Liberating

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TrevA
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Liberating

Post by TrevA »

Have to say I’ve stopped wearing my helmet during the current heatwave and it’s been liberating. No more having to wipe sweat off my brow every couple of miles. I still sweat but wear a headband which soaks it up. Without the helmet, I can shed enough heat through the top of my head to stop me overheating. With a helmet, even with a sweat band, I’m overheating after 5 miles or so.

I’ve had a negative reaction from a few riding mates who continue to wear theirs. I will probably go back to wearing a helmet when it cools down but I’m quite enjoying the freedom at the moment and feeling the wind in my hair.
Sherwood CC and Notts CTC.
A cart horse trapped in the body of a man.
http://www.jogler2009.blogspot.com
mattheus
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Re: Liberating

Post by mattheus »

Excellent news!
TrevA wrote: 21 Jul 2021, 5:19pm I’ve had a negative reaction from a few riding mates who continue to wear theirs.
Tell them to go forth and <this post has been redacted>
Mike Sales
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Re: Liberating

Post by Mike Sales »

mattheus wrote: 22 Jul 2021, 9:41am Excellent news!
TrevA wrote: 21 Jul 2021, 5:19pm I’ve had a negative reaction from a few riding mates who continue to wear theirs.
Tell them to go forth and <this post has been redacted>
On a club run I was told that I looked good on the bike but I would look better in a helmet.
"No, I would look a pratt like you."
It's the same the whole world over
It's the poor what gets the blame
It's the rich what gets the pleasure
Isn't it a blooming shame?
mattheus
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Re: Liberating

Post by mattheus »

:lol:
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Audax67
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Re: Liberating

Post by Audax67 »

After enough km in a headband you'll have a permanent one but don't worry, it'll fade away in the autumn.
Have we got time for another cuppa?
LollyKat
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Re: Liberating

Post by LollyKat »

Like the OP I stopped wearing a helmet during a heatwave about 10 years ago. I noticed that drivers were so much more considerate and gave me so much more space that I haven't worn a helmet since.
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Paulatic
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Re: Liberating

Post by Paulatic »

It’s good the OP has thought about it.
I think some people just don’t think. I passed a JOGLEr this morning. Four panniers in blazing sunshine wearing helmet with light stuck on the top.
I think he was in more risk of overheating and laying himself open to making bad decisions because of his discomfort than he ever was of falling off at 9 mph.
I didn’t ask why you need a light in July :D
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freeflow
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Re: Liberating

Post by freeflow »

I find a thin cotton cap under a helmet is effective. Excessive sweat drips off the peak. Moderate sweat is evaporated from a surface somewhat better at letting sweat evaporate than my scalp. The top of my head doesn't get sunburned. In extremis I can rotate the cap to provide moderate neck protection. I wear a helmet based on personal, practical experiences.
gcogger
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Re: Liberating

Post by gcogger »

I've not found a helmet (as long as it's well ventilated) to be a problem in hot weather, and I'm someone that's very prone to overheating. I think it just helps keep the sun off my head. We're all different, though, and I think I'd do the same as the OP if it helped me.
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kylecycler
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Re: Liberating

Post by kylecycler »

Audax67 wrote: 22 Jul 2021, 10:17am After enough km in a headband you'll have a permanent one but don't worry, it'll fade away in the autumn.
Then again, if you wear a helmet and you shave your head you'll have a pattern on your head from the helmet vents... :)
Jdsk
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Re: Liberating

Post by Jdsk »

gcogger wrote: 22 Jul 2021, 1:18pm I've not found a helmet (as long as it's well ventilated) to be a problem in hot weather, and I'm someone that's very prone to overheating. I think it just helps keep the sun off my head.
Same here x3.

(I'm currently doing an hour at about 1700 and another at 2200.)

Jonathan
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TrevA
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Re: Liberating

Post by TrevA »

I’m a bloke who breaks into a sweat walking down the street. I have to change my T shirt after a dog walk if it’s hot.

If I wear a cap under the helmet, it gets saturated within a few minutes, then sweat drips off the peak, onto my Garmin, handlebars, frame and shorts. I normally wear a buff or a sweatband under the helmet, and this works well up about 20 degrees centigrade, but hotter than that and everything gets saturated, then sweat starts to run into my eyes. I can wipe it away with my track mitt, but then that gets saturated. The helmet, even though it’s ventilated, is not as well ventilated as a bare head.
Sherwood CC and Notts CTC.
A cart horse trapped in the body of a man.
http://www.jogler2009.blogspot.com
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pjclinch
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Re: Liberating

Post by pjclinch »

Paulatic wrote: 22 Jul 2021, 12:14pm I didn’t ask why you need a light in July :D
Daytime running lights are the New! Improved! "Be Safe Be Seen" with various studies demonstrating that you can be more easily seen further away when using them.

Much like hi-viz, if you want to then go ahead, but the issue of being seen is generally down to the other person looking. Also, that I can be seen a mile away isn't really something I worry about compared to can I be seen 50m away, and being seen enough is, well, enough.
Often seen riding a bike around Dundee...
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kylecycler
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Re: Liberating

Post by kylecycler »

Fact is (I think - you've always got to be careful using phrases like that on here...), expanded polystyrene is an insulator. I was brought up in a big old house that had a pantry but it was before we got a fridge, and we had an expanded polystyrene 'box' produced by Lyons Maid, the ice cream manufacturer, that you put the block of Lyons Maid ice cream in to keep it from melting (anyone else remember them?).

Trouble is, the main shock-absorbing component of a helmet is expanded polystyrene, so it insulates your body heat and doesn't let it escape through the top of your head. Either that or it insulates you from the heat and keeps you cool. Or both - so does that make it a draw?!

Which is it (science was never my strong point!)?
Jdsk
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Re: Liberating

Post by Jdsk »

kylecycler wrote: 23 Jul 2021, 1:14pmTrouble is, the main shock-absorbing component of a helmet is expanded polystyrene, so it insulates your body heat and doesn't let it escape through the top of your head. Either that or it insulates you from the heat and keeps you cool. Or both - so does that make it a draw?!

Which is it (science was never my strong point!)?
It's complicated... at least three sources of heat, colour of surface and effects on transfer by radiation, air speed, air temperature, evaporative loss...

Jonathan
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