Remember kids... always wear a helmet. (The almighty bikeradar helmet thread)

I see people that have been cycling for a long time answering their phones whilst they ride...i've seen plenty of forum members riding when drunk and weaving all over the road and ploughing through crossings shouting at pedestrians who get in their way.

People take risks all the time...thankfully i've never had an accident on the roads since i was 6yrs old.That doesn't mean i never will...thankfully i've never lost a relative due to a car crash, but again that doesn't mean i never will.

As has been mentioned already, not everyone who chooses not to wear a helmet does so because they think they look 'cooler' without one.
I wear one every time i ride off-road for the simple reason that i'm far more likely to crash riding on muddy, rocky, rooty, uneven surfaces than i am riding on predominantly smooth tarmac.
I know that if i'm going to be involved in an accident on the roads it's more likely to be due to a careless driver than to my own actions...but at the same time, i don't put a helmet on every time i cross the street incase a careless driver should crash into me either.

I agree with all this.

Yeah is it safer to wear a helmet and ride when you are pissed up. Than not wear a helmet when you are sober.

When I wiped out on the track a couple of months ago. I landed on my head at about 38mph, the helmet took the full force of the accident. Would not like to think what would have happened if I hadn't been wearing one. Similarly, when mountain biking I dropped off a 10 ft drop and landed on my head. Helmet saved me again that day. Funnily enough, the only times i have wiped out and landed on my head on a bike is when I was wearing a helmet. But you expect this when mtb or track racing. You dont expect to come crashing onto your head at +30mph on the street. Fingers crossed

All depends on how good of a rider you are, your background, where you live, where you ride... I welcome you to think what you want about my certainty of this... but i am certain nonetheless. There is absolutely no chance i'm going to let another car hit me. I just don't let it even become a possibility. When I ride my MTB on the street or dirt, i wear a lid. No doubt. Fixed gear in the city or road bike out in the hills? No way.

To all females:

It is very naive and dangerous to assume that drivers will give you more space, just because you are female.

I doubt the minicab drivers speeding down fast roads in London, way to close to cyclists, give a shit whether you are male or female.

This is based on a study that I am too lazy to find the link to... so shut it.

What an immature response.

Do you also 'assume' this study is based on 100% of those drivers studied gave extra room to female cyclists?

Please re-read my post, I was trying to offer support to females by not assuming every single driver gives more room to females.

mike your list of landing on your head incidents grows ever longer

are you some form of inverted weeble !!

if i were you i'd think about a helmet every time you leave your front door bike or not ! and please don''t EVER buy a motorbike

cat-like, cat-like, for-the-win, for-the-win!
Also I don't know how to post images, just links...

http://www.vitonica.com/images/2007/07/CatlikeWhisper.gif

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/images/catlike-whisper-plus-zoom.jpg

http://www.roadcyclinguk.com/news/images/Catlike-Whisper-Plus-02-hi.jpg

catlike whisper = shit
mine broke after wearing it no more than 10 times. A guy at the track had the same problems some days before. The plastic that holds the straps at the back is too weak and snaps and the padding comes all off

There are other benefits to wearing a helmet. I recently replaced my (too) old helmet with a one that has a 'peak' on it, as seems to be the rage nowadays:

• It's great for when it's lashing it down, helps keeps the rain out of my eyes
  
• It's great for country lanes in the dark, when a car full beams you - you just lower your head a touch so the peak cuts out the lights.
  
  

What's the alternative? Wearing a croupier visor, which I guess only works out if you are cycling to your job at a casino.

There are other benefits to wearing a helmet. I recently replaced my (too) old helmet with a one that has a 'peak' on it, as seems to be the rage nowadays:

• It's great for when it's lashing it down, helps keeps the rain out of my eyes
  
• It's great for country lanes in the dark, when a car full beams you - you just lower your head a touch so the peak cuts out the lights.
  
  

What's the alternative? Wearing a croupier visor, which I guess only works out if you are cycling to your job at a casino.

You have heard of a cycling cap, right?

You have heard of a cycling cap, right?

You've ruined my fun now!

What's the alternative?.

Wear you sunglasses at night.

And to think I wore one of these on the track and rode home on my bike with it hanging on the handle bars.

you wore a helmet with a poster of cyclists on it? geek!

lol

~~there are several pretty strong (rational) arguments against wearing a helmet all the time.

Helmets aren't magically going to protect you against stupidity, (your own or the people around you).
Mandatory helmets have been shown to reduce the uptake of cycling, which is the single biggest factor in increasing safety of cyclists in london.
Helmets pretty much only protect you against hitting the ground - which happens if you're either an inexperienced rider or very unlucky.
Helmets can in some circumstances increase the likelyhood of injury.

