Not wearing a helmet anymore

[nickyboy]

[QUOTE 3341073, member: 9609"]I am like this with gloves, I find it very difficult to go back to cycling bare handed after the winter, so much so that I have worn gloves for cycling all of this summer. It annoys me that I have all these black thoughts about the consequences of a hand injuries in a fall, but these psychological issues seem to have won the day and I now always wear gloves.

I have never worn a helmet enough to ever feel vulnerable without it - seems strange that I worry more about a hand injury than a head injury, or maybe i know there is nowt to damage up there[/QUOTE]

What sort of injuries will gloves prevent? I never wear them unless it's really cold, certainly not in todays temperatures (about 9 degrees). I guess they will stop cuts and stuff but I wouldn't call that "serious". Now if they helped stop bone or ligament damage then fair enough but I can't see a glove doing that.

 

[Kev h]

I never worn one till about 2 years ago, then started wearing one on the rush hour commutes, now tend to wear most days but it does piss me off from time to time, but weirdly, went out the other day without it as I was rushing (up late) and it wasn't till about 3 mile in when I thought, wow, breeze is really ripping through my hair, then realised no helmet and felt strangely worried.
Will probably wear it through most of autumn / winter, but like ditching it in the warm weather.

 

[Drago]

I've no great faith in my lids life saving attributes. It's keep the crap out my eyes and bald head from freezing attributes are the main reasons I wear it, and why I don't wear it in hot weather. I am safety conscious, but the polystyrene mushroom isn't a manifestation of that.

 

[Mugshot]

So, I’ve started to give up my helmet. I mainly commute into London but do ride my roadbike in Essex.

If anyone wants to debate whether anyone (or me) should or shouldn't continue, please feel free to post your replies here and I promise to read through them.

So, it’s definitely weird and after 3 years of wearing one it feels more free but I do feel more vulnerable. I know this is psychological but it’s hard to shake

There are quite a few difficulties to overcome. I do like my helmet light as in heavy traffic my lights are obscured and it really helps being able to turn my head to cars on side-roads as the light is then noticed. I also need a place for my helmet cam.

Biggest issue is my wife, parents etc. and emotional grief! I’ve had 2 offs in my 7,000 odd miles. Both low speed, both mostly my fault. Neither time do I think my helmet hit the ground but it all happened so fast I cannot know for sure but I saw no evidence.

My worry is that I’ll now have an off and scratch my noggin and the delicate truce I’ve negotiated will be broken!

How do people negotiate all this?

When I stopped I felt the same naked and vunerable, a couple of times before I stopped I had forgotten to put my helmet on and it felt so odd I stopped to go back and get it. It really didn't take very long to get used to it though and it soon felt much more comfortable. In a moment of madness I bought another helmet about 12 months after I had stopped, I bought it because it had a rear light which I thought might be useful in the winter, I lasted about 2 months before I came to my senses and ditched it, there were no feelings of loss that time.

 

[AndyRM]

1) It is a watermelon
2) I am not a cat

Carry on

Point of meme-based pedantry, it is a lime.

I wear a helmet sometimes, other times I do not. Simple.

 

[raleighnut]

Always wear gloves (mesh back in summer) for the gel padding in em and never wear anything on my head.

 

[jhawk]

I've no real reference as to the helmetry, as I wear mine everyday religiously. I never used to, and I did feel more free without it. But after a couple of bad falls and losing most of the skin off my chin, I realised that the helmet was definitely a necessity. I've never gone back to helmet-less since.

Gloves, I wear mind year-round, and it does feel weird riding without them!

 

[Fab Foodie]

The great advantage of not wearing a helmet is that you can start amassing a nice collection of cycle-caps!
I think feeling a little vulnerable sometimes is a good thing on a bike.
I've been helmet-less for about 3 years now after nearly 30 years of wearing one (I was an early adopter).
I much prefer it. It feels normal.

I wear a Petzl head-torch over my cap and don't have a helmet cam to worry about.

 

[4F]

Point of meme-based pedantry, it is a lime.

It's a fair cop

 

[Panter]

What sort of injuries will gloves prevent? I never wear them unless it's really cold, certainly not in todays temperatures (about 9 degrees). I guess they will stop cuts and stuff but I wouldn't call that "serious". Now if they helped stop bone or ligament damage then fair enough but I can't see a glove doing that.

I just find hand injuries painful and inconvenient! It also takes a few days for the scuffs to heal, and it's a constant pain (literally) as the hands get used constantly.
Always wear gloves (fingerless in Summer) and glasses but rarely wear a helmet on the road

That's just what works for me, anyway.

 

[Ian H]

50+ years of cycling. Last time I road-raced I wore the compulsory 'hairnet' (I still have it). Down here in the southwest most TTs require helmets so I tend to race further east. I do own a modern magic hat which I use for occasional outings on the track (where it's compulsory). Otherwise, I have summer caps and winter caps, winter gloves and summer mitts.
I have had the occasional off, and a couple of times bumped my head, but neither as severely nor as frequently as when moving around in an old, previous house with a low door.
The most frequent injuries I've seen in cyclists have been hips, shoulders and collar-bones, whether helmeted or not.

 

[broadway]

I've no real reference as to the helmetry, as I wear mine everyday religiously. I never used to, and I did feel more free without it. But after a couple of bad falls and losing most of the skin off my chin, I realised that the helmet was definitely a necessity. I've never gone back to helmet-less since.

I don't go to church so would never wear them religiously.

I do have an Aldi buff or 2 or when it cold and/or wet to keep the weather at bay during my 3.5 mile commute.

 

[benb]

But after a couple of bad falls and losing most of the skin off my chin, I realised that the helmet was definitely a necessity.

Do you wear a full face one then? As a normal cycle helmet will do nothing to prevent a chin injury.

 

[User269]

This place is getting sillier by the second.

 

[Mile195]

This is no comment on whether you should or shouldn't.

But if it makes you feel more vunerable etc etc, what's made you decide to stop? Comfort? Feel it's unnecessary?

Just interested to know, that's all.