SAFETY: Why do Road cyclists avoid Full face helmets like the plague?

[Sammy Carrotjuice]

WE DO NEED A ROAD HELMET WITH FACIAL PROTECTION!


I never thought it would happen to me either but IT DID!
I fell off a very slippery corner last Sunday going around 12mph, went down so fast I had no time to react and my face took the full impact. I was wearing the helmet you see in my photo and repeated careful examination showed it had no marks, scratches nor scruffs. The gloss on the side of helmet you'd expect to be damaged was still a mirror finish as from new. I also measured the thickness of the foam on the side of helmet that should have been damaged and compared it with the other side and it was exactly the same, which makes me conclude the helmet only serves to protect the upper part of your head and NOT your face or jaw.
I suffered fractures to my eye socket and cheek bone, severe swelling to the face, blood shot and black eye and abrasions to my cheek and jaw. Although I was lucky I didn't break my jaw I have limited jaw movement and cannot eat any solids for at least 10 days until the jaw recovers and the pain subsides. I have to go back to hospital in a weeks time after the swelling has gone for further assessments to my eye.
I agree the MTB helmets are too heavy and hot but would welcome a road version of these which continues the incorporation of ventilated foam structures around the face?

 

[ColinJ]

I wear a conventional helmet every time I ride and don't really notice it is there any more, but that is my limit. There is no way that I would want something enclosing my entire head, even if the designers could somehow make it light enough and cool enough. I would feel completely cut off from my surroundings rather than enjoying them.

A mate fell off his bike a couple of days ago and smashed up his face but I'm sure that he wouldn't wear one either, despite being used to them when riding his motorbike.

If they could really perfect the 'airbag helmet' idea then that would make a lot of sense. Effectively be helmet-free until the moment you needed one, and then you get a very effective cover for your head when you really needed it. I'd want to be damn sure that it would never go off at the wrong moment though!

 

[Radchenister]

I've got a circa 2000 full face Giro DH crash helmet, I'll start wearing it tomorrow - when a car smashes my legs to bits ('cause I won't be crashing on my face the way I waft about) and I'm bleeding in the gutter, I will be able to point at my head and suggest that they should have hit that bit.

No, no ... word to self, that's being obtuse - must get some leg protection as well!

No, no ... second thoughts, full body armour.

 

[fossyant]

XC MTB riders don't use full face, only DH riders. The reason is trees and rocks and you should be riding as fast as you can.

Full face helmets do not suit those that are expending a lot of energy and heat, DH riding does not require the same cooling as the rider isn't working as hard and for as long.

In my 27 years of road riding, I've only hit my head mildly twice, once on a MTB race, helmet hit a branch, and once in a RTA where the helmet saved me from a bit of road rash. I've never hit my face on the ground. I have, however, hit hips, knees, shoulders and elbows on the ground lots, so should we all ride with full pads.....

I think not.

 

[The Brewer]

They're not red and shiny

 

[ufkacbln]

This always makes me smile.....

In any helmet debate there are principal points, that fully justify wearing helmets yet the same argument are invalid when ful face helmets are discused

1. Medical advice.... Medical advice should be adhered to and we should all wear helmets, yet medical advice from the same organisations advocating full face to protect from dental and facial injuries is somehow not valid

2. Not wearing a hellmet because they are heavy, uncomfortable and hot is very very silly .... yet when it comes to full face, being uncomfortable, heavy and hot is miraculously a valid argument against!

 

[ufkacbln]

They're not red and shiny

Sorry, but they are.....

 

[gaz]

why do i read these threads?

 

[Little yellow Brompton]

WE DO NEED A ROAD HELMET WITH FACIAL PROTECTION!

No WE do not.

 

[steve52]

heat

 

[ianrauk]

They look crap...

hold on...

all helmets look crap imo.

 

[Sammy Carrotjuice]

I am not debating whether or not Helmets are good idea in general, but why they avoid/ ridicule those who wear full face helmets when they ride. I have done a fair bit of down hill mountain biking in the past and it is widely accepted that riding down hill without a full face helmet is quick way to lose your life, teeth and looks due to the increased risk of having a crash in comparison to road biking. However on a road biking the likelyhood to having a more serious crash is vastly increased due most of us travel just marginally slower than most cars.

I don't personally wear a full face helmet on my road bike but after a friend of mine face planted (not his fault), it got me thinking. He was wearing his usual "half head" specialized helmet that most of us wear but it did absolutely nothing to save his teeth, chin etc from the impact. After a long stay in hospital following surgery, He wishes now that he had been wearing a full face helmet.

If full face helmets are good enough for motorcycle riders then why not us?

1. What would be your reason for not wearing one?
2. Are full face helmet for road bikers something the various cycle companies should be tying to push and make a little more fashionable / suitable for us?

Point 2. Wouldn't have thought it take much for the boffins to produce a road version of full face helmet with all the cooling vents and light weight foam instead of the hard shell mtb helmet look. After what happened to me I'd be the 1st one to wear them if they are ever available.

 

[The Brewer]

Sorry, but they are.....

Its not shiny .......enough

 

[simon.r]

I wouldn't mind the option of a light, well-ventilated full face (or chin guard of some sort). I don't think I'd wear one, but I'd consider it.

I have a very old full face white Bell motorbike helmet in my loft that has blue paint scratches on the front. The car that SMIDSY'ed me and that I bounced off before hitting the road was blue. I strongly suspect my face would look even less appealing than it does now if I'd been wearing an open face helmet at the time.

 

[ufkacbln]

Its not shiny .......enough

Get your wife to polish it?

(Steps back, puts helmet on in case my wife reads this)