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

Beaker

You only shag people with piles? Pervert.

You already know the answer to that question.

I read that research on female cyclists too. It was fairly convincing, I thought. It says a lot that the more feminine you look, the more incompetent drivers (both male and female) will assume you are. I hate to collude with such blatant misogyny, but you've got to take what you can get, I suppose. I certainly feel more visible dressed in normal clothes than in cycling ones: in the former, to your average van driver you're a bird-on-a-bike: he'll give you a wide berth and probably yell at you out of the window. If you're lycra'd up (and presumably helmets have a similar effect) you're just a generic cyclist; with all the advantages (less sexual harassment) and disadvantages (less space) that goes with that.

There is something apparently infantilising about not wearing a helmet, as if you are obviously deeply frivolous and are incapable of making the decision based on anything other than vanity. I have never worn one, although I always own one, for hypothetical situations I can't even imagine. But I have thought it through, and made a rational decision based on the reading I've done, and my own opinions, et fucking tedious cetera. Today I overtook a man in hi-vis with a helmet and mudguards and a babyseat (unoccupied). He caught me back up at the lights, and leant over and said 'you are too pretty not to be wearing a helmet, young lady', for all the world as if he was paying me a compliment, rather than patronising me beyond all civility. I mouthed wordlessly at him as he grinned amiably back at me, then, as I saw the amber and started off, I muttered something over my shoulder along the lines of '... well, actually, conflicting research....'

Bet that taught him.

There is something apparently infantilising about not wearing a helmet, as if you are obviously deeply frivolous and are incapable of making the decision based on anything other than vanity.

I don't wear a helmet and it is nothing about my vanity, I usually forget to comb my hair before getting to work .. some of us don't like wearing something for the fact one I have to carry around an extra bit of kit just "in case" and the fact I don't like wearing it .... the fact I look like a bellend is irrelevant ... I look like one anyway.

I don't wear a helmet and it is nothing about my vanity, I usually forget to comb my hair before getting to work .. some of us don't like wearing something for the fact one I have to carry around an extra bit of kit just "in case" and the fact I don't like wearing it .... the fact I look like a bellend is irrelevant ... I look like one anyway.

You know what 'as if' means, I take it.

Thought i'd add a few shots of helmets in action....

Morzine 2004

Your out of toothpaste.

You know what 'as if' means, I take it.

Who says I was opposing the comment, I just stated my view upon part of the the opinion before which I was interested in commenting upon ... I believe this is how discussion work ....

I like the mildly surprised look you have in this one.

Thought i'd add a few shots of helmets in action....

Morzine 2004

That is like all my worst crashes combined ...

id wear a helmet more if they wernt so bloody uncomfortable. i have a large head and big hair that doesnt fit in any standard hats let alone helmets. everything ive tried has been wrong.

also theyre either too hot or too cold. all the air vents just directs the cold air into specific points to make it feel more cold. if i wear a cap underneith its too hot. the helmet styles with few vents are just too hot.

also im lazy. when i lock my bike up i already have to carry my shoes, saddlebag, pump, lights, computer, i can do without more things to remember not to forget. also while its bad excuse, i cant think of time where ive ever been in a dangerous situation where a helmet would be of any use. i know it could come, but life is full of danger and im not really all that fussed.

very rarely do you see mtb'ers without helmets. I don't like to ride with people off road who don't and point blank refuse to guide people around trails if they don't wear one. essentially they are my responsibility if they fall off and are laying there with blood pissing out their heads, so wear one or find your own way around.
wore a full facer in the alps even for just 'xc' as you pick up speed so quickly as it's so steep. had a slow speed off and did my hand/wrist in but body armour and lid did their job.
broken a couple of xc lids and one definately saved me from concussion and possibly a fracture it hit the ground quite hard and i remember bouncing and hitting the ground again.

i take all these views about wearing helmets and how car drivers view cyclists with a pinch of salt. most of the time they aren't even looking at you and cyclists have a knack of falling off without the help of other road users.
at the end of the day it's easy to wear one and it's not an inconvenience, i have witnessed too many incidents where they have prevented more serious injury to see a reason for not wearing one.
for most people it seems to be vanity that stops them from using one and the excuses seem irrational no matter how hard they try to rationalise their decision.
why not just say that they make you look like a nodder? or they mess with your hair or i couldn't give a toss if hit my head?

Had a big crash in '05 and smashed my helmet into more pieces then I could count. My head was back to normal within 24 hours (bit dizzy for the first day). Broke a few other bones that day anyway. Thats why I'm a big fan of wearing a helmet.

Helmets are compulsery where come from and I do believe its better here having your own choice in the matter - I like to ride to the shops in the weekend without a helmet - but for anything more serious then that I'm wearing one no question

Helmet is another name for the end of a penis.

So is bell.

frenulum is a word not come across that often

i have a large head and big hair that doesnt fit in any standard hats let alone helmets. everything ive tried has been wrong. .

Are you related to BRM?

Helmet is another name for the end of a penis.

You need this then

re: the bike crash above.

It looks like a nasty one, and I am glad you are now ok, and, if the helmet helped you be to ok then that is really awesome too.

But from what I have read about helmets, they are not supposed to crack or break, they are supposed to absorb energy by compressing/deforming. This means that a helmet which breaks has not done its job (at least not as it was designed to). Which is kind of worrying.

So I am always a bit worried when I see broken helmets posted as proof that they are effective, because even if they did something to help, they did not do what they were supposed to. I would be more reassured if I could see pictures of helmets protecting heads in the way they are supposed to.

(note: I am not a physicist, and for all I know, foam absorbs heaps of energy when it cracks - but as a helmet wearer it worries the bejeezus out of me when the helmet companies say that the helmet will protect me by compressing, and dude's keep posting pictures of cracked helmets.)

my girlfriend bought me a shiny black Giro helmet. haven't worn it once, just tried in front of mirror. a total disregard for my life or hers?...

Has the good lady not tried cryosurgery?

I doubt they'd be able to help in that situation, although their staff in the Spitalfields market store are always helpful and polite when I go in there to buy an inner tube :-P

I've had a driving license since 2002 and since then I've actually worn a BMX helmet while driving, because most drivers who are killed in RTA's die because of head injuries.

I started wearing one while pedestrianing for the same reason but I thought it made me look stupid