First ever bicycle helmet
Writing about web page http://www.mukshop.com/mango/allround.php
In the past I cycled a lot. I stopped very suddenly after witnessing the mess made when a lorry turned left through a cycle lane in Oxford. But now that I am about to move to Kenilworth I'm going to start again.
Having recently had an excellent ACU gold rated motorcycle helmet completely destroyed by being hit by debris on a Spanish motorway, and still recovering from the fractured skull, I thought that it might be wise to start using a cycle helmet. So I went into the local cycle shop and tried on the only make that they sell, Mango.
I was immediately impressed. It weighs almost nothing, and has good ventilation. Better still, it has an adjustment mechanism at the back that ensures that it fits correctly. I'm surprised by how good and comfortable it is, and can see no reason to ride without it.
The label inside is quite amusing. It has a crossed out image of a motorcycle, along with the statement 'not for use on motorcycles'. I'd better stick to my BMW Sport Integral for that then – not quite as light or comfortable, but a little more useful in a 100mph spill.
Robert O'Toole
19 Jun 2004 06:47
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[Skip to the latest comment]Chris May
I had a similar experience. When I started mountain biking the only helmets I had worn previously were for climbing – and this was in the days when a climbing helmet was made of 3mm thick fibreglass (mine had a leather liner on the strap, for god's sake), and weighed about a pound and a half.
Putting a bike helmet on I initially thought "this is amazing', followed quickly by "it's too light to possibly work".
In the intervening years I've had a couple of opportunities to test that they do indeed work pretty well. I have the dents to prove it in one helmet (now retired!).
About the only time that they're annoying is on a really hot day, as no amount of ventilation can keep you as cool as if you weren't wearing a helmet at all. But a sweaty head is a small price to pay for keeping your brains on the inside!
"Every time I see an adult on a bicycle
I no longer despair for the human race.": H.G. Wells
20 Jun 2004, 09:28
Robert O'Toole
That's a good qoute. Thanks.
I forgot to mention one other thing that concerns me. Motorcycle helmets have to be discarded after even a minor impact, such as dropping it onto the floor. Is that the case with bicycle helmets?
20 Jun 2004, 09:55
Chris May
Not as bad, no. Because the shell on a bike helmet is flexible and doesn't actually absorb much force itself, it isn't damaged by small impacts – you only have to discard it when it sustains a serious smacking (enough to deform the padding, or serioiusly scratch/ cut the shell).
They do degrade over time with UV exposure though – Broadribs in leamington recommended replacing it every 2–3 years. If you use it every day then the straps and padding will probably wear out before then anyway,
20 Jun 2004, 10:40
Steven Carpenter
A Mango on your head? Sounds cool. I've fallen off enough times to realise the worth of having that bit of polystyrene stuck on your head.
21 Jun 2004, 14:14
Steve Rumsby
There is a school of thought that says that wearing a helmet can actually be more dangerous than not wearing one, in some circumstances. All of the various standards that helmets are meant to conform to specify protection for impacts up to 12mph. Beyond that there are no guarantees. I'd be a bit disappointed if I never got above 12mph! On top of that, wearing a helmet makes your head bigger, so you are more likely to hit things with it, and are more likely to suffer from torsion injuries caused by twisting of the head, because there's more leverage.
Having said all that, I do wear a helmet while cycling. I guess I find it hard to believe the argument that wearing one can be actively bad. But I thought it worth pointing out anyway…
Then again, on the two occasions I've fallen off, my head didn't even come close to hitting anything so the helmet would have made no difference either way. Any they were slow speed incidents (losing the back wheel on ice, both times) and so within the design parameters of my helmet, too.
21 Jun 2004, 17:06
Robert O'Toole
:( my head hurts! 6 months after my accident and I still have headaches and double vision. As i was wearing a helmet suitable even for GP racing, the actual impact was light, but even so the small fracture was enough to damage a nerve in my eye.
So now i will wear a helmet even if i never get over 12mph.
The recent Warwick research on children with head injuries is also very worrying.
21 Jun 2004, 17:16
Steve Carpenter
I think the legislation on child helmets being compulsory has been delayed yet again – but I think bells are now compulsory fitment.
21 Jun 2004, 19:41
I wonder if people who jog fast should wear helmets.
22 Jun 2004, 09:46
Robert O'Toole
Yes, although I never jog so it doesn't affect me. I suspect that head mounted air bags should also be introduced.
22 Jun 2004, 09:59
Chris May
Bells are now compulsary fitments on a new bike (not compulsary to keep though), although most places will wheel the bike out of the shop and then remove it for you.
At the MRR I saw someone on a brand new Whyte 46 (£2,800 uber-bike) who was very proudly 'ting'
ing his bell, which had a 'my little pony' sticker on it :)22 Jun 2004, 10:44
Chris May
AAARRGGHH. Bloody markup language.
22 Jun 2004, 10:45
Re: Lorrys etc turning through cycle lanes.
As a cyclist myself this drives me absolutely insane. I was knocked off my bike about a year ago when a car driver decided the best way into Tescos was to actually drive through me as I was cycling past. I still twitch and look behind me as I go past the entrance even now.
