These videos convince me of nothing. The fall in the second video didn’t look bad. The first one would not have happened if it were not for hundreds of spectators with loose dogs running about,and the fact that these guys were riding closely packed together while concentrating on going as fast as possible. In any large event with hundreds of participants and thousands of spectators its not surprising that there are a few crashes.
If you are involved seriously in competitive racing, are a bike courier, or are otherwise suicidal enough to often ride in heavy traffic I can see why someone would want to wear a helmet. If you are prone to fall off your bike and land on your head during the course of normal cycling then biking may not be for you.
As far as saddles go find a retailer of Brooks leather saddles. Over time it will conform to you - no need for anyone to take a mold of your ass. Go to www.brookssaddles.com if interested.
My point was not to convince the Tour riders on the board (of which I presume there are none) to wear a helmet, and I think that people with cognitive function worth preserving will be able to apply these crashes to their own personal situations. As others have explained, no one can predict the moment they’ll crash, and they may never crash or need a helmet. vetbridge likely won’t be facing an errant dog in the Tour, but every rider faces some level of negligent automobile drivers, wet paint in corners, or loose gravel.
Like seatbelts in cars, the slight annoyance and discomfort of wearing a helmet will outweigh the benefits of seatbelts for most people that use them. But the enormous benefits they provide for the people that turn out to need them make the exercise of buckling up worthwhile for everyone.
As many people on this board can attest, even very careful, experienced, and capable riders or people that only ride their bike twice a year, people crash bikes at a rate that makes wearing a helmet worthwhile. If you need convincing of the enormous personal toll of head-injuries that likely would have been prevented by helmet use, there are plenty of other threads on this topic that will suffice.
“Almost 175,000 pedestrians died in all motor vehicle crashes with over 162,000 pedestrians killed in single vehicle crashes between 1975 and 2001.”* Source: National Center for Satistics and Analysis (pdf). A good case could be made to always wear a helmet. But, maybe I should just shut up I’m afraid this may happen.
Bike helmets are the result of the same culture that freaked out when a glimpse of Janet Jackson’s boob appeared on network television for a fraction of a second. They are the result of the the same culture that won’t allow children to walk three blocks to school. It is absurd.
One nice thing about living in Wisconsin is that even motorcycle helmets aren’t required by law. I often wear one when riding, but if I don’t feel like it. I don’t. That’s the culture I’m coming from. That may seem abhorrent to some. I don’t care.
I do love bicycles, though. Whenever I see a nice one I have to stop to check it out. It’s a great way to strike up conversation with strangers. Bike people are always friendly.
I assure you that I was not offended by Janet Jackson’s boob.
I’m not opposed to anyone riding bikes, I strongly encourage it, and even if you don’t wear a helmet, it’s still about as safe as going the same place in the car.
But I don’t understand this silly emotional attachment to going without a helmet. Again, I’m not calling for legislation or a shunning of people that don’t wear helmets, I’m just saying that people should make informed decisions.
All one really has to know is that:
Bike helmets significantly reduce the risk of serious injury on a bike
The injury rate of people riding bikes is not insignificant. In fact, for certain age groups, traumatic injury is the leading cause of death and helmet use in a number of activities could significantly reduce this morbidity.
All of the negatives of bike helmets have been reduced dramatically by comfortable, attractive, modern designs
Wearing a helmet does nothing to diminish the fundamental joy of riding a bike, or childhood, or any of the other things that people seem to feel so threatened about when the topic of bike helmets come up
DJ Motorbike, do you wear a seatbelt? If you have children, do you make them wear seatbelts?
Yes, I do wear a seatbelt. If I had children I assure you they would be fastened in as applicable for their age/size. But this goes back to my previous question. Why don’t you wear a helmet while traveling in an automobile? NASCAR drivers do just like the pros at the bike races.
It’s not just the helmets it’s all the accessories and bling that go with it too. That’s mostly what I reject. If you are a pragmatist and do this for your safety there is not anything anyone should be able to say about it that should bother you.
If, however, you are a sedentary middle-aged person who wants to get back in shape does it really matter that your bicycle weighs 2 pounds less than mine? Or are you spending money to make yourself feel like you should take full advantage of all the wonderful accessories and jerseys and state of the art technology you spent your money on?
Ride to enjoy it, or just to get around. Don’t try to be Lance Armstrong when the only time you ride your $3000 bicycle is when it’s nice out on a Sunday. Do people get corporate sponsorship for wearing those monkey suits with all the logos on them? It seems like a childish fantasy to me. The helmets are a big part of this. Makes you look like a pro, and if anyone questions you on it you can bring up the fact that many people die every year as a result of bike accidents. Nobody can argue. Most will nod in agreement, making you feel like you’ve vindicated your purchase and your lifestyle.
You’re an adult. You don’t need a helmet. Bumping your pwescious wittle nogin most likely won’t result in death. Get over yourself.
And I’m not aiming this at you threemae I don’t know you. I like fellow cyclists. It’s my issue, and it bothers me.
Because my car has a steel cage around me. As long as I’m wearing a seatbelt, even in a collision it’s unlikely my head would hit something hard.
So just wear a helmet, and forget all the other stuff. When I bike to work I just wear my street clothes plus my helmet. And my cycling sandals, but that’s it.
Of course when I go for a longer bike ride I do wear other items to make my ride more comfortable and safe. Cycling gloves provide padding, which improves comfort. It also protects your palm in the event of an accident. Shirts made of wicking fabric are more comfortable than cotton T-shirts. You don’t have to buy $50 jerseys with logos on them, you can buy plain shirts made of Coolmax or similar wicking material.
