# Does wearing a bicycle helmet really not effect the head? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 10, 2016, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-wearing-a-bicycle-helmet-really-not-effect-the-head/774366 "2016-12-10T18:18:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2016, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-wearing-a-bicycle-helmet-really-not-effect-the-head/774366/41 "2016-12-11T22:58:10Z")
> [@TheSundial](#): > > If all it takes too have scoliosis is sitting on an angle a lot [Um, no it doesn’t.](http://www.webmd.com/osteoarthritis/guide/arthritis-scoliosis#1-2) :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Turble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Turble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turble)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2016, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-wearing-a-bicycle-helmet-really-not-effect-the-head/774366/42 "2016-12-12T00:11:40Z")
> [@Banquet\_Bear](#): > > …we are in General Questions: is this your opinion, or objective fact? If you think it is the latter, can you provide some cites? If it is the former: don’t you think it is a bit dangerous offering up this sort of opinion without substance in a forum like this? Here is a concise summary of some of the major points: [What’s wrong with bicycle helmets?](http://bicyclesafe.com/helmets.html) And for those like to read, links to several thousand pages of research supporting my point: [Published evidence sceptical of helmet effectiveness or promotion](http://www.cyclehelmets.org/1146.html) ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2016, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-wearing-a-bicycle-helmet-really-not-effect-the-head/774366/43 "2016-12-12T00:45:54Z")
> [@Turble](#): > > Here is a concise summary of some of the major points: [What’s wrong with bicycle helmets?](http://bicyclesafe.com/helmets.html) > > And for those like to read, links to several thousand pages of research supporting my point: [Published evidence sceptical of helmet effectiveness or promotion](http://www.cyclehelmets.org/1146.html) The first cite lacks logic. Its best argument is that laws requiring helmets decreases the number of overall cyclists. It then tries to back this argument up by comparing countries with a very different bicycling environment. Having fewer cars and more bicycles leads to fewer fatal accidents for the bikes? You don’t say. It still doesn’t mean that the bicyclists would be any safer here until they are dealing with fewer cars. Even if its argument against helmet laws held water, that still doesn’t tell you much about whether you should wear a helmet. The second might as well be a Google search for “bicycle helmets are bad”. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2016, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-wearing-a-bicycle-helmet-really-not-effect-the-head/774366/44 "2016-12-12T02:35:34Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > On a bicycle, even the best of helmets traps heat next to the head. Even in the wintertime, this is not ideal. The head needs to be able to shed heat naturally. An overly warm head starts to impair mental function, which is a bad thing when a cyclist is riding amongst a bunch of multi-ton killing machines. Any bike helmet sold (new) today should meet one of the safety standards. However, the better ones have internal channels that force air flow thru them in such a way that they actually keep you cooler than no helmet at all. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2016, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-wearing-a-bicycle-helmet-really-not-effect-the-head/774366/45 "2016-12-12T07:10:08Z")
> [@Spiderman](#): > > Any bike helmet sold (new) today should meet one of the safety standards. However, the better ones have internal channels that force air flow thru them in such a way that they actually keep you cooler than no helmet at all. We have actual hills around here. Try going up a mile of 6% and tell me that helmet is going to keep my head cooler than no helmet. FTN. But, as I said before, your personal experience may differ from mine. I do not advocate one way or the other. Wear a helmet if you want, or choose a hat or wind in your hair. I am just lobbying for them to start putting the airbags on the outside of the cars, where the belong. Or maybe just teaching people to drive and to lay off the damn meth. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2016, 7:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-wearing-a-bicycle-helmet-really-not-effect-the-head/774366/46 "2016-12-12T07:20:54Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > We have actual hills around here. Try going up a mile of 6% and tell me that helmet is going to keep my head cooler than no helmet. FTN. > > But, as I said before, your personal experience may differ from mine. I do not advocate one way or the other. Wear a helmet if you want, or choose a hat or wind in your hair. I am just lobbying for them to start putting the airbags on the outside of the cars, where the belong. Or maybe just teaching people to drive and to lay off the damn meth. A modern helmet has 15-25 vents. There’s no place for heat to build up. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2016, 9:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-wearing-a-bicycle-helmet-really-not-effect-the-head/774366/47 "2016-12-12T09:39:00Z")
