Wear a helmet or not?

[Pionir]

I say absolutely wear a crash helmet. I hated being forced to wear one by concerned parents in the late 80s. Now I won't go out without one and won't let my kids out on their scooters or bikes without them on.

And get a good (certified) one. As the saying goes, if you have a £5 head, get a £5 helmet!

 

[Pionir]

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.

I believe this is actually incorrect. If the energy is not dissipated via foam crushing, the energy is transferred directly to the brain. If your head stops suddenly, your brain is going to carry on moving and hit the inside of the skull. This impact causes bruising (concussion) and the resultant swelling is bad news.

There's been alot of research into concussion in motorsport after the death of Roland Ratzenberger and that lead to the introduction of the HANS device, designed to minimise the deceleration and dissipate energy. This is what a cycling helmet is intended to do, albeit with lower forces.

I can't see any way a helmet will be worse than a dead stop of the skull, which let's face it, nature didn't design to be a crumple zone for a moving skull, but a protective cage for incoming blows. And on the subject of nature, it effectively evolved a crash helmet into the brain structure of woodpeckers so we must be onto something!

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

That is of course your prerogative

 

[Muddy paw]

In my early days of mountain biking two things convinced me to always wear one.

I came my bike and ripped the left side of my helmet to pieces on rocks. I managed to ride home with minor concussion. The second was a few years later. My mate went over the handlebars and the top of his head crashed into a huge tree. It was a pure comedy moment - a freakish accident. But his helmet cracked in two but he was completely fine if a little dazed.

Before this thread, I'd never come across anyone who'd had a better outcome from an accident through not wearing one.

Will they protect you from everything? - no, of course not. Will they prevent you from being hit by a car - I doubt it (but not wearing one won't either). Should it be law to wear a helmet? No, of course not.

Your mate was very fortunate when hitting that tree as i had known of some less fortunate incidents bitd when racers were held at the quarry in Bosley i think it was where rides had come off the course and ended up with serious head injuries after hitting trees but i think the helmet technology since the 80's has improved abit as i seem to hear less now regards serious head injuries then i did back then and it was seeing these types of injuries back then that put me off racing off road ..

I use to go out riding with a mate bitd who was part of an off road cycling club and one of the club riders who wouldn't wear a helmet came off his bike while out with the group one evening and ended up with severe concushion and he also fractured the top of his skull , he was also told before he was released from hospital be very careful not to bang his head again otherwise it could kill him and needless to say he rarely went off road cycling after that ..

 

[The History Man]

I have a couple of seriously dayglo jobbies that stop me getting hit by cars. I know this for a fact as one stopped to comment on my conspicuous helmet.

True.

 

[Jonny69]

Crashed and landed on my head a couple of times. I usually wear one.

 

[Splatter Paint]

Re:

I crashed yesterday whilst racing and landed on my head - it still hurts 24 hours later! I'm so glad I was wearing a helmet, I've just ordered a new one

 

[47p2]

Low speed impact with the tarmac a couple of years ago in a private car park testing a bike I was looking to buy. There was a light drizzle of rain and the ground was wet, I was travelling at around 20-25mph when the front wheel hit some diesel or oil that was on the tarmac and the bike went away from me. Because I was in a private car park I hadn't bothered with my helmet (which I never go cycling without) and I went down like a lead balloon, I knocked myself unconscious and woke up a couple of hours later in A&E with my wife looking as though I had just died. Lesson learned, the helmet is here to stay.

Just read this article... Click :shock:

 

[Woz]

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?

There are several threads here about helmets or not.

My advice would be to start with a helmet after a long layoff. If it irratates you and/or you feel confident with regained skills, proper bike fit, sound bike set-up, follow familiar low risk terrain then ditch it.

I'm of the belief cycling is not inherently dangerous.

+1 for proper gloves, and non-slip footware.

 

[Mike Muz]

Re: Re:

I crashed yesterday whilst racing and landed on my head - it still hurts 24 hours later! I'm so glad I was wearing a helmet, I've just ordered a new one

Hope you're okay, Mike?

I always wear one when riding.

Had an accident in the early '90s, when a car hit me at a roundabout. I was wearing a Specialized one, all black.
Didn't even know I'd hit my head until I saw a crack in the inside of it.

Also, a friend of mine was left with serious injuries after hitting a pot hole and falling off. Only one in the group not wearing one, he is still paying the price to this day.
As previously mentioned, it will not save you from every situation, but it's difficult to think of a situation when it would make things worse.

So cheap now, too. I always go for Giro, as they fit me well. Last years or before, model. Cheap as chips

Really surprised we still ask this question, TBH

Mike

 

[half cog]

Re:

Started my riding in the sixties and non of us in the club wore helmets and considering the miles we did back then we seemed to get away with it.I never took to wearing one but for some reason I started using one last year.Eight weeks ago we had a front wheel wash out on a right hand bend on the tandem. The road was wet and there was a coating of farm slurry .I reckon there was no more than a second between realising the bike was going down and the lights going out. Next thing I knew I was being escorted into an ambulance by a paramedic.I have no memory of the quarter hour or so between the crash and that point. The wife was in a hell of a mess and still has whiplash headaches. She was thrown off the back of the bike and went face down on to the road.I am convinced that had I not been wearing one I would have at least had a fractured skull and possibly worse. As it is I have a damaged nerve at the side of my face that causes problems and it seemed to mess up the memory for a few weeks. Nothing compared to what could have been.I still dont like wearing helmets but there is no way I would go without after that so we went out and bought a couple of cask ones.Hellish dear but you hardly know you are wearing them.They are no more safe than the cheaper ones but because of the comfort factor you are more likely to use them and that alone makes them worthwhile.