Do you people wear helmets and gloves??

[TSC.]

I look after a client who has a head injury from coming off a bike, he had a helmet on, but hadn't done it up. Had his accident when he was 17, he's 36 now. Sadly he will need 24hr care for the rest of his life & will never be able to lead anything like a normal life. He has no use of anything on the left side of his body & suffers from 24hr headaches & occasional seizures. Not to mention the lack of mental skills, he has the mental age of a 12 year old.

So I'm sitting here, absolutely shocked at the amount of people on here, who cycle regularly but don't wear a helmet. Is a life like the one described above really worth the risk?

I wouldn't even go to the end of the road on a bike without a lid on.

 

[dbmtb]

Mitts - for as long as I can keep them on but they usually have to come off after a couple of hourse as my fingers start to go numb.

Dude, you need some new gloves. That should not be happening.

Have always had this problem.... Think I have bad circulation.

Have had umpteen different pairs of mitts over the years and tired different sizes too.

Winter gloves are fine, oddly enough - it's just summer mitts that are the problem.

 

[kaiser]

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. :?

Not me Tony.....it's your head, you can do what you like to it

I agree(with neill), and to an extent you, it would be a total waste of time money and effort to force people to wear them.

 

[MattC59]

Helmets and gloves are a must in my opinion. I've had way too many stacks not to.

I remember at the Malvern Classic in about 1993 stacking on a descent and smashing my helmet in two. I've had plenty of crashes since where not wearing a helmet would have left me with a sore head !

They also protect your head when you're crashing through low branches.

I'd say the same for gloves, you only have to spend an hour picking grit out of your palms after hitting the gravel to know their worth.

I use Sombrio gloves, can't remember the model, but they are a lightweight XC pair. Really thin with great feel.

Helmet wise, I use a Giro Xen and used to use a Giro Hex. Both great helmets. Yes, your head does get a bit warm in the summer, but it's bettere than a bit dented !

 

[Birdman]

mtbfix wrote:
dbmtb wrote:
Mitts - for as long as I can keep them on but they usually have to come off after a couple of hourse as my fingers start to go numb.


Dude, you need some new gloves. That should not be happening.


Have always had this problem.... Think I have bad circulation.

Have a look at Specialized body geometry gloves, they're built up with specific padding to stop pressure on the nerves and have helped for me on the road bike.

 

[kirbdug]

Always worn a helmet ( how much is your head worth? )had to wear them in the races and never stopped. Had some nasty wipeouts in the past, resulting in a specialized helmet with a chunk missing. Always worn gloves cause my odi grips are a bit vicious on longish rides. Good for removing sweat too.

Cheers kirbdug

 

[TSC.]

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. :?

Not me Tony.....it's your head, you can do what you like to it

I agree(with neill), and to an extent you, it would be a total waste of time money and effort to force people to wear them.

I can see your point kaiser, & I'm not against it. But I'm not exactly sure how much of a waste of money it would be to force people to wear lids. My client currently costs the taxpayer about 80K a year to keep, if not more. Thats just one head injury, surely that 80K would be better spent on a cure rather than a solution? He's had his head injury for nearly 20 years now, so I guess just him alone has cost the taxpayer between £1.5million & £2million, so far. we expect him to live at least another 30 years.

 

[dyna-ti]

i wonder how much use a helmet will be for you when a bus/taxi runs over your spine

 

[john the sparky]

didn't used to wear a helmet, until I fell off a few years back

knocked myself out for about 20 minutes, and fractured my pelvis and gave myself some lovely gravel rash.....

the gravel rash hurt the most at the time, the fractured pelvis hurt for longest... the concussion was scariest and didn't really register at the time, I was riding alone and was unconcious for about 20 minutes... some chav could have nicked my bike :shock:

since then I sort of always have... though sometimes not to the garage for a pint of milk :shock: the other reason I wear a lid is because i have 2 kids and insist they wear theirs

I don't really care about what other people do though, I also ride a motorbike and tend to wear leathers (and obviously a crash helmet) but I have been glared at when I pushed my motorbike to the garage in shorts (200yds) by other bikers wearing leathers... it's strange isn't it :?


John

 

[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. :?

Not me Tony.....it's your head, you can do what you like to it

I agree(with neill), and to an extent you, it would be a total waste of time money and effort to force people to wear them.

I can see your point kaiser, & I'm not against it. But I'm not exactly sure how much of a waste of money it would be to force people to wear lids. My client currently costs the taxpayer about 80K a year to keep, if not more. Thats just one head injury, surely that 80K would be better spent on a cure rather than a solution? He's had his head injury for nearly 20 years now, so I guess just him alone has cost the taxpayer between £1.5million & £2million, so far. we expect him to live at least another 30 years.

I think you do an amazing job. I feel sad for your client.

I don't think we need any more rules though, and I certainly wouldn't want to force someone to ride with a helmet. I would, however, have more respect for someone who did. I think it looks weird when you see anyone riding off road without one! I tend to imagine they don't ride much or are very new to the sport, and don't know too much about Mountain Biking. Reading the comments on this thread makes me realise that maybe I'm a bit prejudiced in that way. I wouldn't refuse to ride with someone who didn't ride with one, but I would worry that they may get hurt. I know you can still get hurt wearing a lid, and maybe they don't help that much, but that's still the way I feel.