Do you people wear helmets and gloves??

[reanimation]

Its an interesting thread, and you did ask.

Safety and crashing is very subjective, not black and white. I'm in the middle of roll caging my old car, and its a similar arguement/debate.

What you have got to do is make a decision based on what you think.

I started wearing helmets in :? hmm 1989 i think, prompted by an episode of 'casualty' on TV!! the lad had skidded or knocked off and hit his head on the kerb, probably died...

Anyway So I bough a crappy 'Skid lid' too small and cramped. and then got a soft shell Met, Bell Image, Happy cycling and XCing. During this time my mate got concussion after hitting a car at speed, good job he had the helmet IMO.

Then I got into BMX, ameteur street/ramps/general obstacles, it wasn't cool to wear a helmet, I also did a bit of occasional drinking :roll: well i was a care free teenager bit of riding in town, few drinks with all the rockers and cycle home dorking about. one night on the way home i took p1$$ out of my mates earlier fall and effectively 'backflipped' my head onto the floor. BANG! fark :? :shock: At the time i had very thick long hair and i think that helped. Ouch, went home, forgot about it.

Still no helmet. Got back into MTB's (even if it was an overgrown BMX) and got another XC lid and Gloves. Its funny though, commuting on my BMX in 2004 i didn't wear a helmet! :roll:
Its not so unsafe popping to shop but safer to wear one on other journeys/daftness. I now have Giro Xen (fits me) I think the skate style wont me look too daft on BMX.

If i don't have a helmet with me, like if i'm at me mums and need to use bike there, I feel naked without protection. so i try go more careful where poss...

IMO Helmet and Gloves FTW, they are comfy and who cares what people think.

Full facer, i do not have.. yet, suppose its ideal for attempting to trickery or any 'freeride' trips. Its wierd if ya skills are not that hot ya feel over dressed, and then ya see the pro's who are so unbelievably good that they don't need it! ...

 

[bryan555]

What I have noticed is the crash hat wears are the ones who get very excitied over this subject. And try and force every one to wear a hat. But the non hat wearers are quite relaxed about the issue. :?

Each to there own, i'd advise to wear a helmet, but wouldnt force any one.

After all we all secretly love the wind rushing through our flowing locks on a speedy descent!

I don't have any locks, flowing or otherwise!
Maybe that's why I'm pro-lid

 

[legrandefromage]

Anyone here play cricket? You can play cricket with or without wearing a box.
I would choose to protect the delicate parts of my body, even though I have seen no evidence that they are truly effective.

Oookay.... wrong 'helmet' I think.

When I was in hospital for action against angle grinders (a.a.a.g!) I was in the head injury ward (plastic surgery ward was full).

loads of broken cheeks/ eye sockets/ jaws/ missing teeth :shock:

all caused by hockey, football, rugby and falling down the stairs - not one cycle related head injury while I was there.

I definitely wont be playing those sports and am installing a stairmaster.

 

[Tallpaul]

[as this is turning into a for or against ( dont they all :roll: yawn ) lets all wait while the pro helmet wearers cite their sources for these claims

I'll go with common sense.

Fall off and hit a root/rock with:

a) My perfectly sculpted hair as the only buffer.

b) A helmet that has, at least, been designed to absorb some force within the contraints of its size and weight.

If it ever happens and I still die or end up a vegetable, despite the lid, I'll be sure to have told my girlfriend to post it up on here so you can say 'I told you so'

 

[legrandefromage]

Terrain - down these parts its flat with no randomly placed igneous rocks

you fall off here you're landing is broken by a: sheep/ cow/ pikey/ fen.

Having never worn a hat, I take more care on the knobbly bits when I visit other folk.

 

[hamster]

I tried to be very balanced and say that I assume it has more upsides than downsides. :cry:

I do agree with Perry that helmets have very limited capabilities...

