Normal or Full Face which do you use

theshrew

What type of skid lid do you use and why ? What type of riding do you do ?

MountainMonster

On the much more technical trails and downhill I rock a fully, but just general XC or AM use a open face. No need for fully then.

wordnumb

Neither.

:twisted:

:roll:

:P

jay12

i use my full face for dh,fr,4x etc and then a normal one for xc stuff

.blitz

Giro Xen most of the time but this time of year and at night I use a Met Parachute.

I am used to wearing a motorcycle lid and the Met just feels more protective when it's dark/cold. It also seems to carry the extra weight of a helmet light better than the Xen.

Cold enough round our way for a proppa FF at the mo'

t0pc4t

Giro Xen for offroad stuff a Limar for the road

peter413

Giro Hex for general messing around (XC etc.) and full face when things get a little more serious (DH etc.)

Northwind

Yup, right tool for each job- my Flux almost all the time, for XC and commuting. My full face (and more armour!) for sillier stuff, right up to the full jousting suit for DH.

Proutster

After doing this:

at Llandegla, I now wear a full-face all of the time.

Have been tempted to wear the normal one for light XC but don't want another scar (and also don't want another 2 hours in A&E having my forehead scrubbed)!!

The FF's lovely and warm in this weather too

Beardface

:shock:

Ouch.

Fox Flux for all occasions, my beard acts as the rest of the lid for protection.

dan shard

Proutster wrote:

After doing this:

at Llandegla, I now wear a full-face all of the time.

Have been tempted to wear the normal one for light XC but don't want another scar (and also don't want another 2 hours in A&E having my forehead scrubbed)!!

The FF's lovely and warm in this weather too

Same experience same place same decision

MuddyFunster

I'd be pretty keen to go full-face, but they're just to hot to pedal in. Tried a MET Parachute, but my ears didn't seem to fit, so I've stuck with a Hex. Is there such a thing as a well vented helem that offers some degree of facial protection? Didn't Giro make something called a "Switch" or "switchblade" some time ago? Or is the Spesh Deviant the nearest thing to full-face-protection-with-XC-venting nirvana?

dan shard

MuddyFunster wrote:

I'd be pretty keen to go full-face, but they're just to hot to pedal in. Tried a MET Parachute, but my ears didn't seem to fit, so I've stuck with a Hex. Is there such a thing as a well vented helem that offers some degree of facial protection? Didn't Giro make something called a "Switch" or "switchblade" some time ago? Or is the Spesh Deviant the nearest thing to full-face-protection-with-XC-venting nirvana?

tbh its only in the peak of summer that it feels hot. Most of the British weather conditions suit the FF quite well (Cold and drizzly)

njee20

S-Works 2D for everything. I'd cook in a full face!

Mental Mickey

I own 3 helmets other than one cheap giro for commuting.

Giro Xen which gets the most use for XC, bought in a sale for 50 quid.

Met Parachute which I bought only because it was the new version for 65 quid, not the same level of protection as a proper full face but gives you a bit more confidence than standard, I would think the skate helmets may tick the same kinda box.

Recently bought a Giro comp 2, great helmet for 45 quid with 14 vents ( I think) and fairly comfy, I'm able to ride on these cold winter days for XC any hill climbs you like, someone asked me if I was too hot but I pointed out I wouldn't be wearing a balaclava AS WELL if I was, find it cosy and love the confidence it gives.

The full face simply helps me have a go at stuff which I find daunting, then I can consider riding the same stuff without when its too hot in summer when I'm confident about leaping that high or whatever.
After being airlifted to hospital and plenty of other face plants/accidents, I feel no shame about being over armoured or if anyone thinks I'm a weekend warrior.

Sorry to bring that up but there does seem to be that element out there in the MTB world sadly.

captainfly

Usually full face, I don't do XC, so for jumping, am/fr and winter street riding a full face is fine, TBH I just can't afford to have messed up face/jaw or denral treatment.

Eyon

Normal for XC and some trails. I dont think full face goes with lycra so much (yes im a winter lycra warrior, till the spring and baggys return), so I'll just look a nob if i had a full face on.

Its all riding specific, If i were doing anything with big rocks or with potential for big falls, jumps or trials, Full face is worth it, but for simple XC even at speed, a normal one suffices for me.

The greatest advert I have ever seen for riding with a helmet is this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-RNAYR3KPIg I know its road, but every rider in that crash took a hit to the head when they fell, and at serious speed and came away with head intact.

Doesnt matter if you look like a penis, or its a little uncomfortable, or if its full face or just a normal one, a lid can save your brains, you only have one of those to go through, certainly worth the money for a decent one, whatever shape!!

Mental Mickey

Eyon wrote:

The greatest advert I have ever seen for riding with a helmet is this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-RNAYR3KPIg I know its road, but every rider in that crash took a hit to the head when they fell, and at serious speed and came away with head intact.

Bet that guy in the blue jersey was wishing he'd learned to bunny hop on road bikes, he's have won that race easy from there.

angry_bird

After I smashed up one at Dalby I decided just to get another Giro Hex, does the job I want it to. For the riding I do, normal xc and trails, and the occasional pi$$ing about on 4x tracks I feel perfectly comfortable wearing it.

