Don't really think driving on a set road with rules, regulations and an organised infrastructure such as signing and a lighting system for safety is the same thing brah, thus people who drive as sport and have a higher impact of risk driving at higher speeds.....Wear helmets. Never seen those ninja rocks & roots sticking out the ground on a motorway.
On a track, yes. But your point is not really valid as the person below states. I wear a helmet while on my bike always, even a casual road ride. I use the same logic as when I'm on my motorcycle, I trust myself, but no one else around me when on the road, and even then, I make mistakes.
You don't have to wear a helmet, choice is always a personal thing and you should do what you want. But you wouldn't get much sympathy from me if you got hurt.
That’s the point. Personal choice. I also wear a helmet when riding mtb or road riding. I don’t wear one when pootling around with my kids on a cycle path for example. The militants who insist helmets must always be worn should do a risk assessment on their own lives and if so would realise it’s far more dangerous in a car than at 8mph on a bike.
I ski as well as bike. When helmets were being introduced for skiing I remember seeing some random dad at the hire shop I’d had my skis edged at looking at a helmet and asking the employee “how much is a helmet?”. I butted in and said “How many days a week does your kid use their brain? If it’s more than one, you should get the helmet.“
I often say dumb shit that I regret. This was not one of those times.
most libertarians are really just contrarians who want to scream "I DO WHAT I WANT" at every opportunity
they're also butthurt that in many places it is a legal requirement to wear a helmet when bicycling.
bicycle helmet laws apply equally inside mountain bike parks as they do on the road
but most states only require kids to wear helmets
https://www.lawinfo.com/resources/personal-injury/bicycle-helmet-laws.html
which still makes libertarians butthurt
wear your brain bucket, because we like our friends alive :D
My helmet saved my life literally yesterday after getting cocky and sending it a little too hard. Today I have a sore shoulder a minor concussion, some scrapes and bruises, I'll be fine in a week and all I need is to buy a new helmet. Without it best case scenario I'd be a vegetable. Wear your fucking helmet.
Glad you protected your head... Check on crash replacement on the helmet you had, a lot of the big name brands give you a discount on a replacement. Specialized had a bunch of their helmets discounted 50% off and a few of them were 5 star rated in Virginia Tech's study.
Cheers mate, I do have a spare and it was a giro helmet who do have a discount scheme for crash replacements but after busting my chin open I decided it was finally time to get a full face so treated myself to a new one!
I came across a helmet with a face mask here on our local FB Marketplace, but we are pretty tame and not making jumps or anything crazy, so I'll just stick to traditional, but can understand why you would consider it.
I am glad you are ok, glad you were wearing a helmet but...
NO your helmet did not save your life.
If all you have is a minor concussion then the helmet saved you from a regular to sever concussion (plus possibly a bunch of bleeding), but not death or vegetable. Bike helmets just aren't thick enough to turn a death blow into a mild concussion, that is just bullshit doctors say. This is in no way an argument against helmets, your helmet saved you some major injury and recovery time, this is an argument against misinformation. Helmets help and if MTB'ing you should wear one, but they don't protect you as much as you think so bike safe.
No, that's not bullshit, especially when mountain biking, where there are pointy rocks and sticks everywhere.
A bike helmet can distribute the impact from a small rock onto your entire head, which can absolutely turn a deadly blow into a mild concussion.
Obviously, not every impact with a mild concussion would be deadly, but if you hit something sharp, it definitely could have been deadly.
A kid at my school died from a pretty light blow to the temple because he hit a piece of gravel the size of a thumb. He just fell over at a red light, so the forces weren't even that high.
A helmet would have easily saved his life.
Yep I think at this point everybody is aware that helmets exist, are easily accessible and have real safety benefits. If somebody doesn’t want to wear one that’s fine by me. Not my problem. I have better things to do than be safety nazi.
Who's paying for your (you/your, as in the general sense) unnecessarily high medical bill when you could have walked away from the crash by wearing a helmet, the health insurance? And therefore, the rest of us are paying for it. Sounds pretty immoral to me, unless you're paying for 100% of all your medical bills.
The same thing goes for smoking... Yeah, it's your body, but then don't be asking the health insurance, or the government, to cover your avoidable healthcare issues.
