I fell off at Old St Roundabout - thank god for Helmet!

Jakey57

Hi Guys,

I have been reading this forum for a while now and have got lots of good advice from it. I havent really had anything that i thought i would share until this morning.

My chain came of as i was riding across the Old St roundabout. The first thing that hit the floor was my head. Luckily, so so Luckily i was wearing a helmet. I feel quite beaten up now but i thank my lucky stars that the lorry/bus and motorbike behind me all stoped and did not squash me.

After this i will never ever leave the house without a helmet. I know its all about personal choice but this morning i made a good one.

I have taken the bike back to the shop as i have come off it 3 times this year due to the chain coming off. It was only in the workshop 4 weeks ago.

Jake :?

DancesWithSheep

Good to hear you're ok - that roundabout can be a little hairy!

As for never leaving the house without your helmet, I have an image of you sitting on the bus reading the paper with it on

overmars

Glad your ok.

If you've been going to the same bike shop and your chain has come off three (four now?) times in the first seven months of this year... I'd take it to another bike shop!

mailmannz

Meh, it was probably the fact you were wearing a helmet that caused the accident!

Mailman

dondare

Cyclists who wear helmets do seem to have more accidents than those who don't, although in this case I wouldn't suspect the helmet of actually causing the chain to come off. But how on earth did the chain coming off cause you to flip right over? Perhaps the helmet affected your balance and/or stability.



(Please don't anyone assume that I'm being 100% serious here.)

Oh, and which bike shop is it? So that I can avoid it. Not Bikefix, by any chance...

El Gordo

dondare wrote:

Cyclists who wear helmets do seem to have more accidents than those who don't

Perhaps the non-helmet-wearing cyclists do have accidents but are not in a fit state afterwards to report them here?

dondare

That's just one of many theories.

biondino

I'm scrutinising jakey's post for telltale signs of rotational brain injury but I can't see any. Guess he must've been travelling at under 12mph.

jedster

Glad you are OK.

Seems odd to me that the chaining coming off has caused you to fall off once let alone three times. Every no and again I mangle a shift up to the big ring and lose the chain but it doesnt actually make me fall off. What causes you to actually fall off?

J

victor ludorum

I've had the chain suddenly slip off and recatch a random bit of the chain ring. The sudden loss of resistance and sudden re-engagement, especially if you are standing on the pedals whilst setting off, can be sufficient to unbalance you sufficiently that you end up sprawled over the handlebars if not actually flung over them.

I once also had the chain skip off the rear cassette and jam the rear wheel which, again, as I was standing and moving forward sharpishly was enough to throw me over the top.

In my experience, mucky chain rings with worn teeth and overstretched chains are all contributing factors to that sort of excitement. Do you give your bike a good clean before taking it to the shop for a check-up? It could be that the reason for the chain moving irregularly (excess oil and muck) is being removed when you clean it.

Glad to hear you're okay.

meanwhile

Jakey57 wrote:

Hi Guys,

I have been reading this forum for a while now and have got lots of good advice from it. I havent really had anything that i thought i would share until this morning.

My chain came of as i was riding across the Old St roundabout. The first thing that hit the floor was my head. Luckily, so so Luckily i was wearing a helmet. I feel quite beaten up now but i thank my lucky stars that the lorry/bus and motorbike behind me all stoped and did not squash me.

After this i will never ever leave the house without a helmet. I know its all about personal choice but this morning i made a good one.

Yes. What was probably a low to moderate speed single vehicle accident - ideal circumstances for a helmet to do some good. Helmets are great for people who have them - like that fellow here who keeps running into the back of parked cars. (It makes your hair fall off in the end.) Personally I think it's simpler just not to have 'em, but some people seem to have a different attitude...

I have taken the bike back to the shop as i have come off it 3 times this year due to the chain coming off. It was only in the workshop 4 weeks ago.

..this being a case in point. Putting a thin layer of packing foam on your head and then riding in traffic while your bicycle mechanic is trying to murder you is NOT rational behaviour. If that bus driver had been talking to a mate or laughing at a DJ's joke, you'd be jam right now. Anyone can have one chain failure... but THREE? Including this one, or before this one? Haven't you considered changing your bike store, legal action, violence, buying a new bike, walking? What did they say when you asked them why this kept happening???

meanwhile

biondino wrote:

I'm scrutinising jakey's post for telltale signs of rotational brain injury but I can't see any. Guess he must've been travelling at under 12mph.

In the past I've always assumed that this sort of post was an attempt at irony, but then I realized that some people are genuinely... um, "pre-rotated". Especially frequent car-attackers. Anyway:

- The odds of rotational injury are low in any accident

- Wearing a helmet makes them higher; and the consequences can be extremely severe

- Helmets are good at protecting you from the consequences of muppet grade accidents - falling off your bike while not moving, riding into the back of a parked car at low speed because you have your eyes closed

- Thus, if you're going to ride like a muppet, wearing a helmet is probably beneficial. If you're not, then it's probably harmful.

