Helmets - useful or waste of money?

TwoPlusTen · Post by **TwoPlusTen** » 25 Jun 2008, 10:34pm

Following on slightly from the guy that decided to bike it down the stairs...

I have heard that cycle helmets are good for things like track racing (where everyone's going the same way and they're made of soft stuff like wood and composite) but "not so hot" when you're out on the road, and things like trucks, buses, concrete/tarmac, brick walls, other street furniture and stuff get in the way. It's even been said that helmets can make injuries worse.

Any thoughts?

Cunobelin · Post by **Cunobelin** » 26 Jun 2008, 7:58am

I refer the Honourable Gentleman to my previous answer(s)!

http://forum.ctc.org.uk/viewtopic.php?t=13714

http://forum.ctc.org.uk/viewtopic.php?t=13204

piedwagtail91 · Post by **piedwagtail91** » 26 Jun 2008, 8:14am

hope you realise you've just started world war 3

Wildduck · Post by **Wildduck** » 26 Jun 2008, 8:51am

Not again!!!!!! I have only one thing to say...........single panniers!

hubgearfreak · Post by **hubgearfreak** » 26 Jun 2008, 8:55am

Wildduck wrote:Not again!!!!!! I have only one thing to say...........single panniers!

i'm sure that you meant to say - steel is real

byegad · Post by **byegad** » 26 Jun 2008, 9:01am

hubgearfreak wrote:
Wildduck wrote:Not again!!!!!! I have only one thing to say...........single panniers!

i'm sure that you meant to say - steel is real

No it was, 'Two wheels good, three wheels better.'

Peyote · Post by **Peyote** » 26 Jun 2008, 9:07am

Ha ha!

Actually, I thought I'd heard everything there was to hear in all the helmet debates, but the OPs suggestion about helmets working better on "softer" surfaces like wood and composite in comparison to "harder" concrete and metal is a new one to me. It's an interesting angle if nothing else!

I believe helmets are designed and tested against shaped chunks of metal (the flat surface and kerb ones, unless anyone knows differently?) though, so I would suggest that they are just as useful/useless on hard surfaces as they are on soft surfaces.

Wildduck · Post by **Wildduck** » 26 Jun 2008, 9:12am

Yes, I definitely agree with the three wheels notion!

Willpower · Post by **Willpower** » 26 Jun 2008, 9:21am

Shimano helmets or Campagnolo helmets?

gaz · Post by **gaz** » 26 Jun 2008, 9:39am

robwa10 · Post by **robwa10** » 26 Jun 2008, 10:11am

Guy was recently knocked down and killed on a small roundabout in the town I live in and the report said that had he been wearing a helmet his chances of survival would have been higher.
Personally though I think no panniers!

hubgearfreak · Post by **hubgearfreak** » 26 Jun 2008, 10:14am

robwa10 wrote:the report said

is that the local newspapers report or the doctors?

yakdiver · Post by **yakdiver** » 26 Jun 2008, 10:14am

single panniers

are we talking roll tops here
anyway I like my helmet it keeps my long hair in place

Dee Jay · Post by **Dee Jay** » 26 Jun 2008, 10:23am

I must admit that until I started hanging out here, I had no idea that the 'to wear or not to wear' debate was quite so heated where helmets are concerned!

Having read the piece to which Gaz linked ^^^, and skimmed through various threads on the matter - couldn't read them all as I would have lost the will to live - I have decided that it is, on balance, better for my children and I, to continue to wear 'em. My husband - who has now returned to cycling after a break of about 18 years - does not wear one. Never has.

When I stared cycling, in January this year, it never occurred to me not to wear one. In my wild and untamed youth, I was a motorcyclist until my stay in hospital was too long to entertain the idea of another similar one. Had I not been wearing the helmet I wouldn't be contributing to this thread! And yes, I know that I'm not comparing 'like with like', I just feel a bit safer wearing a helmet.

For what it's worth, our Club leader doesn't wear a helmet, but his children do.

gilesjuk · Post by **gilesjuk** » 26 Jun 2008, 11:10am

If you a thrown onto a bonnet and bang your head on it then a helmet may help. In most other situations it probably wont.

If you ride off-road then a helmet is more useful since the crashes you have are more likely to be with trees, rocks etc...

I've banged my head many times on branches while riding off road.