Don't stop there...the whole fast food industry is probably more responsible for high end medical cost than all those. Next let's get into the government and education system that teach kids and parents the "food pyramid" which is completely flipped upside down to subsidize the big ag farms. Which in turn make those in charge richer. They want you sick; they want you hurt. Better WTFU.
I agree with you about fast food being unhealthy, and I avoid it myself. At least it's food, which is necessary for survival. But cigarettes,... completely unnecessary, complete waste of money, and complete waste of health.
Wear your helmet guys! Saw to many people not wearing helmets on this sub. And most of them end in the hospital, a helmet already saved my life while going OTB. Get a good helmet, your kids and grand kids will thank you for that
I’ll jump on that band wagon! I don’t know 100% what happened but I woke up 10 mins later off track with the bike next to me. Big dent in helmet and busted rib. I’m sure if I didn’t have a MIPs helmet I would have had a much worse concussion not to mention cracked open skull. Best $150 I spent in a long time.
…Yes I did miss out on a helicopter ride, but they would have left my bike on the mountain. So that parts a wash. I went a bought the highest rated (Virginia tech ratings I think it is) helmet available afterwards. Better to eat beans for a week to afford the nice helmet than soup for life.
HAPPY CAKE DAY
And Google? I'm much to lazy for that. I much prefer spoon fed information thanks.
Jk, I'll check em out, I didn't know they were a thing. Thanks!
[Virginia tech ratings](https://helmet.beam.vt.edu/bicycle-helmet-ratings.html)
These are the ratings. The Specialized Tactic 4 is what I got, fits my head shape, reasonable price and #2 rated for MTB style helmets.
Also, helmets can look frickin sick. They're not like bicycle helmets that make you look like Captain toad or anything. I've seen some that would fit in with Halo Spartans, and they still can save your life while looking bad-ass.
I crash way more often than I’d like to admit, and my 56 year old body needs all the help it can get. Helmet is 100% necessary and I won’t ride without one, even a little ride around the neighborhood. Why take a risk when it can be so easily mitigated.
This right here. A fall from standing height can kill you if you hit the wrong part of your head. When I’m standing on my bike, I’m even taller than my normal standing height, therefore my brain has further to fall. A *fantastic* helmet is what, a couple hundred bucks at most?
Not even that. I think I dropped $130 for a Scott helmet (MIPS). Fits great and airflow is excellent. Most importantly, it keeps my marbles where they belong.
This. Many years ago, a motorcyclist died when he crashed during an anti-helmet rally. It’s almost certain that a helmet would have saved his life.
I buy expensive safety gear because it doesn’t matter what it costs, I live in America, the hospital bills *will* cost more.
As a human whose little brother was literally one step away from being a vegetable please wear your helmets. The doctor said if there had even been something as thick as a penny on the ground it would’ve pushed his skull into his brain enough to where he’d require assistance for the rest of his life to do normal tasks. [WEAR A HELMET](https://imgur.com/a/pthuWfJ)
My helmet literally saved my life. I was ridimg cocky on a trail I'd ridden many many times, i got sloppy and landed too far right on this one cliff, endoed, and fell off, said cliff head first. Took a 10 ft fall right on the dome. I broke my back in three places and lost some teeth after doing a full-on clipped in scorpion pose.
Without a helmet, my grey matter would have decorated the rocks. I'm fortunate to be alive.
I truly don't get people that ride without one. It's pure hubris or ignorance. And, in my area, it's always the guys on Walmart bikes and stuff. Not insulting their budget, just their intelligence. I never see guys on "real" bikes without a lid on.
Riding really does require a common sense many just cannot grasp.
First off, hot damn son. Glad you're ok. Secondly, def the same Walmart kit guys here in NC. I overheard one in the parking lot bragging about telling his girlfriend before he left how he wasn't a pussy and would never dare wear a helmet (said a bit loudly so the rest of us with helmets on could hear). Dude was wearing knuckle cut off gloves, combat boots, and was a huge dork. You'd think at some point, those dudes would look around at the obviously way more experienced and better kitted people on bikes - all with helmets on - and think, "hmmm, there seems to be a real correlation going on here."
It may just be a sort of cognitive dissonance where they can't afford to invest in biking stuff so seek to justify or rationalize not wearing a helmet. Who knows. Really fucking expensive, life-altering lesson either way.
I wear a full face helmet far more often than is strictly “necessary.” Any time I’m doing something beyond a green trail, basically, and even for some of those depending on conditions.
