Recommend a helmet?

Why do you make your kids wear them then ?

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Because they're new to cycling and prone to falling off; also, I wouldn't want to foist my foolish predjudices on anyone else.

While I can totally see the sense in protecting your bonce from impact with concrete etc, I suppose I've never really believed that the lightweight cycling helmets can do that. Full face, motorcycle style ones, sure.

However, I'm not a militant anti helmeter, and from threads like this, am getting the picture that even lightweight hats have saved people from harm.

Has anyone had a bad experience where a lightweight hat has proved useless, or harmful (exposed straps/neck/branches spring to mind)?

Why would anyone not want to wear a helmet or make sure that their kids do? You wouldn't use your car without wearing a seatbelt. Never understood this logic.

Trevor.

doctor-bond":p77syp78 said:

Why do you make your kids wear them then ?

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Because they're new to cycling and prone to falling off...

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ah but you just said that the helmets did little to help them that couldn't be protected by their heads anyway.

So if it's good enough for them and you feel they need to wear one, then it should be the same argument for you You may not be prone to falling but

Helmets will do little to stop the car killing you, and I've no idea if they've sorted out the 'curb' type hit yet that can kill you.
They do absob shock from minor hits and falling off the bike and still will protect your head from a greater damage that may have happened in more serious accidents if that force is not slowed down (absorbed before hand by the helmet).
Bugger the head up and the rest of the body tends to be buggered because of it. They'll need daddy to still go riding with them

And I am one that still needs to buy a helmet.
I'll be getting one more to set an example to my children then for my own protection because I'm a silly bugger.

This one has the "Rollerball" thing going on. A snip, too.

This one has the "Rollerball" thing going on. A snip, too.

(The site doesn't seem to like image linking...)
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_wb8bAl1P-N0/S ... lmet1a.jpg

I'll be getting one more to set an example to my children then for my own protection because I'm a silly bugger

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Same here - setting an example and avoiding rank hypocrisy seem good enough reasons - and I feel I've tempted fate far too much so far.


Now, what sort of helmet to buy? What I could do with is a few recommendations -- maybe there's a thread on here somewhere ......

doctor-bond":bxj0gxlm said:

My only excuses are -- that I've lasted this long; I ride not too rocky trails; and I once heard that the sort of crashes where they help [ie fairly minor] the body kind of takes care of itself anyway, while in major crashes, a polystyrene toupe won't help much anyway.

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Sounds from your later posts like you're coming around to the idea of a helmet. I don't want to sound like a helmet evangelist (if that doesn't sound seedy ) but that little bit of polystyrene can definitely do a lot if you're wearing it properly!

A helmet is never going to make you invincible against the worst that can happen, but I hit the deck with a fair bit of momentum and the helmet stayed in one piece. I was doing close to 20mph standing up on the pedals accelerating away from a junction and I managed to release one of my SPDs. My foot went straight between the suspension fork leg and the wheel, with the sole gripping the spokes. The bike just stopped dead, bent the bottom of the fork steerer back, and I did a Superman over the front. Helmet made a hell of a noise when it hit the road and once I started sliding (lycra on a wet road :shock: ) the buckle on the chin strap pulled itself apart.

I felt like a prize idiot, as there were lots of witnesses, and I no doubt looked soft as the proverbial when I cried as they tried to scrub all of the dirt and grit out of my chin at the hospital, but at least the helmet did its job and I could ride away from the scene looking like a hero (strictly in my own mind !) rather than being scooped into the back of an ambulance.

What can I say, but definitely buy one and aim to never test it out!

Get a LAS. Their excellent adjusty system means that their one size fits all claim is actually true. I was given one, I didn't think it would fit as I have an unusually big head, and it does. It's excellent. They fit the other 14 riders on the team too.

You'd probably be ok to sod trying one on, just order one from here and be done with it - www.cyclingbargains.com

Mike