Where the hell are you getting all this from? I thought we were talking about helmets. You can get a decent helmet for about $30, and you can wear it with any clothes you want, on any kind of bike. I even wear it with blue jeans and flannel shirt if I’m just riding to the store.
That’s true, but nevertheless some seats are more comfortable than others. My favorite used to be the Specialized BG Comfort - it supports you at the “sit bones” without putting pressure on softer parts of the anatomy.
(But nowadays I don’t ride bikes with saddles. All my bikes have seats, like this.)
I am going on about more than just helmets. I am getting it from what I’ve observed. There are people who think of a bicycle helmet as a matter of course, much like seat belts in cars. If you’re commuting in downtown city traffic, or in competitive biking it makes sense. I admit that.
I just don’t think that for most casual adult cyclists helmets are necessary. If you know how to ride a bike you won’t fall on your head. If you understand the rules of the road you know what to avoid as a cyclist. Take the off beaten paths, cut through abandon lots and use the municipal bike paths. Just avoid traffic. If you can’t then it may be prudent to consider a helmet.
In my neck of the woods most people don’t use bicycles to commute, and I don’t think that’s uncommon in much of the United States. Most people who use bicycles do so on sunny weekends on the state and municipal paths and often you will see them wearing garish outfits and ridiculous foam hats to travel down the bike trails where there is no traffic to speak of.
Yes, wear a flannel and jeans with your helmet. Please. I don’t want to see a 50 year old man in spandex.
A mate of mine is none of these things and was doing none of these things. He’s been a very keen cyclist for decades. He came off recently through momentary inattention. His head was fine. It was only when he went to put his helmet on afterwards and found that the back was totally smashed in and looked like it had been hit with a sledgehammer that he got the shakes.
Thanks for the info, I tried out what you said and I see what is going on.
As far as DJ Motorbike’s thoughts on helmet use, I can see where he is coming from. I kayak local rivers when temps are above 60 F. I have had other yakers give me shit for not wearing a PFD. I understand their pov, however I feel that the increased risk is something I’m willing to trade for comfort.
I will wear a helmet however, as I can swim way better than I can fall.
Knowing how to ride a bike does nothing about the behaviour of other road users, including pedestrians, pets, and even other cyclists. Knowing how to ride a bike does not preclude mechanical falure. Knowing how to ride a bike does not allow one to control the weather.
I don’t know anyone who has ridden for any significant amount of time and has not crashed. In fact, the really hard core cyclists seem to crash fairly often, due to the time and miles they spend in the saddle. I’m pretty sure these folks know how to ride a bike. It’s never fun, and even someone with little sense will avoid it if they can. Stuff happens.
Put simply, if you ride long enough, you will eventually crash. If I had a foolproof system for knowing which day I was going to crash, then I probably wouldn’t wear a helmet on all those other days. If you always wear a helmet, then you will be wearing it when the crash happens. If you sometimes wear a helmet, then you might be wearing it when you crash. If you never wear a helmet, then you will not be wearing it when you crash.
As for the flashy togs: I used to giggle at seeing such. Then I realized that my mirth was due to the fact that I had NOTICED these cyclists. If a motorist thinks my neon bling jersey looks stupid, that’s great, because it means they saw me.
I’ll throw my little anecdote in here on the side of ALWAYS wearing a helmet because, no matter how good and careful a rider you are, Murphy might just decide to look directly at you. Like the time I took a little downhill with a sharp left turn at the bottom. When I grabbed both brakes to slow for the turn, the rear brake cable snapped. Guess what happened next? Good thing the tree and my helmet broke my fall. And it’s not just the landing that the helmet helps with. Sometimes when you crash, you discover that you forgot to let go of the bike and now have several pounds of machinery with pointy metal bits following you. A helmet helps prevent the need to have some of those pointy metal bits surgically removed from your skull.
A friend of mine who is a casual cyclist told me, “it’s not a matter of if you fall, but when”. Most everyone knows how to ride a bike, and most everyone falls, no matter how well you ride. You might as well come out of it without serious injury by wearing a damn helmet.
Again, I’m not trying to say that riding a bike is unsafe. It is comparable with other modes of transport in safety, and pretty good when wearing a helmet. Add in the potential health benefits from doing it a lot and riding a bike is an excellent idea. But there’s no way to rationally argue against choosing a helmet.
I mentioned it earlier in this thread, but when I broke my helmet in a fall I was going about 5 mph and getting ready to stop.
The trail was eroded somewhat and lower than the surrounding hillside. I had my right pedal down, and I was unclipping my left foot when my right pedal caught a stump of a sapling that the forest service had cut off maybe 2" above the ground. I was thrown over the top of the bike and landed on my right shoulder. Ho harm no foul, no need for a helmet, right? But then I slid into a very large mostly buried rock. THUNK No damage to me, but I could see where the helmet was broken into two pieces.
I know someone has answered this, but yeah, take it off. If you’re going to park your bike, you’ll probably be locking it to a post or bike rack anyway and once locked in place it’s not like the bike will fall over.
The last time I used a kickstand, I think I was eleven years old. I had a kickstand on my very first mountain bike and it tended to snag on stuff. Hard to explain. The top part where the bracket attached t the bike frame didn’t clear obstacles very well. It was more of a nuisance than a convenience.
I’ve found the kickstand to be invaluable for a commuter bike. It’s really convenient to use while I’m putting things in or out of the panniers. Also sometimes there is a pole to lock the bike to, but it’s not conveniently located to lean my bike against (e.g. it’s close to a tree or another bike). No problem, I just use the kickstand to support the bike, and chain one end of the bike to the pole. I use it indoors too, there aren’t any conveniently empty walls in my apartment or office to lean my bike against.
But if you’re using your bike for recreational off-road riding, yeah, it probably does more harm than good.
