Bicycle Helmets

An interesting article. Thanks for posting the link.

I survived an active childhood without a helmet (other than for football), raced in the era of the leather hairnet and trained thousands of mile with only a cycling cap or a bare noggin.

Better off with a helmet than not, but better not to have an accident.

Agreed! I've cracked up on a bike more times than I can count. In all those accidents, with cars, in races, high speed stack-ups and low speed falls, I only managed to crack one helmet, a Giro top-of-the-line.

I drilled a mutt almost two of years ago and I can still remember the sound the helmet made as is slapped the pavement. It did its job and cracked the Styrofoam/EPS all the way through to the inside of the helmet in two spots. No head injury and the blow was just above the temple.

Quoted post said:

Originally Posted by CAMPYBOB
Agreed! I've cracked up on a bike more times than I can count. In all those accidents, with cars, in races, high speed stack-ups and low speed falls, I only managed to crack one helmet, a Giro top-of-the-line.

I drilled a mutt a almost two of years ago and I can still remember the sound the helmet made as is slapped the pavement. It did its job and cracked the Styrofoam/EPS all the way through to the inside of the helmet in two spots. No head injury and the blow was just above the temple.

I want to say you were lucky, but how can I say that when you say " I've cracked up on a bike more times than I can count?"

Heh...I've been both unlucky AND lucky. Racing crashes are to be expected. Getting tagged by a car is to be expected...multiple times if you log as many miles over as many years as I've been on the mean streets.

Overall, I have been blessed. I can still count to ten, West Virginia style, am still seeing sharply out of both eyes and still walking upright. And despite protestations from Mr. Huskey, hot chicks dig scars.

I'm not sold on the idea that all CPSC certified helmets offer the same protection. I've had two bad falls where my head bore the brunt of the impact. In one, a $40 Bell Solar cracked like an egg, and I had a mild concussion. In the second, I had a Lazer Genesis, and I had to examine it carefully to see the damage (of course, I would never trust it to protect my head ever again). No concussion, no headache, not even stunned.

I do think that you get what you pay for, with helmets. Beyond style and ventilation. I think the key word on the certification label is the one capitalized in my quote: "Meets or EXCEEDS the following certifications:"

Quote:

Quoted post said:

Originally Posted by mpre53
In one, a $40 Bell Solar cracked like an egg, and I had a mild concussion. In the second, I had a Lazer Genesis, and I had to examine it carefully to see the damage (of course, I would never trust it to protect my head ever again).

That's not necessarily bad. It seems like the helmet absorbed most of the impact and converted it into breaking the helmet foam. That's what they are supposed to do anyway. For the Lazer one it might have been a different kind of crash and it didn't break.

I remember reading this article about Mercedes Benz, they were starting to design their cars to absorb impacts by having the various parts deformed and they were accusing them that they were doing that for selling parts, whilst they were doing it to provide additional safety in the event of an accident.

mpre53 said:

I'm not sold on the idea that all CPSC certified helmets offer the same protection. I've had two bad falls where my head bore the brunt of the impact. In one, a $40 Bell Solar cracked like an egg, and I had a mild concussion. In the second, I had a Lazer Genesis, and I had to examine it carefully to see the damage (of course, I would never trust it to protect my head ever again). No concussion, no headache, not even stunned.
I do think that you get what you pay for, with helmets. Beyond style and ventilation. I think the key word on the certification label is the one capitalized in my quote: "Meets or EXCEEDS the following certifications:"

Cpsc certification is for preventing a fatal injury they do not even look at concussions etc. take a look into MIPS as that is focused on preventing the rotational forces that cause brain injuries. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I think the SNELL certification for Specialized helmets is 90 B.

Specialized advertises their top-of-the-line S-Works "Prevail" helmet ($250 MSRP) to meet the following standards:

"Complies with one or more of the following safety standards for bicycle helmets: CPSC, SNELL B90A, CE and AS/NZS"

They advertise the $65 "Echelon II" model to meet the same standards.

I'm not convince any of the new 200-400 gram wonders protect a skull as well as the old Bell Biker. BTW, a new $190 MSRP 240 gram Bell "Gage" is certified to:

"Certification:

• CE EN1078
  
• CPSC Bicycle"
  

God bless all of us for going out among 2-60 ton vehicles travelling 60+ MPH while wearing underwear and 250 grams of Styrofoam.

Quoted post said:

Originally Posted by CAMPYBOB
God bless all of us for going out among 2-60 ton vehicles travelling 60+ MPH while wearing underwear and 250 grams of Styrofoam.

[IMG]files.cyclingforums.combig smile.pngOpen ↗[/IMG]

MCR! Good call!

Quoted post said:

Originally Posted by CAMPYBOB God bless all of us for going out among 2-60 ton vehicles travelling 60+ MPH while wearing underwear and 250 grams of Styrofoam.

When you look at it like that, the old helmet is a complete waste of time.

*longs for the old days when helmets were not a legal requirement*

Quoted post said:

Originally Posted by ambal
*longs for the old days when helmets were not a legal requirement*

They never were here... (for bicycles)

We can ride without helmets legally, but I guess I've become brainwashed or something. I wouldn't ride in a pack without one now. I think I switched from a hairnet to a Brancale (my first hardshell, but still pre-Styrofoam/EPS helmet) about 1985.

Helmets may be false security or little protection, but I'll keep wearing them voluntarily. I'll ride my motorcycles without a helmet and feel perfectly 'safe', but I wouldn't even go on a cleat dial-in ride without a helmet. Weird, huh?

Brand new to the forum and to cycling and am thankful for the information in this thread. I have only been riding for two weeks and dont have a helmet yet but now will be getting one asap.

Quoted post said:

Originally Posted by CAMPYBOB
We can ride without helmets legally, but I guess I've become brainwashed or something. I wouldn't ride in a pack without one now. I think I switched from a hairnet to a Brancale (my first hardshell, but still pre-Styrofoam/EPS helmet) about 1985.

Helmets may be false security or little protection, but I'll keep wearing them voluntarily. I'll ride my motorcycles without a helmet and feel perfectly 'safe', but I wouldn't even go on a cleat dial-in ride without a helmet. Weird, huh?

Everytime I go for a ride without a helmet I tend to get very anxious for some reason... [IMG]files.cyclingforums.combig smile.pngOpen ↗[/IMG] Not to mention that I am thinking of buying a new one allthough the one I have didnt expire yet just because I saw one with cerfified with the Snell 90 bungholio marks standards. [IMG]files.cyclingforums.combig smile.pngOpen ↗[/IMG]

One thing helmets do though, just like kitschy jerseys and tights, is reducing the ammount of car honking on the road... [IMG]files.cyclingforums.combig smile.pngOpen ↗[/IMG]

I knew a guy years ago, successful architect, rolled his truck down the side of a mountain in Colorado, closed head injury. Now he is capable of working as a part time bagger at a grocery store. I'm not riding without a helmet.