Safety Full-face motorcycle helmet or nothing, bike helmets BAHHHHHH!

grinningremlin

grinningremlin

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I snipped this from my comments on another thread:

Now for some good reading, the first link, even if you don't agree, read the comments you will laugh! Now the second link you read and look at the pics, looks like everyone there is doing OK AND they're not a bunch of gelatinous gooey lumbering hulks that look as if they have no skeletons (like our Wallyhell breeders).
http://www.metafilter.com/108910/Wha...icycle-helmets
http://www.ski-epic.com/amsterdam_bicycles/

One of my fav quotes from the Amsterdam link:

"3. No Helmets EVER - It is amazing to me coming from San Francisco, land of 100 percent helmet covered heads, but in all of Amsterdam (population 750,000) there is not one bicycle helmet found anywhere in the city. Not ONE!! Contrast this with San Francisco, for anybody under the age of 18, there is a Mandatory Helmet Law, and everybody above 18 wears helmets anyway. Now faced with this shocking disparity, I think any reasonable person must come to the conclusion that either the people in Netherlands do not value the safety of their children, or San Francisco bicyclists are clumsy pansies with soft heads and weak minds that must be protected from hurting themselves no matter how much it infringes on individual rights."

Clumsy pansies with soft heads and weak minds, I think that sums up the most of the american populace these days.
 
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Unfortunately I think you are right. I ride helmet-less amongst the bad drivers of south america but I ride defensively and aggressively. I don't give these morons a chance to nail me. They are slow turtles compared to my hopped up bike. I weave ahead to get in the front of the line at red lights. I don't even give them a chance to see anything but my ass. ha!
 
Not mentioned: The Netherlands are flat, flat, FLAT. SF has hills, hills, HILLS. One of my brothers lives there. He told me about two incidents in one month in which bicyclists killed pedestrians because they could not stop quick enough from screaming down hills.

Both bicyclists were riding fixies, btw, who, as a group, eschew helmets. Not relevant to this argument, but they pride themselves on outlawish behavior. Example, "Mashing" means running red lights and stop signs. See? They even have their own lingo to describe the crazy stuff they do. What is relevant to the argument is that these cats are significant contributors to the laws getting passed there.

Point is, riders in SF habitually ride much faster than riders in NL, who--so I have heard--prefer more sedate paces and are generally politer.

As far as Americans being "clumsy pansies," well, I'll just skip over that. No one has a monopoly on that, but I would say Americans are bit more savage, American insurance companies are quite a bit more powerful, and American cops have a fairly high percentage of bad apples in their mix.

I, btw, wear a helmet. It even has a "DOT" sticker on the back. I bought the sticker online. Heh. I just would rather not invite attention from the gendarmes if I can avoid it. Flouting the law was cool for a minute, but after paying some ten thousand dollars in fines and doing two thousand hours of community service, I realized I had "fought the law, and the law won."

Your mileage may vary.
 
I agree, a standard bicycle helmet is useless for anything other than abrasion prevention in the case of a gentle fall.
In Australia, adults are forced by government to wear helmets because kids were falling off their bikes and beating themselves up - not just their head but every part of their body, (like they have done since time started) so the government decided that wearing a bicycle helmet would somehow stop kids falling off their bike - it didn't, and nothing has changed because kids don't bother to adjust their bicycle helmet properly; leaving the chin straps loose, so the helmet simply rolls off their head when they hit the ground.

Having said that, i do wear a bicycle helmet because it stops the magpies giving your skull a good whacking when they dive bomb you on a friendly cycle run through their territory.
As far as protecting your head, bicycle helmets are next to useless, because the straps need to be adjusted so tight to prevent the helmet rolling off your head in an impact with the ground that the d.a.m.n thing chokes you to death, and even then the helmet will still roll off your head in a decent impact with the ground.
 
Running lights/stops signs is asking for it no matter what you drive.If everyone was more courteous things would work themselves out.I'd have to agree that people are softer in general now than 60 70 yrs ago.A farmer from the dust bowl era would beat the snot out of any MMA dude today, probably without the training.
As far as birds divebombing, Aussies have to deal with some incredible stuff, I can't imagine trying to dodge cane toads at 35mph.
 
Yes, Australia is filled with some mean and nasty things; intent on destroying the country, and then we get to the creatures that want to bite you or even eat you because they find the inhabitants rather tasty.
 
The one that scared me was the "jumpjack" (I think that's the name) ant, they remind me of a super intelligent easily p.i.s.s.e.d. off mix of a wasp/hornet/praying mantis/fire ant.Nothing I want to deal with.
 
I have had people (salesmen ) try to tell me the high end bicycle helmets were almost as safe as a motorcycle helmet.

I told I don't care how much you pay it's just a thin piece of cheap plastic covering Styrofoam, to try tell me they even come close to a motorcycle helmet is a joke , I will take a cheap motorcycle helmet over the most expensive bicycle helmet any day of the week.



even more
http://bicyclesafe.com/helmets.html
 
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Samdallas214 said:
... I don't care how much you pay it's just a thin piece of cheap plastic covering Styrofoam, to try tell me they even come close to a motorcycle helmet is a joke , I will take a cheap motorcycle helmet over the most expensive bicycle helmet any day of the week.
Click to expand...

I agree.

I have... Hmmm... Let me count... Three fully DOT approved motorcycle helmets. One is a half helmet that looks so stupid I've never worn it. Two are full face helmets. I do not ride my Virago without them, EVER. I have two bicycle helmets, and I hate them both. When it's sunny, I end up with funny sunburn stripes on my forehead, and when its wet, I get wet.

I also have two so called "novelty" helmets. One, I got for free because the vendor bribed me into writing a good review on Amazon.

I should say, I no longer have "two," for I decided to stress test one. I call it the "splitting axe test." It's the same test the Roman legionnaires used to make sure their helmets would stand up to a horde of Germans with axes.

Confession: I did NOT need a bribe to write a great review. It IS a great helmet! Light, comfy, great looking, not hot in the sun but warm in the cool, and, per my splitting axe tests on the spare, VERY strong. That's the one I wear on my moto-bike. I feel naked without it. One of my old bike helmets just exploded when hit with the maul. Not so the so-called "novelty" helmet.
 
I started wearing the full face because of the winter (does a good job of keeping my head warmer). Eventually wear it all the time.
Fell off the pedaler the first time in 50 years (hit some rock salt while turning sharp on the bike path-instant down).
Was very glad to have been wearing it.
In the summer on the pedal bike, it is hot because of the exercise, on the power bike- not bad.
 
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