I'm a parent (what the fuck that has to do with my ability to decide whether to wear a helmet) and I wear a helmet only when I see the (calculated) risk being significant enough to outweigh the inconvenience of doing so. my reflex action is good. I've not had a serious fall in 20 years. I don't wear a helmet walking down the street or in the shower for example, though based on the facts I probably should. ~~

edit. do what the fuck you want to

Haaaaa

If the discussion is to be about the selfishness of riding in a way that puts you at more risk then you could say it's just as selfish to ride with a worn chain, or cleats, or brake blocks, or even skidded through tyres. You could just as easily have a blowout as you approach a junction that can cause you to lose control and end up under a bus...i've pulled my foot out of my pedals due to worn cleats as i approached a junction...had i not been a competent cyclist i could have been hit full on.
Riding without bartape can be more dangerous in the wet, or without bar plugs...i see people doing both of those things even when they're wearing helmets.
While we're on the subject...is it selfish for people to ride bikes at all in a busy city that are clearly not competent yet?
I see people all the time wobbling about all over the road like an accident just waiting to happen, usually wearing helmets, putting other road users in danger...are they being selfish by not taking a cycling proficiency test at the age of 35 due to thinking they're too old to need to?

There are so many things that can be seen as selfish...is a parent selfish for doing a charity parachute jump to raise money for the local hospice, knowing that there is a chance the chute might not open?

If we all went through life trying to prepare for every possible outcome of every risky situation we'd leave the house dressed in a suit of armour and wearing a full face helmet.
Make up your own mind.

I saw the aftermath of a crash involving a cyclist and the rear windscreen of a BMW the other week outside my flat - Polis had blocked off either end of the road, blood everywhere, windscreen completly out.....looks like the car had pulled up at a junction (at bottom of quite a steep hill) and cyclist behind had gone straight over handlebars....

I commented as I went past the PC standing with the driver (ambulance been and gone) that it was a nasty hill to ride down due to the state of the road anyway, massive potholes etc. - and he turned round and asked if I rode with a helmet......

Seems to be their default position, but no way judging by what I saw would a bike helmet have saved someone face planting into windscreen glass......

This is just like when they made helmets mandatory on motorbikes.
I love how the anti helmet people treat this like a bible. I'm sure they've done a lot of research but it smacks of Daily Mail to me!

There are other benefits to wearing a helmet. I recently replaced my (too) old helmet with a one that has a 'peak' on it, as seems to be the rage nowadays:

• It's great for when it's lashing it down, helps keeps the rain out of my eyes
  
• It's great for country lanes in the dark, when a car full beams you - you just lower your head a touch so the peak cuts out the lights.
  
  

What's the alternative? Wearing a croupier visor, which I guess only works out if you are cycling to your job at a casino.

I don't like the peak so much. Great for the sun etc. but I am worried that it's going to explode into small pieces into my eyes and face if I crash...

Last time I was snowboarding I noticed most of the younger (anyone under 33 in my book) skiiers and boarders wearing helmets. This seems to be the norm these days. I dont even own a ski helmet, yet am umteen billion times more likely to have an accident on the slopes, then while droping the nipa off to nursery on the bike. Yet I never cycle without a bike helmet on.

Danger perception fail on my part.

solid post roxy. i have had the same thoughts while riding on those days i left the house without my helmet and when thinking about Vic riding (always with her helmet) i feel assured by her wearing it. heltmets are really about personal choice, but its a very interesting argument to say "think of others - wear your helmet".

... oh... and you should see my cricket helmet for polo. fuck yeah. hahahaha! (dweeb).

I saw the aftermath of a crash involving a cyclist and the rear windscreen of a BMW the other week outside my flat - Polis had blocked off either end of the road, blood everywhere, windscreen completly out.....looks like the car had pulled up at a junction (at bottom of quite a steep hill) and cyclist behind had gone straight over handlebars....

I commented as I went past the PC standing with the driver (ambulance been and gone) that it was a nasty hill to ride down due to the state of the road anyway, massive potholes etc. - and he turned round and asked if I rode with a helmet......

Seems to be their default position, but no way judging by what I saw would a bike helmet have saved someone face planting into windscreen glass......

and this is the kind of accident which can often be caused by poorly maintained brakes or a lack of cyclist competence. which makes you wonder why everyone bangs on about helmets so much and I never see posters from TFL saying 'learn how to look after your bike' or 'learn how to ride' (for example).

This thread will be merged as soon as VB returns from holiday.

No safety ropes were used in the typing of this post.

catlike whistper = shit
mine broke after wearing it no more than 10 times. A guy at the track had the same problems some days before. THe plastic that holds the straps at the backis too weak and snaps and the padding comes all off

.

Ok well I don't actually have a whisper but I couldn't find a photo of mine; it has however served me well for the last year or so, and by helmet standards I reckon a
good looking piece of kit.

I just back 'em that's all.

And I guess this debate it just like religion or politics in that I've been raised on the idea that they're good ideas and save lives, so I think it's preposterous that people are saying wearing them is a BAD idea. I just don't get it. How can protecting your head be a BAD idea?

.

How can protecting your head be a BAD idea?

When trying to commit suicide by blowing your head off with a gun?

When trying to commit suicide by blowing your head off with a gun?

Thats why you do it from under the chin, the helmet saves a lot of cleaning up afterwards. I always prefer the caring and thoughtful suicide.