You think I would’ve for the number of times I flew over my handlebars, but all the kids did that.
My first bike had a “banana seat” and that would hold one person, while I stood up and peddle while yet another friend rode on the handlebars.
Three people on a bike, no wonder I wasn’t fat, sure got exercise back then 
Yes, 1990’s. My brother and I both did, because my dad flat-out declared that we would or we would not have bicycles. I didn’t find out until college that he’d been in a nasty bike accident when he was in college (70’s) and had been flipped over a car, and had been wearing a terminally uncool helmet at the time that had probably saved his life.
Anyone else ever ride on your Father/Mother’s shoulders while they biked…both of you with no helmet?
No, but I used to ride on the handlebars a lot. Good times, then.
Born late 70’s, midwest, I’ve never worn a helmet in my life and I’m trying to convince my wife our children won’t have to either.
My wife says a helmet saved her fathers life, and I don’t doubt it, and I also don’t doubt by incredible coincidence every helmet wearing persons life was saved by it at one point. Or so they’ll say.
Hell no. They only kid I ever saw with a helmet on a bike was the ‘special’ kid next to the school whos bike had training wheels on both back on front wheels. And his was enormous, made his head bigger than his torso.
Needless to say we would have cut off our arms so we couldn’t ride a bike before we wore a helmet.
No. My siblings rode in the rear side baskets one leg in each basket holding around the peddler’s waste.
eeewwww!
Grew up in the 80s. Never knew there was such a thing until later in life.
Grew up in the 1980s. Never wore a helmet for cycling round the streets with my mates. Got one in probably about 1990 when I was 13 and got into more serious mountain biking, but still only wore it when doing serious off-road stuff.
Nowadays I still go MTBing and also commute by bike, and wear a helmet for both.
BTW helmets are very unlikely to “save your life”. They’re only useful in low-speed impacts - any impact bad enough to kill you will probably kill you regardless of whether you have a helmet on. What it will save you from is a nasty bump on the head and/or concussion. Helmets are sensible, yes, but they can’t work miracles.
Nope. As a kid that was tantamount to wearing a big, flashing neon “I’m a Weenie!” sign.
I wear one now, though, but only if my son is around; if there’s no chance that he’ll see my bad example, I love to feel the wind on my nearly-bald skull.
One kid wore a football helmet everywhere, but that was because he fell out of a moving car when the door latch failed.
I was riding a bike before ‘safety’ was invented.
I wear one now when I do ride.
Never in 70s/80s. Bought my first helmet when I bought my first mountain bike in 1994, age 28. I’ll wear one mountain biking and commuting to work, but not for cruising along the beach.
In the '90s-(early)'00s we definitely did, in fact I have distinct memories of making fun of kids who didn’t for being retarded and just asking for brain damage.
Like you I first got into biking at the time. Meaning that I purchased the first bike of my own back then – a cool looking Diamonback road-racer. Rode that for the better part of five years sans helmet. Never gave it a thought.
Back to biking hard-core after almost twenty years off. Whole new sport no matter what facet of it you indulge in, technology, as mostly elsewhere has improved ten-fold. Helmets included. Don’t wear one now and I label you a fool. In Obama’s case even more so due to his footprint.
Excuses for not doing so shows little understanding of the sport itself. None are valid.
Obama, if you bike, wear a freaking helmet or stay off of bikes. Period.
Case closed.
That’s the only kind I remember from when I was a kid. Only the guys on TV wore them.
I didn’t wear one and my mother worked for Trek when it was just the big red barn (grew up in Waterloo). You would think that I might have gotten one. But, despite the accidents I had, I’m fine. I do have a part of my chin that my beard wont’ grow. I think that’s related to back then on a bike.
I did start wearing a helmet when I started racing mtn bikes in the 90’s. Didn’t at first, but trees are hard and stuff.
The thing is now I can’t stand to see people wear their helmets incorrectly - as in too high on the forehead. That’s the prime spot to get bonked.
I wear one now. But when I was a kid they were not yet invented. Bicycles had been invented, and also over-protective mothers, but not invented, or at least not popularized.
I suspect we’re near the same age; I was born in 1981. I’m Midwest, too.
I had an insanely overprotective mother, so I had to wear a helmet. In retrospect, this was actually a logical and reasonable move on her part - I know that when I have kids, they’re wearing helmets. It’s such an easy move with massive potential payback. I remember three serious spills on my bike - one cut my elbow to the bone, one broke a rib and one resulted in me smashing my head into a curb. The helmet sure as hell paid off there - it broke in two but I walked away with nothing but a few scrapes.
…we won’t discuss the other insane shit she did - signing me up for some injury/kidnapping protection/identification service (I think it was called “CritiKids”, or something like that) that entailed her making me wear a plastic tag with a barcode on my shoes.
A god-damned barcode. And a lame “CritiKids” logo. I endured an enormous amount of abuse from my peers for that indignity.
Fuck no. Only losers wore helmets.