OP
OP
beatlejuice
Gently does it...
- Location
- Mid Hampshire
A question for non-helmet wearers
- Thread starter beatlejuice
- Start date
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Drago
Legendary Member
- Location
- Suburban Poshshire
Why aren't our bike lids oiter shells manufacturered for a similar material, albeit with the necessary ventilation holes etc? It surely wouldnt be prohibitively expensive.
gbb
Legendary Member
- Location
- Peterborough
For me it's all about potential risk and I assess that on likelihood and history.
How likely is it to happen, how often has anything like that happened.
I'm 60 and rode bikes for most of them . Never been knocked off a bike, rarely ever ever fallen off and when I have I've never injured myself seriously during tens and tens of thousands of miles of cycling. That forms my historical 'data'....ive fallen over more times on ice when I've been walking but you wouldn't wear a helmet as a pedestrian?
Despite people's fears, cycling is actually quite safe...it definitely could be safer but couldn't everything ?...so in my opinion, the risk is moderately low based on the amount of people that cycle against actual accidents.
So no I don't generally wear a helmet. Sometimes I do (more so in the winter to keep my skull cap in place) , depends on how I feel.
I had an accident in a Land rover once where I suffered concussion as a result of falling off it (don't ask
)....that would neither prevent me sitting on a Land rover again or making me think wearing a helmet while doing it would be a good idea.
If it makes you feel safer wearing because of what happened, great...seriously.
But I wouldn't base my decision on that, no offense intended, that's just the way I'd see it. Wear if i fancy it, dont if i dont.
And i hope your neck repairs fully and soon
How likely is it to happen, how often has anything like that happened.
I'm 60 and rode bikes for most of them . Never been knocked off a bike, rarely ever ever fallen off and when I have I've never injured myself seriously during tens and tens of thousands of miles of cycling. That forms my historical 'data'....ive fallen over more times on ice when I've been walking but you wouldn't wear a helmet as a pedestrian?
Despite people's fears, cycling is actually quite safe...it definitely could be safer but couldn't everything ?...so in my opinion, the risk is moderately low based on the amount of people that cycle against actual accidents.
So no I don't generally wear a helmet. Sometimes I do (more so in the winter to keep my skull cap in place) , depends on how I feel.
I had an accident in a Land rover once where I suffered concussion as a result of falling off it (don't ask
)....that would neither prevent me sitting on a Land rover again or making me think wearing a helmet while doing it would be a good idea.If it makes you feel safer wearing because of what happened, great...seriously.
But I wouldn't base my decision on that, no offense intended, that's just the way I'd see it. Wear if i fancy it, dont if i dont.
And i hope your neck repairs fully and soon
OP
OP
beatlejuice
Gently does it...
- Location
- Mid Hampshire
Thanks gbb for your analysis. Late one June afternoon in 2014 while cycling home on a lovely sunny day I was knocked off my bike by someone who pulled straight out of a side road. Guess what, I wasn't wearing a helmet and if had wouldn't have made a difference. I spent a week in hospital with four broken ribs. The unknown this time has incident done any lasting damage to the structural integrity of my skull? Plus it will keep my helmet wearing cycling wife calmer!
For me it's all about potential risk and I assess that on likelihood and history.
How likely is it to happen, how often has anything like that happened.
I'm 60 and rode bikes for most of them . Never been knocked off a bike, rarely ever ever fallen off and when I have I've never injured myself seriously during tens and tens of thousands of miles of cycling. That forms my historical 'data'....ive fallen over more times on ice when I've been walking but you wouldn't wear a helmet as a pedestrian?
Despite people's fears, cycling is actually quite safe...it definitely could be safer but couldn't everything ?...so in my opinion, the risk is moderately low based on the amount of people that cycle against actual accidents.
So no I don't generally wear a helmet. Sometimes I do (more so in the winter to keep my skull cap in place) , depends on how I feel.
I had an accident in a Land rover once where I suffered concussion as a result of falling off it (don't ask
If it makes you feel safer wearing because of what happened, great...seriously.
But I wouldn't base my decision on that, no offense intended, that's just the way I'd see it. Wear if i fancy it, dont if i dont.
And i hope your neck repairs fully and soon
mustang1
Guru
- Location
- London, UK
I am a moron.
I have a lightweight and pricey helmet yet do not wear it. Why? Idk, I think it's laziness and just can't be bothered .It's an extra thing to sort out in the morning. But these sound like excuses to me .I'm glad you posted this, I will once again make an effort to wear mine .
But, thats not why I'm a moron. It's because I will start wearing my helmet and then after some periods I will stop again .just like when I stopped eating junk food after I thought I had a heart attack (i didn't, doctor said it was anxiety), I started eating junk again. And that's why I'm a moron.
I have a lightweight and pricey helmet yet do not wear it. Why? Idk, I think it's laziness and just can't be bothered .It's an extra thing to sort out in the morning. But these sound like excuses to me .I'm glad you posted this, I will once again make an effort to wear mine .
But, thats not why I'm a moron. It's because I will start wearing my helmet and then after some periods I will stop again .just like when I stopped eating junk food after I thought I had a heart attack (i didn't, doctor said it was anxiety), I started eating junk again. And that's why I'm a moron.
