Have you ever been tempted to tell a stranger how to wear their helmet properly?

neeb

I firmly believe that the decision of whether or not to wear a helmet should be up to the individual and that there are plenty of valid reasons for not wearing one, but I am increasingly baffled by the number of people I see every day with helmets balanced on the backs of their heads, straps not tightened and foreheads completely exposed, as if they somehow offer some sort of magical protection unreleated to their obvious mode of functioning. What on earth is the point of wearing a helmet (or worse, making your children do so) if it's in such a way that it can't possibly protect you in the event of a crash? Although so far I've never done so I'm often tempted to stop them and ask if they know that the way they are wearing their helmet makes it worse than useless.. I don't know what's needed, a public information campaign or just an acceptance that natural selection is inevitable?

fat daddy

No .... I have never had any temptation to try and get the general public to do things my way or educate them

I am sure there is an intervening gene in the human dna .... Those most prevalent become jahovas witnesses or Everest salesmen ... Those with an inactive gene work for the inland revenue

Seriously ... These people you see that can't wear helmets also vote on X-factor and strictly and for Brexit .... Just keep your distance and pray your kids don't marry theirs

FishFish

Some time ago I saw a bloke riding on the wrong side of the road - no helmet - not an old guy but in his fifties. I was riding on the other side. We came to a level crossing with the barriers down and I said - 'I'll see you soon, sir.' which baffled hime and he said why. I told him that I was the emergency medicine consultant at the hospital and that we had a phenomenal number of patients with catastrophic head injuries from accidents while riding without a helmet. I also explained that he would not remember me because if he was like the others he would be a quadraplegic cabbage for ever.

He got really worried.

cougie

Sounds like someone lands on their head a lot certainly.

londoncommuter

All the time! Never do though for fear of of abuse (or stabbing - this is London) which is pretty spineless of me.

navrig2

No but I regularly feel the urge to tell someone to put their saddle up a bit. I hate to see people slogging away on their bike with their legs getting no where near full extension. They always look like they hate being on their bike and just need to use it to get to the station or the shop.

If only they knew how much easier it would be if they put their saddle up a few inches.

bikes`n`guns

FishFish wrote:

Some time ago I saw a bloke riding on the wrong side of the road - no helmet - not an old guy but in his fifties. I was riding on the other side. We came to a level crossing with the barriers down and I said - 'I'll see you soon, sir.' which baffled hime and he said why. I told him that I was the emergency medicine consultant at the hospital and that we had a phenomenal number of patients with catastrophic head injuries from accidents while riding without a helmet. I also explained that he would not remember me because if he was like the others he would be a quadraplegic cabbage for ever.

He got really worried.

Bet you`re a hoot at parties.

veronese68

I hope that was an attempt at humour.
Squeaking chains on other people's bikes is the thing that irks me. They might think it odd if I made them stop so I could lube them up though.

rolf_f

Bikes`n`guns wrote:

FishFish wrote:

Some time ago I saw a bloke riding on the wrong side of the road - no helmet - not an old guy but in his fifties. I was riding on the other side. We came to a level crossing with the barriers down and I said - 'I'll see you soon, sir.' which baffled hime and he said why. I told him that I was the emergency medicine consultant at the hospital and that we had a phenomenal number of patients with catastrophic head injuries from accidents while riding without a helmet. I also explained that he would not remember me because if he was like the others he would be a quadraplegic cabbage for ever.

He got really worried.

Bet you`re a hoot at parties.

What gets me is that he implies an expectation that cyclists will be hitting their heads on the ground on a regular basis and that the only way to avoid that is to wear a helmet. If he's right, then it isn't failing to wear a helmet that is madness but riding a bike in the first place!

Chains - I see in Leeds cycle point a neon green hybrid/mtb thing that was new this year. It gets little use but does get out. It's probably still immaculate aside from a bit of oily road splatter but the chain is now completely rust brown. I might have to tell the blokes downstairs to just sling some oil on his chain for the benefit of the kharma and civilisation!

iPete

Should you tell people that their lycra/jogging pants are see through?




By tell them, I mean comment on their choice of underwear.

sloppyschleckonds

The worst thing about giving advise is that people wont listen

hopkinb

iPete wrote:

Should you tell people that their lycra/jogging pants are see through?




By tell them, I mean comment on their choice of underwear.