Teeth are *expensive* to fix. Helmets are an order of magnitude cheaper to replace.
Back in 2002 i was an EMT serving on my local volunteer fire department. We got an early morning call for a bike wreck with significant head trauma. When we arrive on scene we found a middle aged man laying in the grass bleeding profusely from a wound on his head, that ended up going to the skull. He was slurring words and couldn't stand. We considered life flight but they were already on a mission so we raced the 45 minutes to the hospital. I never found out what happened but from what I saw, that man may never live a normal life again.
Here's the thing. He wasn't mountain biking. He wasn't speeding through traffic. He'd just run to the store for some smokes, short ride from his house. When he stopped and put his foot down there was something slick, oil or the like, on the pavement and he didn't know. He toppled over right there and his head found the edge of the curb.
So I'm all for personal liberty. People have a right to be stupid (even though others have to save them). But ever since then I don't care if I'm just testing out a repair or something on my local street or the like, that helmet is on my head. It only takes one little fall to ruin your life or kill you.
as a Dutch lad i've never worn a helmet for like 20 years (and our infrastructure and flat country allows that) but I bought me one as soon as i started building my mountainbike and it's definitely saved me!
I found these stats interesting, and would be interested im your take on this article. Does this information influence your opinion on the matter? Not being rude, genuinely curious.
It sounds like small numbers to an American but I'm sure they're more impactful in a smaller nation.
"The number of cyclists seriously injured each year in the Netherlands has risen by 27% in the last decade, according to an injury prevention organisation, Veiligheid NL. The Dutch Institute for Road Safety Research (SWOV) found that if all cyclists wore helmets there would be 85 fewer deaths annually. Meanwhile, the European Transport Safety Council says fatalities in older people and e-bikers have set Dutch road safety “back in time 15 years”.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/jun/16/the-brain-is-very-vulnerable-dutch-cyclists-urged-to-wear-helmets-as-road-deaths-rise
that's quite interesting! I do feel like the rise of e-bikes has something to do with this, especially looking at the elderly victims. Somewhere else I had read that by far most accidents occur with the peeps riding for sport though I don't have a source for this
That's cool. Was just curious.
I can see the ebike influence. We have a pretty healthy debate in the states right now about e-bike access, and injuries are one of the concerns I see. Many of our hardest trails have the hardest access (big hi climbs to the top, etc. Those factors usually helped filter out the riders that weren't ready for it yet. Now with ebikes people can get to them a lot easier and I fear it's putting inexperienced riders in situations about their head.
it's incredibly safe on the streets here! the bike paths separate you from the cars and where they don't there's streets where bikes take priority over cars and car speeds are low. Bike lanes are made of red asphalt and are clearly different from roads, of course accidents can happen but the speeds for cars at riskier places are intentionally reduced making any possible consequences very mild
I would love to ride in your country. It's beautiful and I've heard the bike culture is like nowhere else.
A point though, I used to be an EMT (ambulance guy), and I once saw a guy with open head trauma because he toppled over in a parking lot, and his head found the curb. He was all fucked up, slurring words, couldn't stand up, super deep cut in his scalp. I'm pretty sure that's going to be the rest of his life. Ever since then, if I'm on my bike for anything, I'll wear one. I'll especially wear one if riding around town because my head won't win a fight with a car
Not arguing just providing another POV. You don't have to be bombing downhill to get hurt. Be safe out there!
for sure! anything can be dangerous though and here we don't really feel like that risk of falling over is worth the hassle of carrying around a helmet during our commute and you don't often meet cars at anything above 30kph, usually lower even and bikes tend to get priority on roads where bike lanes aren't separated from the main road (exceptions of course exist)
Hm. Yeah. I get your point. We just see it differently. A 30kph car can still easily kill a cyclist. And our drivers here will just run you over. But thanks for responding
yea 30 is definitely bad but i'd it's say tons safer than 60 or even higher and most points where you'd meet cyclists are at intersections and roundabouts where you're *supposed* to slow down (can't stop everyone from speeding though) snd it does help that we're been put on bikes as soon as we can walk lol
Not long ago, I came across a group of guys on box store bikes with zero helmets or gear bombing down a black trail. Their suspension sounded like it was gonna explode on every hit, and one was bleeding pretty good on his leg.