> [@TheSundial](#): > > Are humans really supposed to be doing that? Having something so tight around the head and is there really no effect from doing that day in and day out? It doesn’t seem to do that on the other end. Anecdotal info: When I was growing up. a neighbor lady wore an extremely tight girdle every day, all day, but it seemed to have no restricting effect on her body – her ass kept growing wider and wider, year after year. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2016, 10:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-wearing-a-bicycle-helmet-really-not-effect-the-head/774366/48 "2016-12-12T10:08:03Z")
> [@Spiderman](#): > > Any bike helmet sold (new) today should meet one of the safety standards. However, the better ones have internal channels that force air flow thru them in such a way that they actually keep you cooler than no helmet at all. I don’t see how this is really possible - except in the slight sense that a helmet is bigger than your head, and therefore has a larger cross-sectional area to catch air and direct it across your head. > [@running\_coach](#): > > A modern helmet has 15-25 vents. There’s no place for heat to build up. I’m not sure that makes sense. A blanket with holes in it will keep a person less warm than a blanket with no holes, but still warmer than _no blanket at all_. For there to be truly nowhere for heat to build up, the helmet would have to have no contact with the head at all, or made of something other than matter. I imagine vents probably work fine for people with no hair or ever short hair, but for people with a full head of hair, the helmet is going to press that down into an insulating layer across the head, and the airflow from the vents will only be penetrating the outer layers of hair - not down to the skin. ---
**Author:** ![m30wc0w](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/aca169/32.png) [@m30wc0w](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/m30wc0w)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2016, 10:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-wearing-a-bicycle-helmet-really-not-effect-the-head/774366/49 "2016-12-12T10:51:55Z")
When I was 12 I got into a rather nasty bike accident that split my helmet in 3. Was in the hospital for about 4 days. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2016, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-wearing-a-bicycle-helmet-really-not-effect-the-head/774366/50 "2016-12-12T12:20:50Z")
> [@](#): > > Quoth **eschereal** : > > We have actual hills around here. Try going up a mile of 6% and tell me that helmet is going to keep my head cooler than no helmet. FTN. Been there, done that, and my head felt fine. And what’s FTN? ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2016, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-wearing-a-bicycle-helmet-really-not-effect-the-head/774366/51 "2016-12-12T14:35:47Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > I don’t see how this is really possible - except in the slight sense that a helmet is bigger than your head, and therefore has a larger cross-sectional area to catch air and direct it across your head. > > **I’m not sure that makes sense. A blanket with holes in it will keep a person less warm than a blanket with no holes, but still warmer than _no blanket at all_.** For there to be truly nowhere for heat to build up, the helmet would have to have no contact with the head at all, or made of something other than matter. > > I imagine vents probably work fine for people with no hair or ever short hair, but for people with a full head of hair, the helmet is going to press that down into an insulating layer across the head, and the airflow from the vents will only be penetrating the outer layers of hair - not down to the skin. Turn on a fan. Bicycle helmets have a retention “harness” and padding that leaves a gap between scalp and helmet. Some helmets are so vented there’s more vent than helmet. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2016, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-wearing-a-bicycle-helmet-really-not-effect-the-head/774366/52 "2016-12-12T14:36:50Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Been there, done that, and my head felt fine. > > And what’s FTN? WAG- Fuck That Noise. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2016, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-wearing-a-bicycle-helmet-really-not-effect-the-head/774366/53 "2016-12-12T14:42:20Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > Turn on a fan. I’m assuming this is a response to the bolded part of the quote? Yes, a blanket with holes in will still have an insulating effect when fanned, compared to no blanket at all. > [@](#): > > Bicycle helmets have a retention “harness” and padding that leaves a gap between scalp and helmet. > Some helmets are so vented there’s more vent than helmet. I think we might be talking about different things. The most popular kind I have seen appear to have an expanded polystyrene body, armoured by a hard plastic outer layer and set off from the head only by soft foam pads. it doesn’t matter if they are more vent than helmet - they are still more helmet than _nothing at all_. \*Any \*additional layer of \*anything \*on or quite near the head is going to have a nonzero effect on heat retention, when compared to _nothing there at all_. ---