As Sun Tzu might have said if he had a bike: Know yourself and know your helmet, and you will ride a thousand roads without injury. Unless the Big One comes up, in which you'll need more than the lining from a box of chocolates to help you.

boybiker

Oh for Gods sake, why is it always the idea that its only low speed accidents that helmets work with? My mate rode head first into a parked car at 25-ish at the weekend, I have no doubt he would have been far more seriously hurt, having headbutted said car if he wasn't wearing a helmet.
Why not give up on the silly excuses and just admit that you don't want to wear a helmet because you feel it makes you less of an individual.
rotational brain injuries my arse

dondare

boybiker wrote:

Oh for Gods sake, why is it always the idea that its only low speed accidents that helmets work with? My mate rode head first into a parked car at 25-ish at the weekend, I have no doubt he would have been far more seriously hurt, having headbutted said car if he wasn't wearing a helmet.
Why not give up on the silly excuses and just admit that you don't want to wear a helmet because you feel it makes you less of an individual.
rotational brain injuries my ars*

Meanwhile would say that is a muppet accident. I might be less judgmental but I would say that it's the type of accident that I don't have. The main reason why I don't wear a helmet is that it sets cyclists apart from everyone else. Henry Thoreau said "distrust any enterprise that requires new clothes" and that really is how people feel; the more different you look the more distrusted you and your chosen method of transport will be.
This is also the reason why I no longer wear lycra for my daily ride to work (11 miles). (Each way.)

ris

the only time i've whacked my head was after falling off was a low-speed slip, wobble and splat. neck hurt for a couple of days, and i'm sure i'd have come off with concussion without the polystrene head-wrap. probably a muppet injury...

the faster off's i've had have all avoided my head, but i've had some good grazes and bruising on my hips and shoulders. perhaps momentum gives the body something to work with in rolling.

i don't mind looking different; spot of high vis, blinky lights, silly hat and ridiculous foldy bike!

nwallace

Once we all wear helmets it won't be long before we are expected to wear full face FIM approved helmets and HANS devices. Leathers capable of sustaining a 70mph friction burn will be compulsory as will automatic engine cut out devices. this last safety device will be demanded not to protect the cyclist from further injury after falling but to prevent passers by being kicked in a cycling motion by the downed cyclist. So that cycling crashes can be better understood all accidents including those not involving other vehicles will have to be reported to Volvo regardless of injury.

Worst I have had in a roundabout is a wheel spitting ball bearings in the outer lane in medium traffic (Dundee standards) (Bike).
Worst mechanical failure (car) being an overheating CV Boot adjusting my steering at 70mph.

At least the p*e fairy is a fairy, the mechanical failure demon is a ba*d

always_tyred

Seriously - what is it with all of these people cycling into parked cars?

Best not to wear a helmet under those circumstances. A sharp blow to the head can only be beneficial.

ris

maybe it's a protest for cars parked in cycle lanes.

or some sort of installation art.

meanwhile

boybiker wrote:

Oh for Gods sake, why is it always the idea that its only low speed accidents that helmets work with?

Helmets can WORK with any speed accident. So can not wearing a helmet. They (generally) HELP with only low speed ones because that's an accepted design limit - there's no other way to keep the weight within acceptable limits. Read the Snell spec, which is higher than the limits for 90% of helmets sold in the UK.

My mate rode head first into a parked car at 25-ish at the weekend,

It's-time-to-put-on-makeup!
It's-time-to-dress-up-right!

I have no doubt he would have been far more seriously hurt, having headbutted said car if he wasn't wearing a helmet.

Your doubt or lack of anything isn't evidence of anything important. Nor is what you imagine. Or even what you think. It might be, if you were a reasonably intelligent and competent engineer who had actually designed or tested helmets. As it is, all we can say is that you're challenged between distinguishing between your opinions and objective facts.

Why not give up on the silly excuses and just admit that you don't want to wear a helmet because you feel it makes you less of an individual.
rotational brain injuries my ars*

Once again, Gonzo: The chief test engineer for all UK helmets says that you're wrong www.cyclehelmets.org/papers/c2023.pdf

Oh and so does the author of the DOT book on cycling - http://66.102.9.104/search?q=cache:qSpX ... =firefox-a

And I'm quite prepared to wear any helmet that would provide me with reasonable protection in the category of accidents I'm likely to have. I'd love a practical helmet that would protect me against the consequences of drivers mistakes, and don't understand why I should feel more or less like an individual for wearing one.

meanwhile

Always Tyred wrote:

Best not to wear a helmet under those circumstances. A sharp blow to the head can only be beneficial.

