Finally Bought a Bicycle Helmet

Judas Priest

Super Member
I remember when they started becomung popular, over 20 years ago, and laughing at the "idiots" that wore them.

Well, I´m older and wiser now. I ride my bicycle very often for errands around town. I don´t care how it looks. I want my head protected in case of an accident.

I also wear a reflective vest when riding my motorcycle.

Do you wear one?
 
I've heard the helmets called "dick heads".
I use them on the pedal bike and on the 800 lb monster cruiser. No reflective vest tho.
 
Must wear helmet, I once went over the bars by a sudden stop from my front wheel getting stuck in a groove in the road. Wasn't going very fast but the impact on my head in the helmet hitting the ground took a chip out of the helmet. The helmet may have save my life or at least from getting a concussion. I got up, straightened the handle bars and rode home
 
Yes, they are a good idea and only a crazy man plays with fire like the moth to a flame. But there are lots of crazy A-type personalities that don't ! I remember riding down Bay Shore Hiway 101 past Moffet Feild doing well over eighty on a Harley in the early seventies, a feeling I'll never forget, a feeling of the evenings heat and the breeze coming off the bay. Yah and I also raced street rods without a seat belt. But people that jump out of a perfectly good plane do things like that. But, I am being counter productive in a conformist society. Being safe from harm is the best policy and I wouldn't want anyone to get hurt or killed. But damn, what a blast ripping down the California coast hiway 1 on a mid-seventies Norton ignoring the traffic and just blazing through with only a t-shirt on that says on the back..Disco Sucks ! I'd have to cut through Pasa Robles to loose the cops, had a CHP BMW bike on my tail once. Being an obsessive is a tough job.....
 
I don't go fast on my bike (understatement) and try to stay on side streets but have been thinking lately, I need to go ahead and get a helmet. Any recommendations for some good brands? I'm in Texas heat - are there any that are "cooler"?
 
Around here to see someone riding a ped bike without a helmet would seem really out of place. I've been wearing a helmet since at least the mid-late 80s. (though not much riding lately). I'm sure it's saved my noggin a time or two over that span.
 
I don't go fast on my bike (understatement) and try to stay on side streets but have been thinking lately, I need to go ahead and get a helmet. Any recommendations for some good brands? I'm in Texas heat - are there any that are "cooler"?
Drop into your local bike shop. There are lightweight well ventilated options. Just make sure the helmet meets one of the standards of your choice listed here. http://www.helmets.org/stansumm.htm
 
hit a soft spot I suppose but the topic is about cycling helmets not assholes in cars.

Cycling helmets: The futility and stupidity of riding in traffic at 20 mph under the limit and thinking your Hello Kitty helmet is gonna save ya.
 
+1 on breaking a couple.

One saved me from a severe concussion or worse. Ended up with just a broken collar bone (and yes, I did land correctly to prevent a broken collar bone, but when it is on pavement....).
 
Do want you want. I kind of like it when natural selection kicks in and the herd is culled. :^)
Great post Judas!
Natural selection has a way of culling the stupid first. That being said bicycle helmets came out when I was in my 30's and my first thought was they were for idiots. I've had a couple wipe outs on my racer but never hit my head so I told myself I didn't need one. Then I thought about all the little kids that see me when I'm barreling down the road at full tilt and thought, "Shit, what if I fall and crack my head wide oped one day right in front of a kid?" Not to mention what an idiot you'd look like with a head injury that could have been avoided by a helmet.

Bought a helmet the next day and even though I'm wearing it to set a good example I admit I like the feeling of comfort and confidence it adds to the ride - I'm even more aggressive with it than without. I'm 54 and ride 30 km 3 times a week. I ride a 1975 Raleigh Supercourse with a Reynolds 531 cro-moly double-butted frame and 700c rims with race tires @ 120 psi. Google those specs you'll appreciate how fast I'm going - 30km to 60km on average.

If your head weighs 11lbs. and you're moving at 60km and hit your head well weight x speed =impact force so you hit with 660 pounds of force, That's a third of a ton straight to the melon.
Would you rest 660 lbs. on your head? I think not so why ride with no helmet - you're asking for it. Natural selection? It's just as easy to play it safe and be smart as it is to be stupid and reckless. Even if you don't like the helmet, wear it for the kids - don't be a dick.
 
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