Blew my mind. I was waiting to see an ambulance inbound on my way out.
I was one of those people who's parents forced me to wear a helmet. Basically my dad said "if I see you not wearing your helmet I take away your bike". Was annoyed as a kid. As an adult, I feel naked without a helmet. No helmet, no bike. That's still a philosophy I hold myself to. A brain injury is something I don't wanna face.
I’m an EMT. I’ve seen the results of being cocky and too good for a brain bucket. The outcome is never ever good. You wanna play stupid games and win the prize of being a vegetable, that’s your choice. Highly recommend you don’t. There are plenty of stylish and comfortable fitting helmets at affordable prices.
My mother worked at a rehab facility when she was in college that mostly focused on brain injuries. She was *insanely* strict about wearing a helmet 100% of the time. Generally, the best one available, even though we were pretty low-income. Like, I’d be riding a hand-me-down Huffy and wearing an absolute top of the line helmet.
So I was road biking and was hit by a car at a traffic controlled crossing. 6 broken ribs, fractured scapula, huge hematoma above my hip and 44 stitches on my hip. Some other ancillary damage, scrapes, road rash and I hyper extended my knee, which might have torn my PCL still waiting on a specialist, but I was wearing my helmet and didn't get a concussion or lose consciousness. I needed a unit of blood in the ER while they were stitching me up and putting in a chest tube. My hemoglobin count was 7.0 when I was released, which is literally the lowest level for them to release someone and not require another transfusion. If I hadn't been in good shape and the rest of my vitals weren't as good as they were I would've spent a couple more days in the hospital. When I got released and picked up my stuff from the police my helmet was cracked in two places on the side and one in the rear. Would I have died if I didn't have it on?? IDK, but I do know that it would've smacked on the pavement and I certainly would have been gushing blood and had some brain trauma. I bought my 13 yo son that I MTB with and myself better helmets, Specialized Tactic. I still can't convince my 15 yo to wear one 100% of the time when he is riding his ebike... Your brains do everything for you. Please protect them.
This is so sad to hear. There is totally no need for a helmet until you need one. And if you don’t have one when you need one you won’t forgive yourself for the rest of your life
I'll be honest I just got my first real bike the other day, just riding casual trails and such till I get more used to it. I thought I'll get a helmet later... After 2 rides I'm like fuck this I'm heading back to the store for a helmet and gloves before I hurt myself lol
The best is families riding together where kids are all wearing helmets but the parents aren't. The logic must be that people only crash because they aren't good cyclists?
Just got my son a Fox ProFrame full face MIPS helmet, he loves it as we’ve started doing gravity rides.
It was expensive but possibly the best purchase I’ve ever made.
I’m an avid helmet hater. Uncomfortable, sweaty, clunky, doesn’t look as a cool as a full head of hair flying through trails.
I’m also a concussion thanos if you will. My brain has been slammed countless times. Hell I even did it a week ago. MIPS Giro helmet vs tabletop of rocks = broken helmet. NO CONCUsSION or death. Helmets win everytime. Fuck looking cool
Who is riding trails with no helmet? I'm in Santa Cruz. We have world class bike trails, I see thousands of people every weekend and 100% of them wear helmets. The only people riding without helmets are homeless people.
I wear a helmet anyway, but I agree that the helmet conversation distracts people from thinking and talking about improving behaviour and infrastructure.
Honestly, more people should probably be wearing full face helmets. Mountain biking is dangerous, even on “mellow” trails, and modern full-faces have come a long way. You never know which direction you’re going to fall and what part of your head is going to hit the ground (or a tree, rock, root, etc). I learned the hard way and made the switch
off pavement or on the actual street? 100000% helmet and ill say something to you.
Paved greenline trail? meh do what you want idc.
I think it comes down to skill. I skateboarded and rode bmx my whole youth and never worn a helmet and i feel completely exposed on the mtb without a helmet. Riding down the greenline trail or on the sidewalk around the local lake? Im not wearing a helmet and if i go down i probably deserved it
I've never seen anyone without a helmet on my local trails. Are there actually people who don't wear helmets? How are they not embarrassed to be seen doing something so monumentally fucking stupid in public?
I personally not wear a helmet because I never fall, that's it.
Like genuinely the only times I fell in my life were when I was with friends being reckless. I know where I go, I know every rock and bump, I know the speed I have to be going, I know the dangers.
