Can I use...

jt1984

So I walked into my LBS and saw the new Specialized Align
http://www.dalescycles.com/2013-special ... tAodKUEA4w
That looks like this (but not this bike shop - just found a picture of it online)

Fits like a glove, good price and comes in a nice bright yellow, BUT

Can I use a ROAD cycling helmet for MOUNTAIN BIKING???? Until I read it was a road helmet I couldn't tell you if it was or not, surely fit and comfort is more important but will there be any design difference for off road use??

It would be replacing my trusty but now fairly battered Giro indicator.

Anyone tried one or got an opinion on them?

angry_bird

If it fits wear it. Will be fine. Made to the same standards.

Chunkers1980

Only if you shave your legs.

rockmonkeysc

Main difference is the lack of a peak which would help keep some crap out of your eyes and more importantly stop you looking like a roadie.

MrChuck

Often I think XC-type MTB helmets are exactly the same as the road ones but with a peak on. Some of the more trail-type MTB ones do have other differences though, mainly to do with coverage on the back of the head, less spiky bits to dig in to the ground, and less of a focus on venting.

Up to you of course whether you think any of those things matter!

stubs

In the link you put up it says there is a patented clip on visor included.

WindyG

Looks ideal for both on and off road to me.

Kowalski675

The Align isn't a road lid. It's designed as an all rounder for either on or off road (it's in the "recreational" lids section on Specialized's website, rather than mtb or road), but the shape and styling's definitely more mtb. It has more rear coverage than most specific road lids (and about the same as the Tactic II mtb trail lid). The peak's removable (comes pre-fitted in the box), but not adjustable. I've got a black one. For £30 it's a bargain (for the £24 i paid, even more so), especially given that it's covered by their crash replacement guarantee too. I love mine - fits (me) just right, doesn't look daft and the Trifix straps are brilliant. Given that you've already said that it fits you right just buy one, you won't regret it for a minute.

jt1984

Right then, thanks for the advice, I'm definitely going to get one! The fit was perfect on my head.

Kowalski675

You just need to decide which colour then, lol.

jt1984

Yellow!

Kowalski675

JT1984 wrote:

Yellow!

Lol, too lairy for my tastes. For me it was between black, white and silver.

Thewaylander

you can wear it, but only if you want other mountain bikers to touch you in special roady ways

jt1984

But everything is black, white or silver. Plus yellow is better for safety; and it is a piece of safety equipment.

Kowalski675

JT1984 wrote:

But everything is black, white or silver. Plus yellow is better for safety; and it is a piece of safety equipment.

I don't ride on the road (well, not without an engine between my wheels anyway), and don't believe that dayglo hi-viz helmets or garments are any safer anyway. Car drivers hit cyclists and motorcyclists because they're not looking. If they're not looking then they're not going to see you whether you're wearing a black lid or a dayglo yellow one. Even if there was any concrete evidence that dayglo wally bibs etc improve saftey I'd still rather take my chances and not look like a div, lol.

Sitter

It of a sweeping generalisation there Kowalski, hi vis clothing (or even visible clothing) does make cyclists more visible. I was driving home a couple of weeks ago and could only just about make out a cyclist riding along in the dusk, under trees, without lights and wearing dark clothes. One of a number of bad examples of cyclists on the roads that I've seen in recent weeks, it's no wonder we get a bad name! Seems common sense seems to be lacking for a number of people now a days.

Kowalski675

Sitter wrote:

It of a sweeping generalisation there Kowalski, hi vis clothing (or even visible clothing) does make cyclists more visible.

