Cycling helmets.Opinions please

[Milzy]

If you watch the Tour de France crash's you can see some of the lids take some batterings.

I notice many will ride to work (locally) with no lid & if you're on a sportive you really should wear one. For one you'd look like a nutter doing a 100 mile ride without one when 99.9% will be skid lidded up.

 

[jefmcg]

practical test . - all you need is a borrowed helmet and a brick wall.
test 1 - put on helmet - headbutt wall as hard as you can.
test 2 - don,t put on helmet - headbutt wall as hard as you can
remember to do test 1 before test 2

on that evidence make your own mind up on which you would prefer too happen if you come off and head butted the floor.

coming off on a bike is almost inevitable - its a highly unstable machine - the severity of the fall is entirely up to luck. - how lucky do you feel.

do not try the sealed knot how hard is my helmet test - the guy swinging the pike rarely hits the helmet first time.

This would actually prove the opposite. A helmet is to protect the brain, not the scalp but this test is for scalp or skull injuries. Sure, test 2 will result in more damage to the scalp, but headbutting "as hard as you can" with a helmet is a lot harder than it is without a helmet. So your brain will bounce off the inside of your skull a lot harder in case 1.

It's believed this may be why so many american footballers are ending up with brain damage: the compulsory helmets mean they can (and thus do) use their heads as battering rams, with no superficial damage, but debilitating long term injures.

 

[ufkacbln]

If you watch the Tour de France crash's you can see some of the lids take some batterings.

I notice many will ride to work (locally) with no lid & if you're on a sportive you really should wear one. For one you'd look like a nutter doing a 100 mile ride without one when 99.9% will be skid lidded up.

Equally if you watched the Monaco Grand Prix, you will see how the drivers helmets take a battering.

Commuting by car without a helmet is normal practice, but (as with cycle racing) you are required to wear one when competing.


Racing at speed in a close formation is NOT the normal practice for cyclists

 

[steve52]

some times i do some times i dont, simples if i crash and i dont bump me nogging,i hurt elsewhere if i do i hurt elsewhere. ps i have tryed both,

 

[Milzy]

Equally if you watched the Monaco Grand Prix, you will see how the drivers helmets take a battering.

Commuting by car without a helmet is normal practice, but (as with cycle racing) you are required to wear one when competing.


Racing at speed in a close formation is NOT the normal practice for cyclists

This is a really cool point. Cars will often knock cyclists off though. If you're a Sikh you can ride any sized motorbike with no helmet if you like.

 

[Milzy]

This word "often", what exactly do we mean by it?

Frequently, I drive to & from work through the city centre & once a month I'll see a downed roadie. Usually on the same roundabouts. Also a guy was dragged under a lorry & killed at some local traffic lights. However his helmet did nothing to help him in this particular incident. This is happening in towns & cities all over the world everyday.

 

[Milzy]

Sorry but it is meaningless without the numbers.

OK I'll research & email you the report findings.

 

[mcshroom]

If you watch the Tour de France crash's you can see some of the lids take some batterings.

I notice many will ride to work (locally) with no lid & if you're on a sportive you really should wear one. For one you'd look like a nutter doing a 100 mile ride without one when 99.9% will be skid lidded up.

The requirement for helmets in pro-cycling is an interesting subset. There is statistical evidence that the number of pro-cyclist deaths has actually risen since they were made mandatory in 2003 (admittedly we are talking numbers of around 0.5-1 death a year). For example this blog review of the stats from Dave Mouton: -
http://davesbikeblog.squarespace.com/blog/2011/6/21/pro-cycling-and-helmets.html

As for the 100 milers all being lidded up, audaxers ride far further than 100 miles (my top so far is 260, but that's not that far in Audax terms) and there are far more non-helmeted wearers than your figure suggests, and this seems to go downwards as you move through the distances. The accident stats do not show lots of head-injury related deaths however. We also had much lower than 99.9% helmet wearing on LonJOG last year which was 80-130 miles each day for a week, yet had no head injuries.

I do wonder whether sportives insist on them through a belief that they are beneficial, or to make the riders feel more like racers*?

*There is an often quoted joke that Sportive riders 'pretend they are racing', whereas audaxers 'pretend they're not racing'

 

[Milzy]

The requirement for helmets in pro-cycling is an interesting subset. There is statistical evidence that the number of pro-cyclist deaths has actually risen since they were made mandatory in 2003 (admittedly we are talking numbers of around 0.5-1 death a year). For example this blog review of the stats from Dave Mouton: -
http://davesbikeblog.squarespace.com/blog/2011/6/21/pro-cycling-and-helmets.html

As for the 100 milers all being lidded up, audaxers ride far further than 100 miles (my top so far is 260, but that's not that far in Audax terms) and there are far more non-helmeted wearers than your figure suggests, and this seems to go downwards as you move through the distances. The accident stats do not show lots of head-injury related deaths however. We also had much lower than 99.9% helmet wearing on LonJOG last year which was 80-130 miles each day for a week, yet had no head injuries.

I do wonder whether sportives insist on them through a belief that they are beneficial, or to make the riders feel more like racers*?

*There is an often quoted joke that Sportive riders 'pretend they are racing', whereas audaxers 'pretend they're not racing'

This is all interesting stuff. I know that the sportives do encourage the use of them. I also know that the local cycling clubs won't ride with you with a bare head. Try & they will kick you out.

 

[mcshroom]

I think if the club is BC registered rather than CTC then there is some requirement in their insurance about wearing helmets. I do know riders (one of whom held numerous club trophies at the time) who have left clubs exactly because of such rules.

 

[ufkacbln]

[QUOTE 2483604, member: 45"]That would be valid if during an off you had choice about how hard to bang your head.[/quote]

OK..

Dress someone in a t shirt with "Cyclist" written in marker pen
Suspend by ankles, and drop onto hard surface form a fixed distance.
Cross out Cyclist and write pedestrian
Suspend by ankles, and drop onto hard surface form a fixed distance

Record similarities between the injuries.

 

[ufkacbln]

Loved this video "evidence"


Failed to achieve his original aim, so had to repeat with an already damaged melon to achieve the effect, then didn't notice that the helmet ejected during the impact which would have rendered it useless in real life

FAIL!

 

[Milzy]

Loved this video "evidence"


Failed to achieve his original aim, so had to repeat with an already damaged melon to achieve the effect, then didn't notice that the helmet ejected during the impact which would have rendered it useless in real life

FAIL!

I think he's an excellent teacher still.

 

[ufkacbln]

I think he's an excellent teacher still.

But it is what he is teaching that is worrying.

Poor science is a difficultt habit to break.

Far better to teach children of that age (assumed from voices) about rigour and scientific standards

There is an even more worrying one where they drop the cycle helmet helmet down, then drop the skateboard, football and baseball helmets melon side down, so thatthe additional weight increases the impact energy


They then claim as the others didn't prevent damage that better protection is provided by the cycle helmet!

 

[Milzy]

But it is what he is teaching that is worrying.

Poor science is a difficultt habit to break.

Far better to teach children of that age (assumed from voices) about rigour and scientific standards

There is an even more worrying one where they drop the cycle helmet helmet down, then drop the skateboard, football and baseball helmets melon side down, so thatthe additional weight increases the impact energy


They then claim better protection is provided by the cycle helmet!

The kids seemed fairly immature for 15/16 year olds & I agree the methods was like he was teaching year 7 students. Maybe it was set 3 to 4 or he was just having a lazy day.