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

[The Brewer]

Get your wife to polish it?

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

Your lacking luster C

 

[Mr Haematocrit]

The data isn't available but i can definitely say that had my friend been wearing a full face helmet then he wouldn't have sustained such injuries to his face. Even without the data, i am sure most would agree that wearing that a full face helmet provides more protection than a typical bike helmet. If that wasn't the case then motorcycle drivers and even Formula 1 drivers would wearing wearing similar helmets to us as opposed to the full face helmet.

Why stop at helmets? - If your friend has facial injuries I would have though he would have lost some skin as well or be bruised. If he was wearing full body armour and leather he would not have sustained such injuries.
Last time I came of my bike I grazed my ankle of course this would not have happened if I was wearing motor cross boots.

So I ask.... are you supporting or suggesting that its also a good idea to wear full leathers and boots on a push bike and if not why, I'm sure most would agree they provide more protection than typical bike wear.

 

[Ian H]

How have I survived these 50 odd years of cycling without a helmet?

 

[zizou]

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.

met parachute might be what you are after

 

[Kookas]

When you fall you instinctively twist your head to the side and protect it with your arms anyway. Motorcyclists can ride a lot faster than we can, so they need it - it's not like your arms will help you at 60mph.

Breathable gear with the strength of leather would be great, though.

 

[marzjennings]

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....

So you've never raced DH then.

 

[slowmotion]

They offer very limited protection....
[media]
]View: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhRUe-gz690[/media]

 

[ianrauk]

How have I survived these 50 odd years of cycling without a helmet?

You're mad.....

 

[ushills]

I am probably one of the few that now wear a full face (MET Parachute), it is not a MTB helmet and therefore not as heavy or substantial and has good venting. However after a serious crash last year, losing 3 fron teeth and concussion from the blow to my lower face I see the benefits.

To be honest the helmet I was wearing did very little barring a minor dent to the front and I consider it similar to a motorcyclist wearing an open face helmet now, perfectly acceptable but not normal and down to personal choice.

In my case it was surprising how much damage a low speed crash did to me and I've fallen of on MTB before and would suggest earth and gravel is more forgiving than rock hard tarmac.

 

[ushills]

When you fall you instinctively twist your head to the side and protect it with your arms anyway.

Trust me you don't, not if you don't even have time to take your hands of the bars and the only thing you remember is spitting teeth and blood out of your mouth. Not all falls are expected a fraction of a second before.

 

[ColinJ]

Trust me you don't, not if you don't even have time to take your hands of the bars and the only thing you remember is spitting teeth and blood out of your mouth. Not all falls are expected a fraction of a second before.

My recently face-planting mate confirms that. He told me that he went down so suddenly and so fast that he was still attached to the bike with his hands on the brake hoods when he hit the road. The bike doesn't even have a scratch on it because his body protected it from the initial impact and the subsequent sliding along the road!

 

[GrasB]

I've seen the protection a mountain bike full-face helmet has when you go over the handle bars & hit tarmac face first at about 25mph - more or less none! I've also seen the protection offered by a full face free flight helmet under the same conditions - actually quite good.

 

[dellzeqq]

well, writing as someone who has hit a kerb with his jaw having been rearended by a car doing 55mph and thrown 30 yards up the road, and twenty five years on still bears the mark........full face helmets look silly. End of. I'd rather walk.

 

[Rob3rt]

I can not believe someone actually had to ask this question!

 

[Kookas]

Trust me you don't, not if you don't even have time to take your hands of the bars and the only thing you remember is spitting teeth and blood out of your mouth. Not all falls are expected a fraction of a second before.

You don't have to expect it though. You don't teleport into the ground or the wall, so there is pretty much always going to be time for your reflexes to work, even if that's in the brief moment that you're flying off your bike towards the ground.