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

nice!

surely you don't have to be an engineer to know that the human skull was not designed to smash into 2 ton of metal at even pedestrian speed. Helmets on the other hand are designed by extremely qualified engineers and have spent thousands of hours going through rigorous tests conducted by even more engineers.

I'm no engineer, but my daughter (at the age of four) managed to put a hollow plastic golf club through one of these.

It didn't take aslong as I hoped it would. the helmet was 5 months old and had never been involved in any accidents.

Helmets on the other hand are designed by extremely qualified engineers and have spent thousands of hours going through rigorous tests conducted by even more engineers.

and hence is probably take an engineer or similar to ascertain of the collision type was in the remit of the design or test results.

Not wearing a helmet is just stupid. I crashed with and without. With, I was fine, but the helmet was toasty powder, unlike my head. Without, I died. So, wearing a helmet worked for me.

Not wearing a helmet is just stupid.

Well, there we go, that's that sorted. Shame you didn't pop up on page one.

Just to remind people periodically that the issues here are fairly complex--hence the huge level of debate. If you need to get yourself up to speed with the basics, http://cyclehelmets.org/ is a good place to go. If you enjoy endless debates, read the thread. :)

I've only ever had one car accident, and that was in reverse- should I therefore stop using a seatbelt and put a pillow between me and the seat?

.....the issues here are fairly complex....If you enjoy endless debates, read the thread. :)

...or read these 2 recent posts which sum up the whole complex isssue

Not wearing a helmet is just stupid.

I've only ever had one car accident, and that was in reverse- should I therefore stop using a seatbelt and put a pillow between me and the seat?

long live the helmet thread

Shave it off, add yellow nipple to head.

Use lego to make different styles depending on your mood.

I woke up this morning and my coiffure was all mussed. Is there anything I can do to protect it?

Should you wear a helmnet on a roller paluza bike?

I wear a helmet because if I don't, my mother gets worked up. She will keep calling me and if I don't answer, she assumes I am dead and goes mental. I told her that a helmet won't save me if a bus runs over me at 30mph, which didn't really help...

And before anyone asks, I'm 24, but as mothers always say "you'll always be my baby no matter how old you get!" (unless you're a twat)

My son's learning to ride a bike at the moment (just entered post balance bike phase). He can ride along, but stopping and starting need a little work.

Anyway, he asked if he could wear his helmet today - he noticed it when we dragged it out of a corner with his childseat. As this equated to enthusiasm for riding his bike, I said yes. But then, having adjusted the chin strap properly (it wasn't too tight), he said it was uncomfortable, and wanted to ride without it. Which he did.

I'm happy to follow his lead, is what I'm saying.

When I was a kid I refused to wear a helmet because the strap was uncomfortable. Still do.

Not4sale was taken off his bike by a car turning across traffic.

This happened almost directly outside my old flat.

I did not see the accident, but I did see the substantial amount of claret on the roads, and I saw the pictures that Not4sale posted up afterward- and met the man himself at the Bike and Kite Festival a little later on.

Now BlueQuin always derides helmets as "nasty foam hats", but I contend that Not4sale would have lost less cranial skin had he had a nasty foam hat on.

Someone has probably made the comparison already in one of the 50 pages before this one, but helmets are similar to gloves in a way- would they protect against a high speed shunt?

No, or the mitigation of the damage would be so minimal as to be undetectable, but at slower speeds they stop you having to get your girlfriend to wipe you arse (TM Hippy).

Thanks Neil - all cosmetic ... vv

*Just as gloves prevent minor wounds to the hands, cycle helmets are likely to prevent similar wounds to the head, but these are not serious injuries or in any way life-threatening. In the largest case-control study, 73% of head injuries did not involve concussion or other brain injury ]. Based on this wide definition, including all wounds to the head, helmet wearers will have lower rates of head injury. However, the case-control study evidence for other types of head injury is not as consistent as is often suggested. Although one frequently cited but much-criticised study claims that helmets reduce head injuries by 85%, all other studies predict more modest benefits, such as 39% or none at all (for some types of cyclists, e.g. cyclists over 15 riding on-road) .* from

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until (and if) helmets are made compulsory the choice to wear one or not will be down to the individual. my opinion is that cyclists who do not wear helmets do so for one or both of two reasons: 1. They consider themselves far too cool to be seen with something so unsightly perched on the top of their head. 2. They consider themselves naughty little anarchists who spit in the face of good sense dictated by other (older?) people.

You missed a couple of key ones in your very biased list;

1. They don't feel they actually provide any benefit
   
2. They put the risk of falling off/being hit at no higher than as a pedestrian and don't wear a helmet when walking
   

my second point makes mention of good sense which probably counters both 3.and 4.

1. They consider themselves far too cool to be seen with something so unsightly perched on the top of their head. 2. They consider themselves naughty little anarchists who spit in the face of good sense dictated by other (older?) people.
   
   

It's possible you are older than me. Either way don't try talking down to me pal. You sound like an ass.

It's possible you are older than me. Either way don't try talking down to me pal. You sound like an ass.

Served. On his sixth post. An achievement...

fair enough, perhaps I am an old ARSE but with age comes wisdom. I'll bow to your better knowledge and back down now.

fair enough, perhaps I am an old ARSE but with age comes wisdom. I'll bow to your better knowledge and back down now.

Just seems odd that your first sentence suggested it was personal preference, and then everything else was written to disparage anyone who opposed your own personal preference

Lia helmet whenke I said I'll accept I'm completely wrong and bow to superior knowledge. I apologise for stating my narrow minded outbursts. What do I know, after all I've only been riding bikes competitively and socially for 28 years starting with bmx track at 14. Maybe if I'd never worn a helmet when I had all those crashes as a kid I'd have had some sense knocked into me. Nuf said, that's my last post on this topic. I'll stick to less controversial topics like "should fixies have brakes?".

Younger than both of us then, will. Bloody kids...

Don't worry; "with age comes wisdom". Norman Wisdom in his case.

You should see what he can see…