I don't, but some girls wearing non cycling specific lycra on a bike leave very little to the imagination. I reckon if I told them I could see the pattern on their underwear or that I could see their @rse if not wearing any, I'd get called as a pervert, especially if I'd been behind them a while... Maybe a shout of "I can see your knickers", as I shoot past would be more acceptable.

fenix

iPete wrote:

Should you tell people that their lycra/jogging pants are see through?




By tell them, I mean comment on their choice of underwear.

Or their Assos shorts have gone transparent at the back.

fat daddy

SloppySchleckonds wrote:

The worst thing about giving advise is that people wont listen

or don't want to listen ..... nothing is worse than some do-gooder trying to convert you to their way of thinking .... I know wearing an MTB helmet on a road bike is frowned upon, and I know wearing normal shorts and not arse hugging shorts isn't acceptable to you and I know that undertaking you down the bus lane is bad form, I also know that my 5 year old shouldn't ride in the trolley, I know that when I ride my scooter on the pavement behind my kid is having fun and you have reached that age where having fun is not acceptable, I know that jumping down the 5 flights of stairs at work is not professional, I know that eating a protein rich diet and picking up lots of heavy things is going to hamper my chances of winning a grand tour. I even know that carrying my kid on my shoulders is bad and my child will never be able to able to walk anywhere if I do that .... I know I shouldnt put tequila in my lempsip or use the turbo in the summer

I do them because I do them

neeb

An interesting one this (threshold for well-intentioned intervention), which is partially why I posted on the subject. Let’s say you’re walking in town and someone 5 meters in front of you drops their glove/hat/wallet and doesn’t notice. I’d like to think that most of us would run up and give it back to them, or at least tell them that they’d dropped it. Similarly if someone (OK, not Donald Trump or Nigel Farage) was standing on the pavement and a car with the handbrake off was slowly starting to roll down a hill towards them, we’d all shout / intervene in some way if no-one else had noticed, right? On the other hand, very few people would walk up to strangers in the street and tell them that they shouldn’t be smoking because it’s likely to kill them. I think the difference is (or should be) whether we feel we can actually potentially help someone by telling them something they might not be aware of. In the case of smoking everyone knows it’s bad for them so any intervention is likely to come across as sanctimonious at best. But with the helmet-fitting thing I’m just not so sure – my guess is that due to general lack of information in the public sphere, personality traits or whatever, a lot of people just don’t know or have never thought about how a bike helmet works and could actually benefit from being politely informed. I just can’t think why they would wear them the way they do otherwise. It just makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up when I see a toddler on a bike path tottering along with a helmet carelessly shoved on the back of their head like a beret, and the parent behind, presumably of the opinion that the helmet is offering significant protection..

I also think that there’s a pretty strong geographical component to “intervention threshold” in different parts of the UK. In London for example any form of uninvited interaction with strangers seems to the height of unacceptability (especially on the tube), whereas somewhere like Glasgow people have far fewer qualms.

Seriously though, I think the best solution would be for the helmet manufacturers to make more effort to educate consumers – although helmets come with instructions they are usually in small print and few people read them. It would be nice to see a few ads from Specialised, Giro etc. highlighting the importance of correct fitting.

fat daddy

the badly fitting toddler helmet thing ....... now this is a dilemma.

as a toddler, no matter how I attempted to put a helmet on her head it would always slip back .... and would need re arranging literaly evey couple of minutes ... BUT ... if you fiddle with it too much the kid gets cross and will refuse to wear the helmet. .... So you have a choice, stop the game, stop the biking stop and risk the kid having a strop that sees her refuse to use the bike for the next six months .... OR, let it go, get her used to wearing the helmet, knowing perfectly well it offers no protection back there, but then at that speed its no different to falling over from running anyway

I would say that 99% of badly fitted helmets to young children are more an exercise in getting the child used to wearing a helmet than for actual protection

cgfw201

i do find myself becoming increasingly peeved by the number of flappy helmet and chin straps i see at the moment, if that counts.

not a good look that, having straps dangling all over the place.

fat daddy

cgfw201 wrote:

not a good look that, having straps dangling all over the place.

they hurt like buggery as well when they whip your frozen face at 20+ mph

fat daddy

metaphorical buggery that is !!!!

fenix

neeb wrote:

Seriously though, I think the best solution would be for the helmet manufacturers to make more effort to educate consumers – although helmets come with instructions they are usually in small print and few people read them. It would be nice to see a few ads from Specialised, Giro etc. highlighting the importance of correct fitting.

