Anyone Who Watched the Giro Yesterday Still Think Helmets Don't Do Their Job!?!

[w00hoo_kent]

Nothing more to say!

I think helmets are really important when riding in a peloton and pushing your bike to the limit in the hunt for speed. That was brought back to me by watching the Giro (when I get round to it).

Also, I never ride in those situations.

You didn't have another point to make did you?

 

[Tin Pot]

So what happened in the Giro the other day?

#tenpagesandnonethewiser

 

[w00hoo_kent]

So what happened in the Giro the other day?

#tenpagesandnonethewiser

Someone crashed, they had a helmet on, they didn't die.

 

[BRounsley]

So what happened in the Giro the other day?

#tenpagesandnonethewiser

A crashed on stage 3 of the Giro.

He was lay out on the road and because he has a cut above his eye there was a lot of blood and it look very gory and possibly serious at the time.

He’s since been scanned and sent home after some stiches

There isn’t clear footage of the crash.

As he hit his head and damaged his helmet, the helmet had been praised for saving the day. No mention of any neck damage so that’s probably a better indication about how hard he hit his head.

 

[winjim]

So what happened in the Giro the other day?

#tenpagesandnonethewiser

A man was riding his bike down the hill very fast and he was going weeeeeeeee and then the man falled off his bike and he got a owie and he wasn't moving and it looked hurty and then another man gave him a cuddle and then he went in a ambulance and it went neenaw and in the hospital the doctor was worried but then it was ok and the doctor said the man can ride his bike again in two weeks time.

 

[ufkacbln]

They were honest, but didn't actually answer my question if you read them. I am quite happy to hear other viewpoints, hence this thread, and me looking into Australia and ramifications on compulsory helmet use, etc.

What I find pointless is many of the other replies, which add nothing to the discussion. They are also based on preconceptions, as are most of the replies that were actually useful. Everyone has their view, including me, but I am not looking for justification. I have a helmet and will continue to use it, much like Pozzovivo will very soon.

You have absolutely no idea of Pozzovivi's intentions, view of helmets or whether he will wear one in future by choice ... That statement is pure fantasy


It wasn't the case for Cracknell after his much publicised head injury

Despite his public stance of "helmets save your life - wear one or Die" he Is frequently seen riding without

 

[bpsmith]

You have absolutely no idea of Pozzovivi's intentions, view of helmets or whether he will wear one in future by choice ... That statement is pure fantasy


It wasn't the case for Cracknell after his much publicised head injury

Despite his public stance of "helmets save your life - wear one or Die" he Is frequently seen riding without

I will bet my house on Pozzovivo wearing a helmet when we next see him race.

 

[bpsmith]

That's tongue in cheek btw @Cunobelin. I take your point about outside of racing.

 

[ufkacbln]

I

That's tongue in cheek btw @Cunobelin. I take your point about outside of racing.

No problem

 

[BRounsley]

I will bet my house on Pozzovivo wearing a helmet when we next see him race.

He would have to complete as the UCI made helmets compulsory after “Andrei Kivilev” crash/death in 2003. There's been deaths since like the high profile death of “Wouter Weylandt”.

It also helps that teams/riders are paid to wear helmets by sponsors and road cycling is a difficult to make money from (it’s free to watch by the side of the road and most cycling races are not on TV).

It’s interesting that a lot of pro stop wearing once there’re stopped paid to.

To throw some paraffin on the debate and change tack on “should you or shouldn’t your wear a helmet”.

The crash showed clearly that road cycling helmets have not face/frontal protection, hence the cut and all of the blood.

The front of your brain (or in fact the rattling about of it) is equally exposed at the front compared to the back and top (the fact you cycle face first probably, more so).

Does this mean the pro-helmet people are going to wearing a helmet with face protection , such as , DH mountain bike, BMX design, as if safety is the concern then you would choose the better design?

 

[w00hoo_kent]

I believe it's time...

I ride on the road in one of these most of the time.

Or, I wear one of these.

Largely depending on my mood. But if I want to wear a helmet, I want to keep my face intact when I hit the floor as much as anything else so I don't see the point in something that barely surrounds my head. I've seen people come off of MX bikes with open face helmets at low speeds. It wasn't pretty. Why be half hearted about it.

Of course, this may be why so few people nod at me in the mornings.

 

[mjr]

It’s interesting that a lot of pro stop wearing once there’re stopped paid to.

It also fascinates me how many professionals wear their helmets so that they probably won't stay in a collision - most often, the chin strap dangling a good distance below - and that few point this out. There's been a bit of research about helmet-hot-head impairing decision-making in other sports (mainly cricket, I think, where helmets were very unventilated until recently) and with how hard pro riders work, they must generate more heat than thee or me. Could impaired decision-making help explain the lack of significant reduction in head injuries after helmet compulsion?

 

[w00hoo_kent]

I doubt it's heat. Even in that full face thing that I wear it is mainly holes and while I'm hardly breaking any records (or even mildly inconveniencing them) I get hot and sweaty on a bike and my head doesn't get noticeably worse than my torso. I wouldn't be surprised if a cap or bandana didn't hold in a similar amount of heat.

My guess (complete guess) would be that it's down to the fact that to make it work in the range of accidents it experiences a helmet would have to be more robust than it is and the trade off in weight and discomfort just isn't there.

Thinking back to the 'gap' thread which has had a lot of nostalgia in it, I fell off a number of times between the ages of 5 and 18, at least one saw me in hospital with a suspected green stick fracture. None of them saw me with head injuries. It turns out the bank of anecdotal 'I fell off and didn't need a helmet to save my life' stories actually do exist, they are just a bit of a while ago.

 

[bpsmith]

He would have to complete as the UCI made helmets compulsory after “Andrei Kivilev” crash/death in 2003. There's been deaths since like the high profile death of “Wouter Weylandt”.

It also helps that teams/riders are paid to wear helmets by sponsors and road cycling is a difficult to make money from (it’s free to watch by the side of the road and most cycling races are not on TV).

It’s interesting that a lot of pro stop wearing once there’re stopped paid to.

To throw some paraffin on the debate and change tack on “should you or shouldn’t your wear a helmet”.

The crash showed clearly that road cycling helmets have not face/frontal protection, hence the cut and all of the blood.

The front of your brain (or in fact the rattling about of it) is equally exposed at the front compared to the back and top (the fact you cycle face first probably, more so).

Does this mean the pro-helmet people are going to wearing a helmet with face protection , such as , DH mountain bike, BMX design, as if safety is the concern then you would choose the better design?

I believe that his glasses were what damaged his face.

 

[Brandane]

I fell over the other day while out walking. Just as well I was carrying an egg which saved my hands from serious injury, as is clear from the state of the egg: