Wear a helmet or not?

[MarkS]

Hi everyone, genuine question, but don't want to open a can of worms up.

I am returning to cycling after a gap of 35 tears. Wearing a helmet back then, was something only track cyclists did. Jump forward to nowadays, and are the necessary?

As I'm disabled, I won't be racing, will probably only ride on off road tracks and cycle paths. So do I need one? Do I spend £5 on one from the Far East via eBay, or if safety is paramount, do I buy a decent one, or a decent make second hand?

 

[KermitGKona88]

Re:

Just ask Richard Branson that question

 

[MarkS]

Re:

Very good!

Bet he didn't spend a fiver on his

 

[t47b]

Re:

If you intend (?) going over the handlebars then a helmet is a must, they are a very good way to protect your forehead when it hits Tarmac, not much use in any other situation.

I would always recomend gloves, when you come off (hopefully you won't try this) you always put your palms down first, so I would say gloves are more use on a gravel track.

Other people and dogs on cycle paths make good cushions if you run into them, try to aim for the obese ones.

 

[Martin Rattler]

Re:

I had a fairly serious low speed crash in the wet about year ago and hit the road with sufficient force to break my shoulder blade. My head also made contact with the road and the helmet I was wearing, a Bell Solar I think, was smashed. I can’t help drawing the conclusion that had I not been wearing a helmet the result would have been worse and I might have fractured my skull. Obviously cycle helmets are pretty lightweight and I think that is the sort of crash that they are designed to protect against; they won’t protect your head from a car driving over it. The basic standard to which they conform should be the same regardless of cost so I don’t think that you will necessarily get a ‘safer’ helmet by paying a great deal more than a reasonable mid-range brand. You might of course get a better fit, better appearance and perhaps some kudos. Ironically enough, at the time I was considering abandoning the helmet and affecting a beret…. so a lucky escape in more than one way. I bought another Bell.

 

[Ernie]

Re:

Part of my job was at one time linked to teach road safety to children..I would at any opportunity get mums and dads involved and stressed the importance of helmet wearing..this is the way I used to explain in "plain speak"

Get a quality street tin, put a jelly in it..then throw it on the ground...skull is the tin..jelly is the brain...

That's it in real terms..

Ernie

 

[dyna-ti]

Reasonable speed
New road traffic island
Hit that
Over the front
Clipped in(naturally)
Landed on head
No helmet
Serious nerve damage to neck

Surgeon believed the extra width a helmet is, would have driven my neck over further. Possibly breaking it.
So no, not usually.
Offroad, with trees, roots and rocks where offs are part of it, then yes.

 

[Markone]

I'm inclined to agree with this and,no I don't wear a helmet,

http://bicyclesafe.com/helmets.html

 

[The History Man]

Came off over the front on tarmac section of HONC. Ninja skills saved me. Forward roll on head. I would not have been half as ninja without my lid.

Wear one.

 

[legrandefromage]

When I'm out on my own, I dont bother having survived most of the 80's, 90's and 21st century without one. It was only after joining this site that I bought my first helmet in 2011 for use in group rides.

Theres a lot wrong with how helmets are tested and their design can make certain types of impact worse for the brain, leaving it moving inside the head.

So, unless I'm in a group or in competitive racing of some sort I chose not to wear one.