Ah. Autoretrophrenology.

Umm, no wait - that would be either "personality change through cranial impacts on cars" *or* "personality change through self administered cranial impacts ". But this is actually "personality change through self administered cranial impacts on cars". That's

Autoautoretrophreonology

Just trying that after you've hit a Volvo's bum with Jim Henson's hand up your ass...

always_tyred

http://uncyclopedia.org/wiki/Retrophrenology

The first article is excellent and balanced - the second is not and I'd be concerned that the interpretation of the cited studies is very selective. Both are interesting and I should try to find the time to read the source material for myself. Busy.

Nothing on rotational brain injuries that I could see.

Jakey57

Feeling very sore all over today.

The main reason i fell with such a bump? - the bike is a single speed, so when i was standing on the pedals and the chain came off it had nowhere to get jammed so i became a pasenger and hit the deck...HARD

The bike shop have been very helpfull and understood my posistion. And have offerd me a discount on a new bike.

So quick question, which bike should i choose?

Spezialzed Sirrus Elite or Genisis Day 01???????

biondino

meanwhile wrote:

Helmets can WORK with any speed accident. So can not wearing a helmet.

LOL! Precisely what does not wearing a helmet work as/at?? Are you actually saying "your skull can work to protect your brain"? Thanks for the insight, and I look forward to the wikipedia link.

Cadel Evans thinks helmets work at speeds not to be sniffed at. What's your view on his recent accident?

Clever Pun

I had an incident on my brompton on friday night I was heading home and a car with no lights started off ahead of me I assumed it was going straight on so I slowed and moved to the right... it did a U'turn I did a flip over it's sodding bonnet, bike was fine woman driver was shaken as was I.... both at fault no real damage done at the end of the day, I took their number just in case. I'm just too English/british after something like that I just want to head off and lick my wounds rather than make any sort of thing about it. a few people coam over to see if I was alright and everyone was very nice etc etc

bumped my head with no helmet and got a bruise... maybe if I'd been wearing one the strap would have caught on something and twisted my neck to breaking point????

jedster

As Sun Tzu might have said if he had a bike: Know yourself and know your helmet, and you will ride a thousand roads without injury. Unless the Big One comes up, in which you'll need more than the lining from a box of chocolates to help you

RALMAO!

I wear a helmet but that post was genius.

J

dondare

Clever Pun wrote:

I had an incident on my brompton on friday night I was heading home and a car with no lights started off ahead of me I assumed it was going straight on so I slowed and moved to the right... it did a U'turn I did a flip over it's sodding bonnet, bike was fine woman driver was shaken as was I.... both at fault no real damage done at the end of the day, I took their number just in case. I'm just too English/british after something like that I just want to head off and lick my wounds rather than make any sort of thing about it. a few people coam over to see if I was alright and everyone was very nice etc etc

bumped my head with no helmet and got a bruise... maybe if I'd been wearing one the strap would have caught on something and twisted my neck to breaking point????

If you'd been wearing a helmet then it would have shattered into three pieces and you'd be relating this as a "helmet saved my life" story. Either that or the massive rotational forces would have turned your brain back-to-front and you'd be in no fit state to relate anything.

Possibly.

el_presidente

Jakey57 wrote:

Feeling very sore all over today.

The main reason i fell with such a bump? - the bike is a single speed, so when i was standing on the pedals and the chain came off it had nowhere to get jammed so i became a pasenger and hit the deck...HARD

The bike shop have been very helpfull and understood my posistion. And have offerd me a discount on a new bike.

So quick question, which bike should i choose?

Spezialzed Sirrus Elite or Genisis Day 01???????

SO - they can't fix your chain problem, instead of paying them say £20 to fix it properly, you'll pay them £300+ for a new bike that they probably won't set up right either. Who is this shop??

I've run a single speed for over a year and the chain has never come off once. For god's sake take it to a different shop who just might know what they are doing.

ride_whenever

the only time the chain has ever come off my ss was when the square taper cranks were rounding off, the hole was at the time cross shaped and i backpedalled and the chain derrailed because the ring was so out of line

dondare

Jakey57 wrote:

The bike shop have been very helpfull and understood my posistion. And have offerd me a discount on a new bike.

So quick question, which bike should i choose?

Spezialzed Sirrus Elite or Genisis Day 01???????

It's not Bikefix, then, they'd have wanted to sell you either a folder or a bent.

el_presidente

Sounds like Cycle Surgery as I don't think Evans stock the Genesis? which branch though poster?

jedster

SO - they can't fix your chain problem, instead of paying them say £20 to fix it properly, you'll pay them £300+ for a new bike that they probably won't set up right either. Who is this shop??

I've run a single speed for over a year and the chain has never come off once. For god's sake take it to a different shop who just might know what they are doing.

Absolutely