Do you climb without your helmet?

Naveed

Easy, just hang them off your handlebar by the helmet strap

rwalworth

Surely you get the annoying swinging motion that used to annoy me so much when hanging any kind of bag etc of the bars. That'd be worse for me than the relief of having my helmet off

Gobs

Agreed. I'm so focused on trying to keep my line and momentum up trails like the Twrch at Cwmcarn that something flapping about would wreck my concentration. I'd rather be sweating like John Leslie

Naveed

Won't flap if you tighten the strap :shock:

Anonymous

kitenski wrote:

The worst that can happen is you fall off sideways smash your head and end up dead.

And it doesn't have to be a high speed crash either.

Seen and experienced enough through biking and (mostly) skiing to know that myself and others may not be around without a helmet, and not all of those were high speed impacts.

Climbing, you could always run into someone coming downhill too (even if they are not supposed to be).

Maybe it's also because I'm in my 30s that I'm more concious of safety. It's shocking to see how many kids and teens are on jumps with no helmets. Fall badly and hit your head on a rock and it could be game over.

Si78

Whenever I'm on the bike, the helmet stays on.

Has quite good ventilation, so it's not really a problem. Visor keeps sun out of my eyes too.

I agree that hanging the helmet on the bars would be very distracting.

Naveeds tip for wearing a sweatband under the helmet is a good one. May buy one for really hot days.

Gobs

JohnMcEnroetastic

Si78

Gobs wrote:

JohnMcEnroetastic

You cannot be serious!...

Si78

Si78

8) 8) 8)




Love your avatar Gobs. Used to laugh my head off watching Swiss Toni

Swiss Toni wrote:

Riding a bike, Paul, is very much like making love to a beautiful woman... First you make sure you are adequately protected. Anti-chafing cream can be applied to the buttocks if necessary. Ensure she is in good condition, safe to ride and everything has been lubricated properly. When you are ready, swing your leg over her and hold on tight. Soon you will bouncing around, dripping with sweat...

I'm sure the real Swiss Toni's analogy would be funnier lol

Tank-slapper

anto164 wrote:

Get a decent helmet, i have a giro Xen, and it feels like you're not wearing one...

+1

I usually forget I'm wearing mine.

xtreem

[b]kitenski[/b] wrote:

It's nothing to do with the speed, I haven't seen many pointy rocks, tree stumps etc on 100m sprint tracks recently.....

That's a good one.

[b]deadkenny[/b] wrote:

Maybe it's also because I'm in my 30s that I'm more concious of safety. It's shocking to see how many kids and teens are on jumps with no helmets. Fall badly and hit your head on a rock and it could be game over.

Not just that, a lot of kids overhere when decending from our biggest mountain, they don't
wear a helmet at 40mph. Not to mention that at some corners there is sand from the rain,
and every corner is a possible dead trap with cars passing all the time.

Flenser

My best mate ended up in a coma for a week after a spill without a lid. I wear mine without fail now.

Gobs

Riding AM is a lot like making love to a beautiful woman..........You have to grind hard to get up her, you get hot, you get sweaty. You have to concentrate to make sure you don't injure yourself when nearing the bottom

Si78

Gobs wrote:

Riding AM is a lot like making love to a beautiful woman..........You have to grind hard to get up her, you get hot, you get sweaty. You have to concentrate to make sure you don't injure yourself when nearing the bottom

lol nice one

delcol

a helmet saved my stepdaughters life after a mtbing accident. she wasn't going fast either, the inside of the helmet was broken into 5 pieces the doc at hopital said if she hed not been wearing her helmet she would of died,..

realnumber 1

I sometimes take mine off if its very hot and I'm on a long steep track doing nothing much more than walking pace. Really fail to see how I could possibly fall over and kill my self in those situations tbh. I'd be just as likely to trip up and do the same walking yet I never wear my helmet when walking!

nicklouse

realnumber 1
But it is in those situations that the helmet will actually do the most to help.

realnumber 1

nicklouse wrote:

realnumber 1
But it is in those situations that the helmet will actually do the most to help.

I'm a strong believer in wearing helmets the majority of the time but it can get to the point of health and safety gone mad like it has with almost everything else in this country!
As an example (some of you may know it) at Lee Quarry there is a long gravelly lane from the car ppark to the top. It's wide and there are no cars to speak of and perfectly safe imo to not wear your helmet.
I always tend to run up and down stairs and am probably much more likely to have an accident doing that yet I still do it. It was on the news the other week about making young school kids wear head gear in the playground iirc. Again health and safety gone mad :roll: . And as they said then people need to learn to judge risk and danger rather than being wrapped in cotton wool.

nicklouse

true, but like i said a cycle Helmet does its best work in low speed impacts.

which is why there is so much resentment form roadies about the effectiveness of helmets and why should they wear one when they do very little at the speeds that they cycle at!

realnumber 1

I could maybe understand your point more for people that wear spd's but I'm pretty sure I would easily stick my leg out or use my arms to help me in all but the most bizarre cases which tbh could happen just as easily doing all sorts of activities.
Each to there own I guess.