Same thing happened on campus a couple of weeks ago – the cyclist in front of me was nearly turned into goo when a car decided to drive into him to go into Library Road.
22 Jun 2004, 12:41
Steven Carpenter
The Library 'bike contra-flow' is an odd one. I often get drivers gesticulating that I am cycling the wrong way, plus it makes turning right interesting.
22 Jun 2004, 15:24
johneffay
I was hit head-on by a car doing 50mph, and headbutted the metal down the side of the windscreen hard enough to leave a head shaped dent in it. Every doctor I have seen (and I've seen a lot of doctors) has said I would have died if I hadn't been wearing my cycle helmet, which broke into three pieces on impact. Do I think they're worth wearing? Ermm, yeah. I've still got the helmet in question and wave it at people (mostly children) who question their value.
22 Jun 2004, 19:54
Steven Carpenter
I know a cyclist who sustained a serious head-injury after being hit by a car in Kenilworth. He wasn't wearing a helmet, but still insists on not wearing one – I can't understand this at all.
22 Jun 2004, 20:27
Robert O'Toole
john, that must have been nasty. Do you have a particularly hard head? Good to hear your OK now. I started riding with both eyes open yesterday, after 6 months.
22 Jun 2004, 20:38
johneffay
The thing I really can't understand is the number of parents you see with children wearing cycle helmets (whether on seperate bikes or in child seats), who don't wear helmets themselves.
22 Jun 2004, 20:40
johneffay
Hi Robert
My head's not that hard, I was just lucky; if you can call 11 years of pain and over a dozen operations lucky. Still, I'm not complaining (honestly!) at least I can walk. I do have a serious issue with people not wearing cycle helmets though.
22 Jun 2004, 20:48
As I said to a work colleague of mine who was commenting on the lack of street-cred of my hi-vis jacket and helmet: "It's only got to save my arse once to make it worthwhile…"
It is quite frightening though, how many cyclists are injured. And drivers always come up with some shit about us being in the way. F*ck that. When I'm driving, I may get frustrated stuck behind a guy on a bike, but I give them the same space that I'd expect when I'm cycling.
Sorry. Rant finished.
22 Jun 2004, 22:52
Robert O'Toole
I always use a hi-vis jacket when on my motorbike, so will do the same on my bicycle. Chris has a very good bright top by Altura.
The other thing that cyclists should think about is noise. On motorcycle training you are taught to give a blast of the horn to any motorist who might pull out into your path and who doesn't seem to have noticed you. I do that all the time. On a bicycle it is less practical, but maybe some kind of airhorn?
25 Jun 2004, 18:50
That's a very good idea. A few minutes on google suggests that people rate the air zound 2 very highly.
I'm going to need one of these things to make space for it, though.
26 Jun 2004, 09:33
Reza
I have worn many different type of helmets about 6 years riding on motorcycles and 4 years on bicycles , but I never had a serious accident . But one helmet was so different and saved my life. My country was at war (against Sadam’s troops) and I was a 15-year-old boy, volunteer to be a solder to defend my people, they trained us for 2 weeks! And sent us to the first front and we were supposed to attack the enemy at midnight to push them back to their borderline!
We were about 900 people started about 9:00 pm and about 1:00 am I realised I had lost my way and there was only myself in the middle of the enemy and they think I am one of them! And one of their commanders was speaking Arabic to me: do this, does that (I guess); it took just 1 second to decide what to do? Shall I shoot them? Shall I surrender? Shall I run away? And I chose the last one, ran away toward our troops.
While I was expecting to got shot from behind! But nobody did shoot me. Because the day before I couldn’t find a helmet, I found an Iraqi one (so different shape) and had it on my head and maybe they thought I am a brave one of them, attacking the other side, not running away!
I got injured later on that night, maybe I was lucky not to have the opportunity to kill anyone, I lost many friends but we pushed them back.
Human being is so foolish sometimes not to believe that life is just a game , but even a game makes memory , a memory of a boy , a night and a wrong helmet .
22 Sep 2004, 13:27
Richard Burton
All very interesting and mostly valid points about cycle helmets. Just one thing worries me: if all these stories about "helmet saved my life" are true, and so many people are wearing helmets these days, how come none of the whole population, long-term research shows any benefit? or reduction in risk to cyclists?
Couldn't be that you're all gullible could it?
05 Oct 2004, 01:17
Robert O'Toole
Richard, we have to be very careful about how we interpret the statistics. For example, most people would agree that the volume of traffic is increasing tramatically. Many people would also agree that driving standards are falling. This is even more so in an area such as Warwick University that has a concentration of young and overseas motorists. So an increase in accidents should be expected.
At the same time safety testing bodies can demonstrate that helmets at least do a little to reduce the risk of injury. I can testify as to just how easy it is to do permanent damage to the head, with even a small impact. So anything can help. Wearing a cycle helmet, compared to a mtorcycle helmet, is easy and comfortable, so why not just wear one?
05 Oct 2004, 07:29
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