The CycleChat Helmet Debate Thread

[velovoice]

"my friend two weeks ago came off his bike whilst on a trail and hit his knee off a rock. He wore pads he bought from us and he split his knee open. If he had no pads on at all, he could have lost his knee cap entirely."

Or.... he could have split his knee open... maybe a bit deeper. Who's to say?

 

[mickle]

So I've been having a little chat to Chain Reaction about their "Protect yourself before you wreck yourself" email, below is their latest reply;

Thank you for taking time to provide us with your feedback.


The majority of sports come with a risk of injury, and all of the sports that pose a risk to injury also have some form of protective equipment to help reduce the extent of the injury.


It is very much the case with cycling.


With the guarantee that you have mentioned, we are not going to guarantee that if you use the protection we sell, that you will not be injured. The protection is used to reduce the extent of the damage. A prime example is of my friend two weeks ago came off his bike whilst on a trail and hit his knee off a rock. He wore pads he bought from us and he split his knee open. If he had no pads on at all, he could have lost his knee cap entirely.


I am not going to define what me mean by wrecking yourself, it was an innocent play on words to advertise protective gear.

Cycling's a sport? Not when I do it it's not.

 

[Mugshot]

What a load of rubbish- that must have made you pretty angry.

"I am not going to define what me mean by wrecking yourself, it was an innocent play on words to advertise protective gear."

It may have done if it hadn't been absolutely expected.

 

[Milkfloat]

"my friend two weeks ago came off his bike whilst on a trail and hit his knee off a rock. He wore pads he bought from us and he split his knee open. If he had no pads on at all, he could have lost his knee cap entirely."

Or.... he could have split his knee open... maybe a bit deeper. Who's to say?

Could have even missed the rock completely.

 

[Mugshot]

Here's my reply and the response from Chain Reaction customer services to my email posted above;

Many thanks for your reply.

I wonder if you could let me know which of your manfacturers offers the best guarantees against injury please? Also I understand that you as a company do not offer guarantees that an item of protective equipment which you sell will protect you from injury entirely, so maybe you could tell me which items you guarantee will, as you put it, reduce the extent of the damage?



Kind regards
Mugshot


I am unsure as to which manufacturers offer the best guarantees. All safety equipment gets approval from external bodies such as UCI or BSEN14781. There are many bodies that differ depending on the discipline or the type of equipment, like a helmet or bodyarmour for example.


Without sounding cheeky I would guarantee all of the items that we sell will reduce the extent of injury, should you be unfortunate enough to be involved in an accident on your bike. I say all of the items because everything we sell has been approved by the relevant external bodies.

 

[srw]

Here's my reply and the response from Chain Reaction customer services to my email posted above;

Many thanks for your reply.

I wonder if you could let me know which of your manfacturers offers the best guarantees against injury please? Also I understand that you as a company do not offer guarantees that an item of protective equipment which you sell will protect you from injury entirely, so maybe you could tell me which items you guarantee will, as you put it, reduce the extent of the damage?



Kind regards
Mugshot


I am unsure as to which manufacturers offer the best guarantees. All safety equipment gets approval from external bodies such as UCI or BSEN14781. There are many bodies that differ depending on the discipline or the type of equipment, like a helmet or bodyarmour for example.


Without sounding cheeky I would guarantee all of the items that we sell will reduce the extent of injury, should you be unfortunate enough to be involved in an accident on your bike. I say all of the items because everything we sell has been approved by the relevant external bodies.

Do they sell spades? Someone doesn't know when to stop digging. It might be fairer to send your correspondent a link to this thread.

 

[potsy]

Here's my reply and the response from Chain Reaction customer services to my email posted above;

Many thanks for your reply.

I wonder if you could let me know which of your manfacturers offers the best guarantees against injury please? Also I understand that you as a company do not offer guarantees that an item of protective equipment which you sell will protect you from injury entirely, so maybe you could tell me which items you guarantee will, as you put it, reduce the extent of the damage?



Kind regards
Mugshot


I am unsure as to which manufacturers offer the best guarantees. All safety equipment gets approval from external bodies such as UCI or BSEN14781. There are many bodies that differ depending on the discipline or the type of equipment, like a helmet or bodyarmour for example.


Without sounding cheeky I would guarantee all of the items that we sell will reduce the extent of injury, should you be unfortunate enough to be involved in an accident on your bike. I say all of the items because everything we sell has been approved by the relevant external bodies.

Common sense init?

 

[Starchivore]

Maybe we should all start emailing Chain Reaction cycles customer services about the ad? With a cunning blend of legitimate complaints and increasingly subtle trolling emails?

 

[Mugshot]

There's so much boll*cks in that post from Chain Reaction, it's a bit hard to decide where to start. Perhaps whoever wrote it could provide us with his medical credentials, for where he is commenting on injuries and potential injuries?

I'd be temped to pass the who thing over to the Advertising Standards Authority. They'd have fun with it...

Waaaayyyyy ahead of you

 

[ufkacbln]

"my friend two weeks ago came off his bike whilst on a trail and hit his knee off a rock. He wore pads he bought from us and he split his knee open. If he had no pads on at all, he could have lost his knee cap entirely."

Or.... he could have split his knee open... maybe a bit deeper. Who's to say?

Please stop being so naive.......

We know from multiple reports from the pro helmet campaign, local press and Paramedics that helmets are effective in knee injuries

Happened locally last year.

Teenager got knocked off bike by a "left hook" and hurt his knee

Paramedic and local press both reported how much safer he would have been with a helmet

 

[SavageHoutkop]

On a slightly obtuse angle on the helmet issue, it always amuses me the number of women I see who wear their helmet pushed onto the back of their head.

I've seen one on backwards before

 

[david k]

I've seen one on backwards before

Head or helmet?

 

[ianrauk]

I've seen one on backwards before

I see that every now and then on my commute.

And it's not exclusive to the UK, In France, myself and @Trickedem saw a lady with the hat on back to front. I gently pointed it out to her and she looked a little embarrassed and quickly changed it.

 

[ufkacbln]

I remember taking part in a promotional event where there were a couple of Nurses selling helmets at £5 a throw as part of a "safety initiative".

As they were selling them to adults, teenagers and children, we inquired how they were assuring that they actually fitted the customer, or that they could be adjusted to fit

The reply was that it didn't matter as any helmet was better than nothing

Weren't happy when asked if they were aware that poorly fitting helmets could double the risk of head injury, and stuck to the "any helmet" argument

More "professionals" failing to be professional

 

[SavageHoutkop]

Never mind. I just did my own research, and am indeed now re-considering my views on helmet use. Just a shame nobody could be arsed to provide any positive input, rather preferring to condescend, and direct me to read 256 pages of thread.

If anybody asks in future, it would be very easy to refer them to :

http://www.cyclehelmets.org/1012.html

or :
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/1999/jun/15/healthandwellbeing.health1

Or not. Depends on whether your motivation is to effect change and promote what you believe, or just be a keyboard warrior.

This is a good recommendation actually, as is a sticky summarising the arguments against helmets. How do we enable a multi-user edit of it though? Or should one user take charge of it and make changes per other recommendations? (a new thread perhaps till it's finalised?)