Helmet for Casual, Everyday Riding: Yes or No?

[NeaL]

Do most everyone wear a helmet at all times when riding, or is that just something most riders do because it's required by race rules or local laws in their urban areas?

When I was a kid, I never saw anyone wearing helmets while riding bicycles, unless they were in an organized, official-like bike race. I'm something of a throwback to when seatbelts were optional and the backs of station wagons doubled as playroom gymnasiums. Paint just doesn't taste the same since they stopped making it with lead. People still smoke cigarettes so maybe asbestos has gotten a bad rap? I feel like bike helmets look too ridiculous for just riding around.

My local, somewhat rural, community area isn't really bike-friendly with commuter bike trails anywhere. There's one street with a bike lane painted on the asphalt but they didn't widen the road any when they did that, just crowded the car traffic. Most drivers seem to ignore it. I think the bike lane simply serves the purpose of giving bicyclists a designated area to be hit by cars, maybe some legal leverage if litigation is involved.
I see a few locals grinding around town on bikes on the sidewalks but they usually look like the sorts of people who maybe can't even afford a car. They never have helmets.

I'm still in the middle of learning how to ride a Cruzbike, what looks like one of the earliest models of Sofrider, and equipping it and myself for daily work commutes of about 7 miles each way.

I had my sights focused on a Lumos illuminated helmet for additional visibility during those months of the year when my work commute will be in the darkness, to supplement the 1200LM, 600LM headlights and a few tail lights I've acquired.
Yes, I plan on riding in the winter. I currently ride a motorcycle all year 'round. Bicycle riding will get my body temperature warmed up more than a hot engine between my ankles and there will be a lot less wind chill than at motorcycle speeds.

However, I've seen some posts here extoling the virtues of the Giro Air Attack Shield helmet. As much as I like the Lumos, I'm sorta inclined towards the philosophy of letting a helmet... just be a helmet.

Sorry for the rambling. What's the general consensus around here? Leave the '70s back in the '70s, or have we gotten too soft and safety-minded?

 

[Rampa]

Yes!

The inexpensive helmets at Walmart/Target are just as safe as the expensive ones. Just a touch less fancy.

 

[DavidCH]

Why not look like Robocop when you wizz past all those roadies?

I haven't found a better helmet that deflects all the wasps and hornets.

Fancy getting one of those in your helmet at 60kph?

It does save the watts too.

 

[1happyreader]

Do most everyone wear a helmet at any time when riding, or is that just something most riders do because it's required by race rules or local laws in their urban areas?

Only Florida bicycle helmet laws are for minors.
I wear my helmet,,,, it's where I hang my sun visor.
while you won't go over your cruzbike's handlebars,,, if you smack your head ONCE on the pavement,, the helmet is paid for.
I believe Florida motorcyclists are required to have 10K medical insurance to ride helmet free.

 

[NeaL]

The inexpensive helmets at Walmart/Target are just as safe as the expensive ones. Just a touch less fancy.

That's sorta the quandary I'm in. I'd like a new S-40 for commuting but could only afford a used Sofrider off of Craigslist. I want to get top-of-the-line quality gear like helmets and lights as I can afford them, but buying the expensive stuff now makes it harder to save up for that S-40 in the long run. If I skip getting a helmet altogether, that saves me from the temptation of getting the best helmet available.

Offhand question: Is the S-40 still considered a "Silvio?" I know it's very different but then, so is the 2017 Corvette when compared the 1955 Corvette.

I haven't found a better helmet that deflects all the wasps and hornets.
Fancy getting one of those in your helmet at 60kph?

So... The Giro helmet for the warmer months when those stinging insects are out, and the Lumos for when the bugs are gone and the sunlight, too? I think I'm picking up on what you're laying down.

While you won't go over your Cruzbike's handlebars,,,

Has that been confirmed? I've already experienced the floaty rear wheel sensation while braking and briefly felt like I was on a unicycle with a rear training wheel. If no one has actually flipped forwards on a Sofrider that way, I'll relax a bit. I've been thinking that I'll need a rear brake that grips faster, harder, and better than the front one to compensate for that problem.

Another offhand question: Does anyone know where the name of Sofrider came from? It seems like a lot of people mistakenly slip a "t," Softrider, into the spelling of it. Spelling it with an "a" would be just as validly mistaken, Sofarider, but I haven't seen anyone do that yet.

 

[1happyreader]

If no one has actually flipped forwards on a Sofrider that way, I'll relax a bit.

Don't know about never,,,, but my feet are off the pedals and reaching for the ground loooong before it's an issue.

 

[BrianA]

IMHO you'd be a fool not to wear a helmet. Just because there is very little likelihood of going over the bars on a Cruzbike does not make it safer if you should have a fall. Things go wrong very quickly on any bike. I had two falls on a Quest - both caused by the front wheel suddenly breaking away on a slippery surface on a bend. In both cases I was not going very fast at the time but still ended up flat on my back and smacking my head into the pavement (enough force to damage the helmet). I now ride the much faster S30 and wouldn't dream of getting on it without a helmet.

