Helmet follow on .......

[Guest Big H]

damn, roadies taking the opportunity to protect themselves. that I have to see

I dont know Mr H. Maybe i'm missing something here, but I dont see much difference wrt risk between high speed road riding and for example, downhill racing.

 

Not as many trees and rocks around but the sandpaper effect of asphalt followed by a kerb and a lamppost and or a taxi wheel WILL be as disastrous

[jmaccelari]

Why is that?? It's an honest statement!

 

2 accidents on the same page resulting in head trauma, while wearing a helmet. I don't feel as confident now that my helmet will protect me when i need it too.

Don't worry. It's a typical BigH superior-than-thou comment. Just pray he doesn't start cyber-stalking you...!

[stewie911]

I see your point capricorn, but maybe it's to do with your likelyhood to crash and the type of impact between road and DH. To go faster, people compromise.

 

Think of the built between a rally car vs formula 1 car

[PhilipV]

Couple of valid points here. I can't see road riders wearing more protection, even though their impacts are as hard as on a DH fall. Maybe they are braver than people think. I stopped riding road races as I don't like the odds of hitting a kerb, lamppost or all that tar, and I felt the likelyhood of crashing in a bunch was too high. I'll rather take my chances in the mountain where I have more control of the variables.

 

I also think any helmet is better than nothing, I have two, and I'll wear it even when cruising to the shops. I pray that I'll never need a lid, but I am not taking any chances.

[DJR]

@ Capricorn

 

Agree with you about the need for better protection, not just the minimum. Look at the UK magazines and you will see lots of trails riders wearing elbow and knee pads. Here, I seem to be the only one. If you do the jumps and drops in a place like Tokai, the potential for serious injury is there and I see only the full on DH guys taking it seriously with protection. More of the long travel-all-mountain guys should be investing in armour. Don't want to say anything about the XC guys and roadies, too much of a hornets' nest.

[Captain Fastbastard Mayhem]

@ DJR - I'm currently on an XC machine but happen to take risks that I know push the edges of my (current) capabilities. However, I am seriously looking at knee/elbow guards as a next investment. Already use armoured full finger gloves, and you should see the amount of looks I get. The carbon shell on the knuckles would make a nice imprint on someone's face though! :-)

[Chubba]

Just an observation and my own experience, i don't think new riders realize the importance of helmets, and i also don't think LBS's place enough emphasis on the value of a good helmet.

Clearly this is just a non-thinking/grudge purchase, with gloves, shoes, bottles etc.... You generally get a value helmet, that possibly has a guarantee in the case you break it.

You don't take into consideration the damage that can be caused to your noggin coming off a bicycle at slow, let alone fast speeds, until its to late.

 

I have been in an accident with a car, car window and the road, and know the value of my helmet. My previous comment was more of a concern that my helmet might not be safe enough, based on the first paragraph.

 

What i have also noticed with time is that MTB lids have far more rear skull protection and seem bulkier, but Road helmets seem to get smaller and lighter. Doesn't make sense, concrete and asphalt hurt as badly as roots and rocks!

Edited March 12, 2011 by Chubba

[chris_w_65]

My (expensive) helmet weighs 172g, I wonder how much it will help? What I mean is, will a heavy R200.00 helmet from Makro protect me more?

[Guest Big H]

My (expensive) helmet weighs 172g, I wonder how much it will help? What I mean is, will a heavy R200.00 helmet from Makro protect me more?

 

When you fall at 50km/h going downhill or at the same speed on a aspalt surface I do not think a Mtb helmet will help you more or less. Capricorn made comparison between downhill full face lids and other lids.

 

To answer you question ..... Your helmet will protect you when you fall wihin the parameters it was designed. Heck it is a piece of well molded foam that may have very minimal inserts to make it stronger. It has saved countless cyclists befrore you from serious injury. Wear it with confidence and cycle carefully.

 

PS the R200 helmet will most likely do the same but has ZERO bling value

[chris_w_65]

When you fall at 50km/h going downhill or at the same speed on a aspalt surface I do not think a Mtb helmet will help you more or less. Capricorn made comparison between downhill full face lids and other lids.

 

To answer you question ..... Your helmet will protect you when you fall wihin the parameters it was designed. Heck it is a piece of well molded foam that may have very minimal inserts to make it stronger. It has saved countless cyclists befrore you from serious injury. Wear it with confidence and cycle carefully.