**Author:** ![40below](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/4/51bf81/32.png) [@40below](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/40below)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2016, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-wearing-a-bicycle-helmet-really-not-effect-the-head/774366/54 "2016-12-12T15:34:32Z")
Modern helmets weigh a few ounces, they’re nothing like the old ones, it’s basically a styrofoam hat full of holes that you throw away after an impact. And the chinstraps don’t fit anything like a military helmet where the straps go under the point of your chin, the strap on a bike helmet runs down the back of your jawbone so you can yawn comfortably. I’ll take a WAG and say the number of cyclists who have been decapitated by their own helmets in a wreck is zero, and will remain so forever. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2016, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-wearing-a-bicycle-helmet-really-not-effect-the-head/774366/55 "2016-12-12T20:57:13Z")
Regarding the whole heat discussion above, for those of us with little to no hair up top, any helmet will provide shade from the sun, thereby making things cooler (altho some are so ventilated you do risk sunburn thru the vents). So, for some, a helmet will be cooler than nothing at all. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2016, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-wearing-a-bicycle-helmet-really-not-effect-the-head/774366/56 "2016-12-12T21:42:40Z")
> [@Vicsage](#): > > Read a study decades ago where they put rubber bands around chimps heads. Chimps went bald. I haven’t been able to find this through Google. Any chance you can provide a cite? ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2016, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-wearing-a-bicycle-helmet-really-not-effect-the-head/774366/57 "2016-12-12T21:48:27Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > I’m assuming this is a response to the bolded part of the quote? Yes, a blanket with holes in will still have an insulating effect when fanned, compared to no blanket at all. > > I think we might be talking about different things. The most popular kind I have seen appear to have an expanded polystyrene body, armoured by a hard plastic outer layer and set off from the head only by soft foam pads. > > it doesn’t matter if they are more vent than helmet - they are still more helmet than _nothing at all_. \*Any \*additional layer of \*anything \*on or quite near the head is going to have a nonzero effect on heat retention, when compared to _nothing there at all_. What’s wrong with heat retention? ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2016, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-wearing-a-bicycle-helmet-really-not-effect-the-head/774366/58 "2016-12-12T22:06:30Z")
Can we at least agree that a well-ventilated helmet likely has less heat retention than a baseball cap? And both serve the purpose of blocking direct sunlight, so in hot sunny weather, it’s probably cooler than not wearing anything. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2016, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-wearing-a-bicycle-helmet-really-not-effect-the-head/774366/59 "2016-12-12T22:07:30Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > What’s wrong with heat retention? It can make you feel hotter than you might like. (The discussion on that point started on the previous page - here: [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=19846044#post19846044](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=19846044#post19846044)) ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2016, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-wearing-a-bicycle-helmet-really-not-effect-the-head/774366/60 "2016-12-12T22:08:16Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > It can make you feel hotter than you might like. That’s true. I thought someone was claiming it would damage the brain. ETA: I found it > [@](#): > > Originally Posted by eschereal > On a bicycle, even the best of helmets traps heat next to the head. Even in the wintertime, this is not ideal. The head needs to be able to shed heat naturally. An overly warm head starts to impair mental function, which is a bad thing when a cyclist is riding amongst a bunch of multi-ton killing machines. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-wearing-a-bicycle-helmet-really-not-effect-the-head/774366.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-wearing-a-bicycle-helmet-really-not-effect-the-head/774366.md?page=4)