Slick
Guru
I think it's going the other way. I have one of the new fancy hard hat's they are all wearing on construction sites that look like mountain climbers hat's, but they feel very much like a cycle helmet. Obviously it's all about EN numbers now but going on look and feel, it's difficult to tell some of them apart now.
classic33
Leg End Member
@beatlejuice, I've hit my head against the floor, more times than I can remember. Worst damage was 13 clear cracks in the skull in one go.
PMarkey
Guru
- Location
- Queensbury,West Yorkshire
A horse riding helmet springs to mind usually tested to a higher standard than cycle helmets and comparable on price .
Seems to me the damage which will cause problems is the result of the brain bouncing around inside the skull, which a helmet will only mitigate in a minimal way in on-road incidents. Plus the helmet makes the head bigger and heavier and more likely to hit the road or other obstruction. The skull itself, with a slip-off cover (skin) is better designed than any helmet to protect your brain.
The last off I had - sideswiped by a car changing lanes while alongside me - I got a sore bum. Previous to that was a group ride where a rider went down in front of me - my hand was stood on. That's twice in the last 8 years and umpteen thousand miles.
Given the very low risk of a fall involving a serious head knock when riding on-road, I never wear a helmet.
The last off I had - sideswiped by a car changing lanes while alongside me - I got a sore bum. Previous to that was a group ride where a rider went down in front of me - my hand was stood on. That's twice in the last 8 years and umpteen thousand miles.
Given the very low risk of a fall involving a serious head knock when riding on-road, I never wear a helmet.
OP
OP
beatlejuice
Gently does it...
- Location
- Mid Hampshire
Thanks for your honest post mustang1. I will probably add a rider to my initial statement. Sometime I will forget to put it on, sometimes I will rebel and say sod it however each day is a new day.
I cut out the crap between meals and lost some 20lbs and felt better but caught myself on the slippery slope to junk food eating on Friday. However today has been okay. I try accept my failures and not let them govern the way I live which might sound pompous but I has taken me the best part of the last 30yrs to learn. Some of us are very slow learners!
I cut out the crap between meals and lost some 20lbs and felt better but caught myself on the slippery slope to junk food eating on Friday. However today has been okay. I try accept my failures and not let them govern the way I live which might sound pompous but I has taken me the best part of the last 30yrs to learn. Some of us are very slow learners!
Profpointy
Legendary Member
For what it's worth, despite no longer wearing a helmet, based, hopefully, on reason and rationality, I feel far less safe emotionaly. At one point I did think the helmet gave me more confidence to go with the traffic as it were which I felt, actually made me safer. Not sure this really standa up given the numbers from Australia, but is a slighly different psychology from simple risk compensation - as in taking more risks. Confidence / boldness can make you safer in a fair few circumstances - "he who hesitates is lost" as it were, albeit not always a wise councel.
gavroche
Getting old but not past it
- Location
- North Wales
I believe a cycling helmet is only good at low speed, maybe 10mph. Anything over that, the helmet won't make any difference if you go head first.
3 years ago, I was knocked off my bike at low speed and fell on the back of my head. My helmet took the impact and was smashed and that was low speed. At a higher speed, the helmet would still be smashed, as well as my head I think.
3 years ago, I was knocked off my bike at low speed and fell on the back of my head. My helmet took the impact and was smashed and that was low speed. At a higher speed, the helmet would still be smashed, as well as my head I think.
Glad you're ok and hope the neck and arm heals up quickly.
I certainly wouldn't advise anyone not to wear a helmet if they feel they need to. If a helmet is what you need to get back out, more power to you.
But as you know, hard hats and helmets are designed to mitigate entirely different circumstances and are held to different standards.
My own brush with @classic33's avatar was when I was driven through from behind at night by a car going approx 50mph, my unhelmeted noggin hit the bonnet and that was the last thing I knew. Knocked out instantly, I apparently went limp and flopped off the side like a dead fish. My bike was hit with enough force that my rear wheel was never found. I picked up a pretty bad concussion but walked out the hospital the day after with no broken bones.
Unlike people who say "my bike helmet saved my life", I'm aware that there is no way of knowing the outcome of a bike crash if you change even one variable. If I'd been wearing a helmet that night it's possible that I wouldn't have been knocked out instantly, and then where would I be?
Impossible to say.
This is purely anecdotal. Do what you feel comfortable with, and GWS.
I certainly wouldn't advise anyone not to wear a helmet if they feel they need to. If a helmet is what you need to get back out, more power to you.
But as you know, hard hats and helmets are designed to mitigate entirely different circumstances and are held to different standards.
My own brush with @classic33's avatar was when I was driven through from behind at night by a car going approx 50mph, my unhelmeted noggin hit the bonnet and that was the last thing I knew. Knocked out instantly, I apparently went limp and flopped off the side like a dead fish. My bike was hit with enough force that my rear wheel was never found. I picked up a pretty bad concussion but walked out the hospital the day after with no broken bones.
Unlike people who say "my bike helmet saved my life", I'm aware that there is no way of knowing the outcome of a bike crash if you change even one variable. If I'd been wearing a helmet that night it's possible that I wouldn't have been knocked out instantly, and then where would I be?
Impossible to say.
This is purely anecdotal. Do what you feel comfortable with, and GWS.