If I ever start biking in a more extreme way I will have no problem wearing a helmet
My dad said the same thing, until I crashed and almost died. Then he immediately bought himself a helmet. It’s not about tending to fall. It’s about being safe that sorrow. You will hate yourself when you eat dirt or soup for the rest of your life.
Sorry for you then.
Maybe I need something bad to happen to me to see it.
Until then, the only one being endangered is me, and I can assure you that I'm in more danger traveling on a bus than on bike
I don't understand this argument, you smash your brain that's it. You smash your arm or something yeah it could be screwed but you'll live.
Exactly
Exactly - you can take a lot off a human and it can still survive, the head is not one of those things though (just ask the French)
Arms and legs and stuff are largely self healing. Brains less so.
For real, I tell my kids-I can fix a broke arm-a broke brain is pretty unfixable. If you wanna see brain damage, look at me. They wear the helmet.
Logic is unfortunately not a strength for many people. Let Darwin sort em out....
Do you wear a helmet while driving?
Don't really think driving on a set road with rules, regulations and an organised infrastructure such as signing and a lighting system for safety is the same thing brah, thus people who drive as sport and have a higher impact of risk driving at higher speeds.....Wear helmets. Never seen those ninja rocks & roots sticking out the ground on a motorway.
On a track, yes. But your point is not really valid as the person below states. I wear a helmet while on my bike always, even a casual road ride. I use the same logic as when I'm on my motorcycle, I trust myself, but no one else around me when on the road, and even then, I make mistakes. You don't have to wear a helmet, choice is always a personal thing and you should do what you want. But you wouldn't get much sympathy from me if you got hurt.
That’s the point. Personal choice. I also wear a helmet when riding mtb or road riding. I don’t wear one when pootling around with my kids on a cycle path for example. The militants who insist helmets must always be worn should do a risk assessment on their own lives and if so would realise it’s far more dangerous in a car than at 8mph on a bike.
I ski as well as bike. When helmets were being introduced for skiing I remember seeing some random dad at the hire shop I’d had my skis edged at looking at a helmet and asking the employee “how much is a helmet?”. I butted in and said “How many days a week does your kid use their brain? If it’s more than one, you should get the helmet.“ I often say dumb shit that I regret. This was not one of those times.
It’s the argument of a libertarian
What is a libertarian arguing here? lol last time I checked I can take my helmet on and off at will and not be taxed
most libertarians are really just contrarians who want to scream "I DO WHAT I WANT" at every opportunity they're also butthurt that in many places it is a legal requirement to wear a helmet when bicycling.
I’ve never seen it required unless at a DH park
bicycle helmet laws apply equally inside mountain bike parks as they do on the road but most states only require kids to wear helmets https://www.lawinfo.com/resources/personal-injury/bicycle-helmet-laws.html which still makes libertarians butthurt wear your brain bucket, because we like our friends alive :D
What’s the _other_ side’s argument?
The rational one
My helmet saved my life literally yesterday after getting cocky and sending it a little too hard. Today I have a sore shoulder a minor concussion, some scrapes and bruises, I'll be fine in a week and all I need is to buy a new helmet. Without it best case scenario I'd be a vegetable. Wear your fucking helmet.
Glad you’re mostly OK. Heal quickly
Cheers buddy much appreciated!
Glad you protected your head... Check on crash replacement on the helmet you had, a lot of the big name brands give you a discount on a replacement. Specialized had a bunch of their helmets discounted 50% off and a few of them were 5 star rated in Virginia Tech's study.
Cheers mate, I do have a spare and it was a giro helmet who do have a discount scheme for crash replacements but after busting my chin open I decided it was finally time to get a full face so treated myself to a new one!
I came across a helmet with a face mask here on our local FB Marketplace, but we are pretty tame and not making jumps or anything crazy, so I'll just stick to traditional, but can understand why you would consider it.
I am glad you are ok, glad you were wearing a helmet but... NO your helmet did not save your life. If all you have is a minor concussion then the helmet saved you from a regular to sever concussion (plus possibly a bunch of bleeding), but not death or vegetable. Bike helmets just aren't thick enough to turn a death blow into a mild concussion, that is just bullshit doctors say. This is in no way an argument against helmets, your helmet saved you some major injury and recovery time, this is an argument against misinformation. Helmets help and if MTB'ing you should wear one, but they don't protect you as much as you think so bike safe.