Had my face smashed about a few times in the past by hockey balls, only got the latest stitches out last week, thankfully I always wear a gum shield and sometimes a face mask.

Realise how bad injuries could be but after trying a mates FF I feel much more comfortable in an open lid. It seems to me when I normally come off the instinct is to wrap my arms around my head/face anyway.

meanredspider

I know at least 3 of my colleagues (2 blokes 1 girl) who wish they'd worn FF - ending up with some seriously messed up and very sore faces.

Seeing those pictures & vid (and without wanting to start a debate on this thread because there's loads elsewhere) I still can't understand those folk that don't wear lids (though I support their right not to). There are sooooo many stories of people that walked away from serious crashes thanks to their lid and not one (that I've seen) where someone says "I'd have been OK if only I wasn't wearing a lid"

jimexbox

Eyon wrote:

Doesnt matter if you look like a penis, or its a little uncomfortable, or if its full face or just a normal one, a lid can save your brains, you only have one of those to go through, certainly worth the money for a decent one, whatever shape!!

I wear a helmet whenever I'm on my bike, XC or nipping down the shops. A mate of mine had his back wheel clipped by a car pulling out from a junction. No helmet and he suffered massive brain injuries. He survived, but I would prefer to be dead as being paralysed and being fed by a peg into the stomach does really appeal.

Raymondavalon

I always lid up, not negotiable. In 2008 I broke my leg in 6 places on an MTB an I wasn't wearing a lid, a friend told me my head missed the ground by less than an inch when I came off. At that speed and impact he reckons it could have been fatal. :shock:

For known trails, recreational type rides I wear a Gyro lid, just a traditional sort of bike helmet. When riding somewhat tricky and unknown or extremely technical routes I don my 661 FF helmet.
Sadly FF helmets are a PITA when it's a hot day though.. but I guess it beats having one's face sewn back together or skull stapled up.

don simon

Always wear a helmet except when riding in town, normally a regular road lid but I've got a Met Parachute which is hardly ever worn and almost never with the chin guard, too hot.

meanredspider

don simon wrote:

except when riding in town,.

Why so?

Eyon

meanredspider wrote:

don simon wrote:

except when riding in town,.

Why so?

I guess cars dont hurt when they hit you?

tsenior

when I was a kid/teenager and even when i was commuting in the city in my 20's on a route which took in lots of concrete stairs and some drops i NEVER wore a lid.

I got a normal one when i started mbiking more seriously and had a mortgage to pay although still dident wear it for pootling round the pub/mates/shops.

I now have a kid and tend to wear one pretty much all the time, and am considering a FF for days in the mountains, then again i also have a substantial life insurance policy and have stopped smoking (apart from a cigar at xmas )

your attitude to this sort of thing changes throughout life, also its now de-riguer (?) to wear a lid so the kids have the habit from the off; but i wouldent critiscise anyone for not wearing one, personal choice innit?

jimexbox

tsenior wrote:

your attitude to this sort of thing changes throughout life, also its now de-riguer (?) to wear a lid so the kids have the habit from the off; but i wouldent critiscise anyone for not wearing one, personal choice innit?

Not sure about that. The vast majority of kids on bikes wear a helmet, while the vast majority of parents I see don't, an odd message to send out.

tsenior

what: "do as a say, dont do as i do" ? pretty common attitude i'd say, and good advice if coming from me

yer i meant its normal for kids to wear a lid nowadays, when i think about the stuff i used to do without one..... :shock:

Nachimir

Most of the time I have a Pro-Tec p*ss pot certified for skate, snow and bike, but after landing on my nose and front teeth at speed on an unmaintained black run in the peaks, I wear FF for anything likely to be rough, or if I know I'm likely to be pushing my limits. Somehow, that crash didn't break my nose or teeth, but it took a week for the swelling to go down and I had scabs all over my face.

I've seen so many friends come off that helmets are absolutely not negotiable for me. +Potato to Mental Mickey on the weekend warrior thing: Absolutely don't care what other people think of the amount of protection I wear. I've been over my limits and got lucky, I don't expect to always be.

dan shard

If you dont feel like you have to wear protection, you arent going fast enough!

MTFU, get some pads on, and scare youself!

pat mcgucken

just an idea for all the safety first people who think that you should wear a helmet all the time even going to the shops, crossing the road etc. Firstly let me say that I generally wear a skate helmet for stuff like trail centre riding that is designed to be generally rideable and when I'm at home in the lakes I wear a full face a lot just because the riding is steeper, rockier and I'm more likely to spank it. Obviously riding full on DH then I wear body armour and a FF lid. Full face doesn't bother me because at home I'm generally riding up something just so I can come back down it so regardless of what lid I took out with me I wouldn't wear it on the way up-my head gets too hot and I don't see the point.
My point for all the (in my opinion slightly sanctimonious) helmet pushers out there is this. I have crashed 4 times that I can recall where I have needed a helmet, 3 of those times the first thing to hit the dirt has been my face, hence why if I think I'm going to be pushing it I generally wear a FF helmet. Why if you attach such importance to wearing a helmet to protect your head in a crash would you only want to protect half of it and why would you choose the half that if your pointing downhill isn't the half thats facing the ground?