Can somebody explain bicycle helmets to me?

[Jamie Buxton]

I come from the motorsports world, where helmets are taken very seriously. They cover the entire head, including the face. Between the shape and the substantial strap, they're nearly impossible to knock off your head. In contrast, bike helmets leave uncovered the sides of the head, the face, and the back. They seem to offer protection only to the top of the head. And they're perched on the top of the head, strapped on by teeny little straps, so they're easy to knock off. All in all, they seem to be of little use.

[glenn bradley]

Light use helmets are indeed sophisticated bump-caps. I'm no zealot but, having one on versus not can be the difference between a tumble and a trip to the ER. Anyone riding at speeds or under conditions (mountain biking) more extreme than toodling around the neighborhood would be prudent in wearing proper safety equipment.

[Jamie Buxton]

Light use helmets are indeed sophisticated bump-caps.

I'm in favor of protecting my noggin too. But how can a standard bike helmet protect your face, or the side of your head?

[Mike Henderson]

I used to do a lot of bike riding. When you go fast on a bike, you will go down. I had one accident that broke the helmet but I was able to continue on (after straightening the wheel). The bicycle helmet is a tradeoff between weight and protection. It seems to do the job, but probably does not give as full of protection as a motorcycle helmet. Of course, you generally don't go as fast on a bicycle - except downhills, where a number of bicycle racers have lost their lives.

Mike

[Brian Kent]

As a teenager my son did a face-plant off his bike, onto the concrete. He has mild scars on his chin when the gravel dug in. The front of his helmet was worn down about an inch. He was sold forever on wearing a bike helmet, as he tried to imagine what his face would look like without the helmet.

[Brian Elfert]

Bicycle helmets aren't designed to prevent face injuries. They are designed to prevent serious head or brain injury.

The problem is weight. Bicycle helmets used to have a ridgid plastic shell with foam inserts inside sorta like a motorcycle helmet. The weight was so much that nobody would wear one. I bought one and wore it a few times before I quit wearing it. New bicycle helmets came out that are molded styrofoam with a simple sprayed on plastic coating or a thin layer of plastic to protect the foam. I wouldn't ride a bike without one now.

[Dan Friedrichs]

I've always wondered about this. If you look at the Wikipedia article about bike helmets, there are some interesting arguments against using them. Specifically, it's argued that wearing a helmet increases the "height" of your head, which if you were to land in a certain way, acts as a lever arm on your neck. The additional height added by the helmet increases the travel distance. I wonder how the number of spinal cord injuries compares to the number of people who fracture-their-skull-to-death (that is really the only protection that a helmet is supposed to confer, right?)

[Chris Kennedy]

When I was a kid, we had more substantial helmets than the ones you see know -- rigid outer shell, came down over your ears and a much stronger strap. They were heavy, hot, and generally uncomfortable. Not certain I mis it. But they did use to make them much more akin to a motorcycle helmet. I think it was a Pro-Ride or something like that.

Cheers,

Chris

[John Coloccia]

Bicyclists, even club riders, typically ride at 17MPH or thereabouts...maybe 20MPH. Most casual riders go about 10MPH. There's no reason in the world to build a bike helmet the same as one designed to absorb a 65MPH+ fall. Most people bike in about the same range of speeds that we typically run at. What kind of helmet would be appropriate for running?

It's more important for bicyclists because our manner of falling makes it very easy to bump our heads very badly....imagine falling head first onto a sharp rock....ouch. That just doesn't much happen running where we naturally seem to be able to fall in reasonable ways. I don't worry about my face biking, though, any more than I would walking or running.

Anyhow, bike helmets are not constructed anything like motorcycle helmets, baseball helmets, paintball helmets or fighter pilot helmets because they are designed for a completely different set of circumstances (as are all helmets). The only thing they superficially share in common is a general goal of protecting your noggin.

[Charlie Reals]

When I was a kid, we had more substantial helmets than the ones you see know -- rigid outer shell, came down over your ears and a much stronger strap. They were heavy, hot, and generally uncomfortable. Not certain I mis it. But they did use to make them much more akin to a motorcycle helmet. I think it was a Pro-Ride or something like that.

Cheers,

Chris

When I was a kid onlly football players wore helmets lol

[Jim Koepke]

I feel it was a bicycle helmet that saved my life.

I was riding and hit by a truck. I was still in pretty bad shape.

At the time this happened to me, 1972, the bike helmets were leather straps filled with foam. It was better than nothing.

The problem with most helmets for cyclists is the heat builds up real fast.

Most but not all of the injuries that still cause me pain after 30 - 50 years were inflicted while bicycle riding.

jtk

[Chris Kennedy]

When I was a kid onlly football players wore helmets lol

You didn't have my parents . . . my mother thought we were made of glass.

[Seth Dolcourt]

A bike helmet fits by covering the forehead, nearly down to the eye brows, because the best likelihood in a crash is over-the-bars, where you will have an uncontrollable desire to head-butt the ground. Having a front wheel wash out and hitting the ground with the side of your head is in play, too. If it needs to be said, never re-use a crashed helmet.

The lightweight bike helmets are more than better than not wearing a helmet at all. A good 25+ years have gone into the development of the beer cooler helmet, they are engineered safety devices. I politely disagree with any suggestion to refrain from wearing one.

I recently bought a $40 Specialized helmet, it is the most comfortable helmet I've worn up to this point. Front vents let air flow to the forehead, a nice adjusting system gets the fit just right, and I've not heard one whit of the train-whistle effect of wind through the main vents as I speed down a hill.

As in woodworking, the greatest safety device is knowing the limits of yourself and your equipment; the helmet is a tactile reminder that there are circumstances beyond your control.

Happy riding! It's a fun thing to do.

[John Pratt]

To a layman, at first glance it would seem that the riving knife on your tablesaw has little value, but as woodworkers we know better. I raced bicycles for years and a helmet is a must for safety. It is not a matter of IF you crash, but WHEN you crash. Helmets are now mandated for pro-level cyclists which has really pushed for better design and weight reduction. Newer helmets can actually keep your head cooler (because of the distribution of air vents) than not wearing a helmet. As previously stated, most crashes happen at slower speeds than those on a motorized bike. That's why there are different safety standards. Most head-to-ground contact while cycling is glancing although direct contact sometimes happens. It is these glancing blows that the helmet most protects you. Without a helmet these blows could be very severe or even fatal. The number one injury in cycling is a broken collarbone not head injury. Helmet technology and the way that most people "exit" the bike when falling or crashing play a large factor in this. There are times when a more robust helmet is called for such as during extreme off road cycling (like the Redbull challenges). At those times, cyclists do wear motorcycle style helmets.

[Brian Kent]

John, I am watching for the collarbone helmet.