Old Bicycle helmets

bazmcg
bazmcg Posts: 95
edited May 2008 in MTB general
I was just wondering what people do with their old bicycle helmets. Do you just bin them or can they be recycled?

Comments

  • nicklouse
    nicklouse Posts: 50,675
    bin them as the expanded inner is not really recyclable.
    "Do not follow where the path may lead, Go instead where there is no path, and Leave a Trail."
    Parktools :?:SheldonBrown
  • artillerydave
    artillerydave Posts: 715
    keep them (damaged ones) to send into schools when they do their cycle training to show how they can save you bacon!
  • dave_hill
    dave_hill Posts: 3,877
    Bin it, but put it beyond use - i.e. damage it terminally so that no one else can use it. Put it on a firm surface and hit it with a big hammer.

    Then take it to your local authority recycling facility, don't chuck it in a hedge somewhere.
    Give a home to a retired Greyhound. Tia Greyhound Rescue
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    JayPic
  • z1ppy
    z1ppy Posts: 103
    Depned on how damaged it is...
    I've just replaced my 5 yr old Xen (with another Xen) but will be keeping the old one to lend to m8's who want to try out mtb-ing (and so don't have a helmet).
    Tghough mine was bashed and scatched, I've not had a bad crash in it.

    Otherwise bin it, the materials supposed to break down due to the ultraviolet light exposure.

    As for giving it to school, my m8 does the new cycling proficency test (what ever it's called now), they don't give them helmets, as they say the kid won't use them when there out on their own, so why bother creating a false enviroment when learning.
    Better top have them enjoy themselves... (not even sure they use hi-viz jackets).
    ************************************


    Sleep is for the dead, but I sure could use some.
  • artillerydave
    artillerydave Posts: 715
    getting kids to wear their helmets should not come from school but from home personally I think. My ten year old will not go out without his and it did save his bacon at Llandegela on the blue run. Face plant, stopped breathing, 2hrs knocked out, broken fingers, teeth through lip etc etc, potentially would have been dead without it. good habits start early with good parents.
  • Chaka Ping
    Chaka Ping Posts: 1,451
    artillerydave wrote:
    Face plant, stopped breathing, 2hrs knocked out, broken fingers, teeth through lip etc etc, potentially would have been dead

    Has his mum let him go out with you again since, or did you not tell her?
  • BlackSpur
    BlackSpur Posts: 4,228
    You'd need an damn good story to convince anyone that broken fingers and teeth through lips had come from a gentle ride around the park!
    "Melancholy is incompatible with bicycling." ~James E. Starrs
  • artillerydave
    artillerydave Posts: 715
    his mum was very understanding, I was only in traction for a month! (joke) to be honest his confidence is shot on the bike now however we are slowly building it back up. Now sporting a new full face lid he is slowly getting back into it. Get a little shiver everytime I go past the spot at Llandegela though. It was just after were the red and blue runs split for those who know this place. :cry:
  • RobDickinson
    RobDickinson Posts: 31
    AFIK any serious head knock that involves any sort of concussion the helmet needs to be binned doesnt it.
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,667
    artillerydave wrote:
    Face plant, stopped breathing, 2hrs knocked out, broken fingers, teeth through lip etc etc, potentially would have been dead without it. good habits start early with good parents.
    I bet the neighbours looked at you as though you were a terrible parent after the accident :lol:

    I wish all parents I saw out with their kids had as much common sense as you though, the vast majority I see either don't make their kids wear lids, or the lids are so badly fitting that they'd serve no purpose in an accident.

    As for replacing a helmet, it should be replaced after any impact, concussion or not.
  • artillerydave
    artillerydave Posts: 715
    RobDickinson wrote:
    AFIK any serious head knock that involves any sort of concussion the helmet needs to be binned doesnt it.

    Helmet has been replaced however old one has been kept to show his friends etc "look see all the dents, scratches and scrapes, that would have been in my skull had this not have been on" always a graphic illustration helps to emphasise any point. plus if cool kids wear lids (which my son is!) maybe others will be persuaded.
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,667
    OH NO!!! You can't say this.....
    artillerydave wrote:
    plus if cool kids wear lids (which my son is!)
    Don't you know that in the rules of the playground, any kid who is described as "cool" by his parent(/s) is instantly uncool for the rest of their mortal life? :lol:
  • KonaMike
    KonaMike Posts: 805
    I kept my old helmet as I have a mate who refuses to buy a Himself one ,he says they look stupid (I know he is a prat) so I always take my spare lid and make him wear that whenever he comes to Cwmcarn.He cringes every time and wont let me give it to him but at least when he is out with me he is safe......he has no choice ! :)
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,667
    Sounds like an idiot, Mike.
    joking aside, if people didn't wear helmets, there's a very high probability that my father, my cousin, several good friends, and myself would all be dead or severely brain damaged.
  • KonaMike
    KonaMike Posts: 805
    yeehaamcgee wrote:
    Sounds like an idiot, Mike.
    joking aside, if people didn't wear helmets, there's a very high probability that my father, my cousin, several good friends, and myself would all be dead or severely brain damaged.

    I agree,he is stupid to risk his health just to look cool,as if any of us look cool in our cycling gear anyway !! Plus at Trail Centres its the people without Helmets on that look odd :roll:
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,667
    My boss is a roadie, and frequently cycles to work in all his garish lycra gear, but has one of those silly roadie peak caps instead of a helmet.

    When I first rode into work a few years ago, in my work clothes (baggy shorts, and normal T-shirt), which I could wear for the rest of the day, he had the audacity to say I looked like a twat because I had a helmet on! :lol:

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