 

[super slim]

I agree that Helmets saves lives as I have fallen off a MTB twice, at slow speed and hit a rock, creating a big hole in the side of the helmet, but not by head!!!

Two new $50 helmets is cheaper than a funeral!!

 

[3WHELZ]

I have a few friends that are alive and fully functional due to their "brain buckets" after terrible accidents, and sadly I have lost a couple that have decided not to do so. It is a matter of chance and choice.

I always wear one on two or three wheels whether pedaling or motorized.

 

[Doug Kline]

My brother-in-law fell off a rented beach cruiser two years ago. Broken ribs were the painfully obvious injury which apparently masked his other injuries. He died later that night from untreated head trauma. Freak accident, sure, but unfortunately it does happen.

 

[castlerobber]

Does anyone know where the name of Sofrider came from? It seems like a lot of people mistakenly slip a "t," Softrider, into the spelling of it.

They probably would have liked it to be Softrider, to go along with the Freerider; but there was already a brand of bike called Softride.

 

[Suz]

I feel the same way Neil as I begrudgingly put my helmet on. I don't like them, but with all the distracted drivers these days it's not worth the risk. So I wear mine on every ride.

My brother-in-law fell off a rented beach cruiser two years ago. Broken ribs were the painfully obvious injury which apparently masked his other injuries. He died later that night from untreated head trauma. Freak accident, sure, but unfortunately it does happen.

Wow Doug, that's horrible. So sorry to hear that. What a shock.

 

[bladderhead]

I bought one for the BHPC race that I did. Never wore one before or since. Starting to be persuaded by terrible stories. Sorry to hear about Doug. As Suz says, what a shock.

As for going over the bars, I think the closest any of us have come is an involuntary stoppie. You end up standing, with the wheel between your legs and the pedals in front of your knees. I did this once.

The blue fiddle is cool.

 

[McWheels]

The better connected we are, the more we find out, but the odds remain pretty much the same. There's a reason health insurance companies ask if you cycle more than 50 miles a week, but don't ask about helmets. If you do cycle, your premiums go down quite a bit, since cycling will make you fitter and healthier far, far more times in a population than it will make you injured. I generally manage without one, but will when it's both dark and wet. In truth that's my emotional irrationalism showing through but it keeps the chimp in my head from being difficult.

Been tipped out the V2k on a couple of occasions, bit of hip and elbow rash but that's it even while I held the handlebars and the bike (gracefully) arced over the top of me.

 

[tiltmaniac]

In Europe, most people on bicycles do NOT seem to wear helmets (at least true in Paris, Munich, Zurich, Amsterdam, and Berlin).

In the US, most people on bicycles seem to wear helmets.
Some folks cycling around their neighborhood (typically single folks) don't, but almost everyone I've seen cycling with someone else does wear one.

 

[bladderhead]

it keeps the chimp in my head from being difficult

So a helmet keeps the chimp from escaping? I think my chimp buggered off ages ago.

 

[NeaL]

I came across a few really interesting TED talks on the subject of bicycles.

This one makes a claim that anywhere an aggressive ad campaign promoting bicycle helmets took place, bicycle riding and sales declined.

 

[Doug Burton]

If I don't wear a helmet, my wife will beat me about the head and shoulders. At that point, I would be well served by a helmet. So just as well to wear a helmet anyway...

 

[billyk]

I've been thinking that I'll need a rear brake that grips faster, harder, and better than the front one

No can do. Physics. The braking power is directly related to the wheel's friction against the ground, and that is reduced on the rear wheel as you brake and the weight is thrown forward. It has nothing to do with the quality of the brake.

All this is heightened going downhill, of course.

I think the rule of thumb is 60% of the effective braking power comes from the front, 40% from the rear. Related to this is that the center of mass of bike+rider must be behind a line drawn up and back from the front wheel contact point at 60°. That's the rule for bicycle design in the EU.

You just need to learn to use each brake appropriately: rear for gradual slowdowns, both for power stops. It is definitely worth it to train your muscle memory to do this. The brakes are NOT equivalent. Also practice when to release pressure in a stoppie.

 

[jond]

Helmets are mandatory in Australia ......nanny state.....maybe

As a kid in the seventies no helmets

Now the culture mate has changed. She'll be right mate long as you have a helmet on

I reckon my helmet is necessary. Saved my life I reckon.

It to me makes sense and the Aussie stats back that up by hook or by crook fellow mamils malils

Today I could not ride without one even on a velodrome without feeling naked.

I'm bald.

So get yourself a modest helmet.

The difference between a $30 lid and a $300 lid is a dash of worth and a lot of marketing. I love paying $100 a gram