Only if the motorist is looking for them in the first place. If they're not looking (and most car drivers are as observant as a dead mole) they aren't going to see you whatever you're wearing, and there's no hard evidence I've ever seen that suggests hi-viz reduces accidents. I don't ride bicycles on the road (can't get my head round why anyone does - it's just a load of hard work, but without any of the fun bits of mountain biking), but I'd never wear any wanky hi-viz clothing on my motorbikes - even if there was any evidence that it's safer I'd rather take my chances and not look like a knob, lol. If they're not going to see a metallic candy orange bike with headlights on and a full race exhaust system then they're not going to see me in a dayglo wally bib and brightly coloured lid any more than they're going to see me in my black leathers, black helmet and black visor.

Even if they are looking you're still at far greater risk on a bicycle or motorcycle, due to the way human vision works. When a motorist (for example) is waiting to pull out of a junction and looking left and right to see if anything's coming you'd think that their vision performs an uninterrupted sweep, but that's not the case. The eyes actually take a series of snapshots, with the brain interpolating the information for the gaps inbetween. If you fall into one of those gaps then the famous "sorry mate, I didn't see you" could well be on your immediate horizon, despite the fact that the driver was actually looking. This phenomenon makes small, slow moving objects such as cyclists particularly vulnerable, and no amount of hi-viz clothing will make an ounce of difference to the outcome. Unless the driver happens to be a fighter pilot on his day off - they're trained to use their brains differently to normal people in order to fill in those gaps (which could save their life in a combat situation).

Sitter

Maybe it's just me then, but I wasn't looking for the cyclist, neither was I looking for the runner just around the next bend who was wearing the fluoro yellow top. Each to their own, but I do admit that they aren't always the nicest looking of clothing!

As for motorcyclists, some of them are asking to be hit with the way they ride, only a last minute swerve stopped one of them from losing his head to an oncoming vehicle as the motorcyclist was leaning right over to the wrong side of the road in a bend, with his wheels right next to the central white line...

Kowalski675

Sitter wrote:

As for motorcyclists, some of them are asking to be hit with the way they ride,

Yawn. Many would say the same of cyclists, and at least motorcyclists pay for road tax and insurance.

only a last minute swerve stopped one of them from losing his head to an oncoming vehicle as the motorcyclist was leaning right over to the wrong side of the road in a bend, with his wheels right next to the central white line...

You pay your road tax for the whole road, so use all of it, lol - both sides if there's visibility and no solid white lines. A bit of evasive action always livens up the afternoon, lol. I remember one time years ago between Helmsley and Stokesley when I had to get a bit motocross stylee to avoid a lorry after getting some air over a crest - bikes don't seem to steer too well with both wheels off the floor, lol.

Sitter

Lol, we get loads of motorcyclists up this way, some get very lucky. Ie guy was travelling way too fast for the stretch of road, didn't realise there was a corner approaching and ended up flying rather a long way in to a farmers field. Couple of colleagues went running fearing the worst, especially when they found the guy lying there with his foot facing the wrong way and lower leg at an unnatural angle. Slightly dazed the guy sat up, straightened his artificial leg and walked away...

Kowalski675

Sitter wrote:

Lol, we get loads of motorcyclists up this way, some get very lucky. Ie guy was travelling way too fast for the stretch of road, didn't realise there was a corner approaching and ended up flying rather a long way in to a farmers field. Couple of colleagues went running fearing the worst, especially when they found the guy lying there with his foot facing the wrong way and lower leg at an unnatural angle. Slightly dazed the guy sat up, straightened his artificial leg and walked away...

Neat party trick, lol. One time some years ago (there's a theme developing here - we used to be quite naughty boys when you put two wheels and an engine under us, lol) my mate noticed a quarter mile or so after pulling out of a junction (both with our front wheels several feet off the floor, lol) that I was no longer in his mirrors. He turned round and came howling back down the road on his 1200 Bandit to find me stood in the middle of the road swearing profusely (and getting strange looks from a couple of roadie cyclists in way too much lycra, lol). "Where's your bike?" he asks, somewhat puzzled. I pointed to the (undamaged) six foot high hedge that separated the road from a farmer's field and replied "Somewhere behind there.", lol. Ah, happy, hedonistic days...