I suspect that it would cut more cyclist fatalities by encouraging more people to cycle (by not creating a perception that cycling was hard and dangerous) and result in making drivers far more considerate.

Although I suspect it would be a far better thing to do - and make Britain a nicer place to live in.

 

[BarneyRubble]

Don't apologise, its a sensible question thats been hijacked by people that think that "unicycling down everest" or "making joggers carry a difib machine" are sensible comments.

The fact is that most fatalities from MTBing are caused by head injuries, you can reduce the risk of a serious injury by wearing one. You can also avoid your mates having to deal with a serious head injury if you wear a helmet.

If you want to reduce your risk of serious injury or death and you respect your fellow riders enough to not want them to deal with your bloodied carcass, you'll wear a helmet when you ride off road.

have you seen the state of all those fat joggers??

Helmet requirement = terrain/ speed/ rider skills

I personally couldn't care less if someone chooses to wear a lid or not, much like anything in life it's a personal choice. I choose to ride MTB's as fast as I can at all times and because of that, I will inevitably fall off on occasion and when I do I choose to wear a helmet (I have hit my head without one and it really hurt).

The arguments about rider skill and terrain are irrelevant because even the most skillful riders on the planet still have spills and you can bet everyone of them will be wearing a helmet when they do.

If I ever decide that the only cycling I will do is at slow speed on smooth, soft ground then I will let the wind blow over my sadly hairless scalp!

 

[perry]

i picked up a cricket ball once , thought nah thats not for me , same with most other sports they all seem to involve some other guy out to do harm to get the win . rugby seems to lack much in the way of safety amour

if you want to wear a helmet fine do . im not going to say dont , that would be a bit dim . i would say do the research before scowling at everyone you see who doesnt choose to wear one for while the helmet could help in a light impact its not a magic forcefield and wont save you in every eventuality

to the original poster . gloves are a wise choice , there is little to no argument not to wear them , go for something that fits well and regarding helmets do the research . sadly 90% of the discussions end up like this and it can get oh so tiring reading the same for or against tripe for hours but there is decent info to be had on both sides of this never ending tale

i dont wear a lid on the road , i have decided that its not worth putting a bit of cushion between my skull and lumps of metal upwards of a ton travelling at over 30mph , nearly all drivers can see you and most dont drive with an intent to harm

offroad either on my lonesome or with others i again go lidless . i neither ride quick enough or over difficult terrain to use one . 15 years and ive been fine so far .

in a competitive environment , ie somewhere where others have a great desire to be infront of me ill happily use my piss pot or even the fullface . going upto 8 people deep into a corner where there is only space for a few it makes sense to try to avoid getting a chainring to the face

so for now at least its your own choice

 

[Tallpaul]

Terrain - down these parts its flat with no randomly placed igneous rocks

you fall off here you're landing is broken by a: sheep/ cow/ pikey/ fen.

Having never worn a hat, I take more care on the knobbly bits when I visit other folk.

I'm almost tempted to bite at this load of nonsense.

I find the notion of being able to control whether or not you have an accident by will alone quite charming. I really never intended to puncture my lung in a mountain biking accident - infact I did it riding a section I'd ridden without drama many times before and since, I've no idea how I got it so wrong that day. That trip to Hospital wasn't fun and I've no idea if my head ever hit the ground but I was sure glad I wore my lid and the injuries I had all mended without any long-term issues.

 

[yo-eddy]

Never used a helmet bitd, now that helmets are more comfy I tend to use 'm on every trip off road (never when commuting though)
Eye witnessed three people crashing their helmets, all ending with only a minor concussion instead of a broken skull.
Last one was two months ago, my brother (1.93 meters 120 kilo) knocking himself out for 2 minutes against a tree, brand new helmet was in 8 pieces and probably saved him from serious head damage.
Not too many excuses left for not wearing a helmet imho, but hey, as tintin said we're all grown-ups (sort of :roll: ) so I don't actually bother if someone else decides not to wear one,
happy trails