Anonymous

interesting.... I did this at the weekend as it was nearly 27celcius at 430meters!!! fewwwwwwwwwweeeee......hot hot hot.

so start of the climb I took my helmet off, only to put it back on again 15mins later...I find just leaving it on is best, just cos its a pain in the arse having it clacking against the hBars........

take it off when I get off the bike....

Daz555

My word, if I was cycling up a hill at walking pace and started to fall off, I don't know what I'd do to save myself from near-certain death via smashed skull.

Oh yes, now I remember - I'd put my foot on the flloor (I ride flats).

I only have an XC lid and don't overheat, so wear mine all the time when on the trail. However I do find the health and safety mafia extremely irritating. :evil:

joshtp

i always wear mine, you never know what might hapen, i dont get to hot anyway. i often see people with their helmets on their backs at places like the Whites level climb, the problem there is that its quite technical, so a fall on the climb is fairly likely, and if you do, you fly down the steep hill. :? what doesnt help is that peole often have full faces for the black, these are nearly always removed as they get too hot, i feel it can only end in disaster *sensible voice*. the decent is fuuuuuuuuuun though! *exited/silly voice*

keeko

kitenski wrote:

keeko wrote:

Personally I take mine off when I`m on a serious climb. Whats the worst that can happen? You stop? Its not as if you`re going to keel over and smash your head to bits is it?
Anywhere else, its on but for granny ring specials it off.

The worst that can happen is you fall off sideways smash your head and end up dead.

:roll: Panic Merchant. Do you wear a helmet when you`re looking in a cupboard? You never know, you could blow your head up and die.
I`m not saying `Hey Kids! Don`t wear a helmet!` I`m just saying I don`t freak out and insist on a lid when I sit on a bike in a shop.

andyonwight

As someone who has been involved in a accident for which my lid gave me more protection when headbutting a concrete wall (forced off road by a white van) last year it stays on wether its a trip round the corner or a 20 mile session.

Admittedly I have found out since that even with the helmet I was 'offically' dead for a while but would probably not be here now.

From a personal point of view I can not really see the point of taking a helmet off, which would mean stopping, to climb and then stopping again to put it back on. Like what has been said before, as long as I am in the vicinity of the mike either pushing or riding the helmet stays on until its back in the garage. (Does come off whilst cleaning said bike at home.)

Daz555

Here's question.

Who is safer going around Whites (including the black) for example.

1. The guy with the super airflow XC lid who keeps it on 100% of the time.
2. The guy with the solid full face lid who only takes it off for the long climbs.

I wear a light vented lid but I wager that the guy with the full face is probably taking the safer option even if he does not wear it on long climbs.

likewoah

Do people here often fall over when walking uphill? Do you wear a helmet when rambling?

keeko

Daz555 wrote:

Here's question.

Who is safer going around Whites (including the black) for example.

1. The guy with the super airflow XC lid who keeps it on 100% of the time.
2. The guy with the solid full face lid who only takes it off for the long climbs.

I wear a light vented lid but I wager that the guy with the full face is probably taking the safer option even if he does not wear it on long climbs.

Spot on son. 100% agreed. The pressure cooker full facer comes off just for the `risk assessed` bits thenback on securely for proper riding.

King Donut

Daz555 wrote:

Here's question.

Who is safer going around Whites (including the black) for example.

1. The guy with the super airflow XC lid who keeps it on 100% of the time.
2. The guy with the solid full face lid who only takes it off for the long climbs.

I wear a light vented lid but I wager that the guy with the full face is probably taking the safer option even if he does not wear it on long climbs.

Couldn't agree more.

I'm all for safety but people have gone a bit bonkers by giving examples based on isolated incidents or improbable possibilites. Just learn to assess the risk yourself (in everything, not just mtb'ing). And then accept that sometimes freak incidents can occur. You can not go around protecting yourself against every single possible outcome in everything you do in life.

For the record I would never remove my helmet on mtb, but only because (as others said) I hate putting it back on sweaty and it's more of a pain to carry it. On road I cycle 30+ miles a day through London and sometimes leave the lid at home if it's really hot and sunny - truth be told I quite enjoy the sun on my face.