If they can't understand how to wear a helmet properly or even learn from the way others are wearing their helmets - then are these the sort of brains we should actively be protecting anyway ??


Its like running races - numbers on the front for photos and so you can tell who is who if the needs arise.

Every race outside of the Olympics I guarantee you will see at least one person who seemingly knows better than the other 99.9% and wears it on the back.

Redbaron1

It's just natural selection in action.

Gromson

My own life has been a lot more serene since I delegated the life-lessons tuition of morons to the karma fairies.

As an example, I recently saw a Geordieville NEET yoof in a natty shellsuit freewheeling down a fairly steep road on his BMX. A carrier bag with 4 cans of Stella was dangling from one handlebar, and a dogleash with a trotting sturdy bulldog (with similar facial features to the owner, now that I think about it) looped around the other. The yoof was sitting upright, hands free because he was holding a lit fag in one hand, and looking at his mobile phone with the other. Charitably, I remember thinking, "what a fecken idiot".

The dog decided to stop suddenly to squat for a shite in the middle of the road. And the leash did the rest, complete with the sound of sliding dog claws trying to get some purchase.

As the cans hit the road, two exploded. Yoof went sideways and did a 6.0 technical merit/ 6.0 artistic merit log roll down the hill. Dog finished its shite in serene contemplation.

And I though, yup, I'm good; karma's got this.

mpatts

Question is, did they have the legs of their glasses under or over the chin strap?

pblakeney

Left, or right?

sloppyschleckonds

mpatts wrote:

Question is, did they have the legs of their glasses under or over the chin strap?

Legs?

Arms?

???

DeVlaeminck

fat daddy wrote:

or don't want to listen ..... nothing is worse than some do-gooder trying to convert you to their way of thinking .... I know wearing an MTB helmet on a road bike is frowned upon, and I know wearing normal shorts and not ars* hugging shorts isn't acceptable to you and I know that undertaking you down the bus lane is bad form, I also know that my 5 year old shouldn't ride in the trolley, I know that when I ride my scooter on the pavement behind my kid is having fun and you have reached that age where having fun is not acceptable, I know that jumping down the 5 flights of stairs at work is not professional, I know that eating a protein rich diet and picking up lots of heavy things is going to hamper my chances of winning a grand tour. I even know that carrying my kid on my shoulders is bad and my child will never be able to able to walk anywhere if I do that .... I know I shouldnt put tequila in my lempsip or use the turbo in the summer, or murder kittens, or steal from pensioners, or give all my money to ISIS

I do them because I do them

You see that isn't a good argument

Ben6899

fat daddy wrote:

SloppySchleckonds wrote:

The worst thing about giving advise is that people wont listen

or don't want to listen ..... nothing is worse than some do-gooder trying to convert you to their way of thinking .... I know wearing an MTB helmet on a road bike is frowned upon, and I know wearing normal shorts and not ars* hugging shorts isn't acceptable to you and I know that undertaking you down the bus lane is bad form, I also know that my 5 year old shouldn't ride in the trolley, I know that when I ride my scooter on the pavement behind my kid is having fun and you have reached that age where having fun is not acceptable, I know that jumping down the 5 flights of stairs at work is not professional, I know that eating a protein rich diet and picking up lots of heavy things is going to hamper my chances of winning a grand tour. I even know that carrying my kid on my shoulders is bad and my child will never be able to able to walk anywhere if I do that .... I know I shouldnt put tequila in my lempsip or use the turbo in the summer

I do them because I do them

Did you vote Brexit?

fat daddy

I put tequila in lemsip and race 5 year olds on my scooter ... Make of that what you will ... But did I vote brexit, ??? No of course I didn't I am not a complete cock !!!!

fat daddy

I love the auto correct on this forum ... I swear profusely, click submit and it turns my torrid abuse into "fool"

Ben6899

Apologies. It's just that you came across as unstable. In 99% of cases, there's correlation.

Alex99

Last week I a man was wheeling an old MTB on the pavement. I told him that his front QR wasn't done up (which indeed it wasn't). He looked at me, then it, fumbled with it, then said "well, it's been OK for a year." I pointed to the rear one to compare showing that the lever wasn't levered. My commitment was weakening having realised that it was a foolhardy impulsive thing that I'd started, so I said "not to worry" (or something to that effect) and walked on.