a nightmare, isn't it?

I read everything I could before making a decision about helmets. I definitely would for offroading.

 

[Thorpie]

I am a police officer working in Sheffield and I have seen first hand the benefits of wearing a helmet when cycling. One paticular RTC I am thinking of involved a guy planting himself into the side of a fast moving car. The impact was enough to leave a head shaped dent in the front wing of said car and the collision slpit his helmet in two, the rider had no serious head injuries, I believe, because he was wearing a lid. What arguement is there??????? Wear a helmet, it's your life you could ultimately be protecting!

Trevor.

 

[Gadro]

Those of us with children must ask ourselves. Would we let our kids do some serious cycling without head protection?

At the moment protective headgear is not a legal requirement for cyclists. Used to be the same for motorcyclists and who can forget Jimmy Salville' clunk click every trip ads for seatbelts.

I personally wear a helmet when I go for a ride. Just makes common sense nowadays. I remember way back as far as the early 80's wearing full protective gear on my skateboard, including a helmet and the stuff I do now is far more of the 'aaaargh that hurt' type.

Until it's a legal requirement it will be down to personal choice. I choose to wear a helmet, currently got a Giro Hex. Nice and comfy and don't make me look like a total pillock.

I have noted a split of for and against - no worries, personal choice

 

[cchris2lou]

i am not fussed about gloves .some days i do some days i dont .

i wear a helmet most of the times , not for commuting though

 

[tintin40]

What gets me is when you see families out and the kids have hats on but their parents don't.
And when people ride with a hat hanging off the handle bar. If your going to carry then wear the thing

 

[Inigo Montoya]

i haven't read the whole discussion but wanted to step in with my arguments pro helmet.
it often happens to me that the helmet saves me from low flying branches knocking me out on the trail. imagine descending a single trail at a serious speed and suddenly after a fast corner a branch appears at head height... unpleasent if you're not wearing a helmet.

 

[J i m s t e r]

I am under no illusion of the helmet saving me if I am pinged by a speeding drunk driver under an oncoming van, but then, nothing would. I just do my best to avoid such situations or mitigate the risks. By doing this, I think the likelyhood of this is fairly small, akin to the chances of being actioned by any other form of urban predation. No-one is promised tomorrow, otherwise I would be a lock-in.

Which is why I still ride to work and pay very close attention to areas where traffic merges. Helmet and goggles have proved effective in pinging off bees, wind-buffeted branches and gravel from the road. So I will continue to use them.

When I ride offroad, I believe I will encounter terrain that is more difficult to mitigate. I know I have a greater chance of coming off, because I do come off. So I wear the helmet. My view is that on the vast majority of offroad rides, I would prefer the helmet interfacing with the rocks or branches rather than my skin. The helmet lacerates less. FACT. I wear gloves for the same reason. If I was going to do rock garden downhills, I'd wear the proper body armour too. If you think such measures irrational, why not just ride naked show how hard you are (ayo...)

I wouldn't ride a section where I thought "I am definitely unable to get over that." There are plenty of brave men in the graveyard.

 

[barry2017]

I think that's an often overlooked position you have, Jimster, and its one that makes a lot of sense.
Incidentally, I reckon sunglasses make traffic riding more dangerous, although I have no scientific proof, it's just observational. They stop you making eye contact with drivers, and I think that's important. If you're ever in front of a car at lights and the driver won't make eye contact, get out of their way.

 

[J i m s t e r]

Also, riding like a knob doesn't help. What do you make of this?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstop ... limit.html

2:21 into the vid... 'Kin 'Ell. Poor bastard. You could argue that the car didn't check his mirrors, but maybe the bike wasn't there the second or so before he did the manoeuvre.