Cycling has been suffering a crisis every since the use of a helmet became compulsory. This crisis is rooted in the simple fact that cycling peaked aesthetically with the cycling cap perched casually deliberate atop a sweaty cranium. It was only after mandatory helmet dictum spread its tentacles into all UCI-sanctioned races in 2003 that helmet manufacturers began taking helmet design seriously.
To be clear, I am a helmet advocate. I never leave home without mine, and no Cyclist shall ever be allowed to start a Cogal without perching one on their noggin. But I do this in the knowledge that I look less Fantastic that if I were rolling out in a classic cotton Cycling Cap.
Specialized was the first to make inroads into building a stylish helmet with the Sub-Six. The fact that every other helmet was a hollowed-out bowling ball didn’t matter very much because no one wore them outside Belgium, and even there, they were permitted to wear the second-coolest piece of headgear, the Hairnet. Giro made some inroads with their Air Attack series, but progress was generally at a standstill until the hardshell became mandatory after the tragic death of Andrey Kivilev in Paris-Nice in 2003.
The issue of the helmet has also been compounded by the fact that most continental Pros had no clue how to wear a helmet, given that they spent most of their lives not wearing one. When asked to, they often suffered from Toad Head and other anomalies commonly encountered when violating the Three-Point System.
Helmets are a necessary evil which are improving in style, but they are all uglier than the hallowed Cycling Cap. When wearing a helmet, keep the following points in mind.
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View Comments
@Ron
No shit. Here's another one that makes me smile that I found while trying to find an image of the back of that helmet. Lando Dierckxsens???
Training ride at speed? Yes. Recovery ride in the county. No.
Cycling at 17 mph is not a dangerous activity, a fact proven every day outside the U S of A by millions.
YMMV
PS The weenier shot is smokin hot and I'm all warm and tingly inside now.
@FuriousFred
I'm totally on board with the idea that cycling is not a dangerous activity but you should check the Design Standard of your helmet if you want to make an informed decision.
Of the two situations you described it's designed to protect you in one of them (maybe, depending on the Standard) and it isn't the one you are using it for.
@FuriousFred
Uh, take a look at my post above, with the pic of my broken helmet and the X-ray of the plate holding my clavicle together. I was going approximately 17 MPH when I went down. Hell, you could fail to unclip at a stoplight at 0 MPH--your skull is always going to give before asphalt and concrete.
Never said you couldn't get injured going 17 mph or 0 mph. At 56 I know a think or two about getting hurt including a TBI with an 8 year recovery. Million of cyclists around the world ride their entire lives and never hit their heads. Some do. I know the 'risks' [extremely limited] and have made my choices.
If people are really worried about my safety they'd come get the potato chips out of our pantry.
@FuriousFred
In the unlikely event you are hit by a car, even when standing still you'll get flipped on its bonnet (hood) and your head will make contact with the windshield. You're not going to walk away from a trauma like that but you might recover from it if your head has some protection.
Could, might, maybe..........
Life is risky, look at it objectively and make your choices. I have.
Others won't always make the same choices as "you". Learn to live [ha!] with that fact.
@FuriousFred
Of course we could be hit by an asteroid this afternoon and then how silly will we all look?
@the Engine
That's why I stay in my bug out shelter and never go outside.
@the Engine
Not necessarily will you get flipped onto the bonnet (hood). In my case I was hit directly from behind by a car and as far as can be worked out I cleared the car completely and landed in the road behind it. All things being considered I was extremely lucky as I landed on my shoulder blade and head. My rucksack took a lot of the impact (I was on the way home from work and so had work clothes etc in a rucksack) which saved my shoulder/back and my helmet was split in two. No doubt I would most likely have bee daisy fodder without a helmet. As it was I "just" had a heck of a headache for a few days, neck injuries (trouble supporting my head for a few days) and road rash from above my waist to my knee on my back and side from the post first bounce impacts. Oh and the bike was trashed.