 

PS the R200 helmet will most likely do the same but has ZERO bling value

 

I suppose safety is still a feature on an expensive helmet but at the same time weight saving is possible. On motorbike helmets the light (expensive) ones are just as safe or safer than the heavy cheap ones

 

I always wear a helmet

 

PS - when you have an expensive helmet it will protect you much better, you won't let your head hit the ground because you don't want to damage the helmet

Edited March 12, 2011 by chris_w_65

[javadude]

A helmet is not going to help you in every situation. Having said that it doesn't actually hurt wearing it, so it definitely will improve your chances of survival in many scenarios. Thats why I wear one. I couldn't really care if others dont wear their's, thats their issue, not mine.

 

Unlike the car seatbelt / air bag debate where there are instances where these safety devices may hurt or kill you, there is absolutely nothing to lose wearing a helmet(other than helmet hair).

[Christopher Brunsdon]

My (expensive) helmet weighs 172g, I wonder how much it will help? What I mean is, will a heavy R200.00 helmet from Makro protect me more?

 

This is something I constantly look into. That R200 Makro helmet will most likely not give you the same protection as your 172g one, but my Bell which is double the price of the Makro will most likely offer the same protection as yours.

 

There is a big difference in absorption properties between the different cores helmets use. A budget (Makro/Game) store helmet is less likely to use a better core than a branded product. But this is an assumption as I've seen some budget helmets which are rather good.

 

The other thing about helmets in accidents is they reduce the chance, not eliminate, serious brain injuries.

 

More research is available on Motorcycles than bicycles, but in the States where there is a big movement for and against helmets (less than half the states allow you to ride without one nowdays), they find that deaths did not decrease or increases when riders wear or do not wear helmets, its just the number of permanent brain injuries differs.

 

Its not an issue of its better than nothing, its a guaranteed chance of reducing the possibility of brain injuries.

 

Then again 4yrs of my childhood was spent sharing a house with a seriously brain damaged child, and I guess that has influenced my bias towards protecting my noggin.

[Christopher Brunsdon]

A helmet is not going to help you in every situation. Having said that it doesn't actually hurt wearing it, so it definitely will improve your chances of survival in many scenarios. Thats why I wear one. I couldn't really care if others dont wear their's, thats their issue, not mine.

 

Unlike the car seatbelt / air bag debate where there are instances where these safety devices may hurt or kill you, there is absolutely nothing to lose wearing a helmet(other than helmet hair).

 

This was my thought till I was doing some reading up on more expensive helmet designs, actually certain helmet styles are known to increase the chance of having an accident or worsening the situation. Helmets styled on the sweep curled hooked designs are known to catch onto clothing, trees, spokes, etc during accident as the curled tails act as hooks.

 

One of reasons why DH, BMX and kids helmets are rounded/smoothed with minimal vents.

[Capricorn]

I see your point capricorn, but maybe it's to do with your likelyhood to crash and the type of impact between road and DH. To go faster, people compromise.

 

Think of the built between a rally car vs formula 1 car

 

well, the build on a rally car vs an F1 machine is of course different, but the protection built into each very very carefully takes into account the risks most likely in each sport. Just cos they built differently, doesnt mean the one's protection is better than the other. it's all about optimisation of the solution to each probably risk.

 

Now with roadies, i dont see anything really. Everything is optimised for speed, but zero for protection. The only real protection a rider affords him/herself is the use of a lid, and removal of leg/arm hair (hair increases abrasion damage by assisting removal of skin).

[Capricorn]

frankly, as long as the lid ascribes to the requirements for minimum crash energy absorption, the R200 and R2000 lid will should offer the same level of protection. the reason you paying so much is for aerodynamics. Things get really tricky when trying to balance performance off against safety. Ask any engineer. And is costs manner being clever enough to find that balance.

[LazyTrailRider]

@ Capricorn

 

Agree with you about the need for better protection, not just the minimum. Look at the UK magazines and you will see lots of trails riders wearing elbow and knee pads. Here, I seem to be the only one. If you do the jumps and drops in a place like Tokai, the potential for serious injury is there and I see only the full on DH guys taking it seriously with protection. More of the long travel-all-mountain guys should be investing in armour. Don't want to say anything about the XC guys and roadies, too much of a hornets' nest.

 

Quite true. I went down (not even badly) in Tokai around a slow corner last week, and even just that had me nursing a bleeding knee with plasters to prevent things sticking to clothes the whole week. Not great. I think it goes like this between MTB and Road:

 

MTB - High likelihood of crashing - Low likelihood of serious injury.

Road - Lower likelihood of crashing - Very high likelihood of serious injury.

 

I ride with a super-lightweight Specialized XC lid, and sometimes wonder whether I shouldn't look at a more trail-oriented helmet when I'm doing AM-type stuff. Then again, I've never actually had any impact on my helmet, my full-finger gloves (the last time I wore fingerless ones was 15yrs ago) usually take most of the brunt. A helmet is like insurance though, you very seldom need to use it, but when you do, you're *very* glad you have it.