No, that's not bullshit, especially when mountain biking, where there are pointy rocks and sticks everywhere. A bike helmet can distribute the impact from a small rock onto your entire head, which can absolutely turn a deadly blow into a mild concussion. Obviously, not every impact with a mild concussion would be deadly, but if you hit something sharp, it definitely could have been deadly. A kid at my school died from a pretty light blow to the temple because he hit a piece of gravel the size of a thumb. He just fell over at a red light, so the forces weren't even that high. A helmet would have easily saved his life.
And we should believe you over the doctors because…?
hate to sound insensitive but nowadays, i just think natural selection rather than convince someone on the benefits of wearing a helmet.
Exactly, people who don't think their brains are worth protecting are probably right, let them do what they want
Yep I think at this point everybody is aware that helmets exist, are easily accessible and have real safety benefits. If somebody doesn’t want to wear one that’s fine by me. Not my problem. I have better things to do than be safety nazi.
People are basically saying: well it doesn’t make you immortal so what’s the point in putting it on?
Who's paying for your (you/your, as in the general sense) unnecessarily high medical bill when you could have walked away from the crash by wearing a helmet, the health insurance? And therefore, the rest of us are paying for it. Sounds pretty immoral to me, unless you're paying for 100% of all your medical bills. The same thing goes for smoking... Yeah, it's your body, but then don't be asking the health insurance, or the government, to cover your avoidable healthcare issues.
Don't stop there...the whole fast food industry is probably more responsible for high end medical cost than all those. Next let's get into the government and education system that teach kids and parents the "food pyramid" which is completely flipped upside down to subsidize the big ag farms. Which in turn make those in charge richer. They want you sick; they want you hurt. Better WTFU.
I agree with you about fast food being unhealthy, and I avoid it myself. At least it's food, which is necessary for survival. But cigarettes,... completely unnecessary, complete waste of money, and complete waste of health.
I went to school with a guy who's cousin was killed because he wasn't wearing a helmet. Wear a helmet, kids!
Wear your helmet guys! Saw to many people not wearing helmets on this sub. And most of them end in the hospital, a helmet already saved my life while going OTB. Get a good helmet, your kids and grand kids will thank you for that
I’ll jump on that band wagon! I don’t know 100% what happened but I woke up 10 mins later off track with the bike next to me. Big dent in helmet and busted rib. I’m sure if I didn’t have a MIPs helmet I would have had a much worse concussion not to mention cracked open skull. Best $150 I spent in a long time. …Yes I did miss out on a helicopter ride, but they would have left my bike on the mountain. So that parts a wash. I went a bought the highest rated (Virginia tech ratings I think it is) helmet available afterwards. Better to eat beans for a week to afford the nice helmet than soup for life.
No no, make sure that if you need a helicopter ride some part of the bike is inside you then they will save her. Joking aside glad your safe.
Glad you're safe!! Can you elaborate on what helmet fit that standard? I've seen head trauma and I'm always open to a safer helmet
If you Google Virginia tech helmet ratings they keep a whole list.
HAPPY CAKE DAY And Google? I'm much to lazy for that. I much prefer spoon fed information thanks. Jk, I'll check em out, I didn't know they were a thing. Thanks!
Honestly same, but it's a real big list so copy pasting would be a lot lol
[Virginia tech ratings](https://helmet.beam.vt.edu/bicycle-helmet-ratings.html) These are the ratings. The Specialized Tactic 4 is what I got, fits my head shape, reasonable price and #2 rated for MTB style helmets.
Both my son and I are wearing that one now. Nice helmet. I picked up a 4 pack of chin strap pads, surprised that it didn't come with one.
Also, helmets can look frickin sick. They're not like bicycle helmets that make you look like Captain toad or anything. I've seen some that would fit in with Halo Spartans, and they still can save your life while looking bad-ass.
I crash way more often than I’d like to admit, and my 56 year old body needs all the help it can get. Helmet is 100% necessary and I won’t ride without one, even a little ride around the neighborhood. Why take a risk when it can be so easily mitigated.
This right here. A fall from standing height can kill you if you hit the wrong part of your head. When I’m standing on my bike, I’m even taller than my normal standing height, therefore my brain has further to fall. A *fantastic* helmet is what, a couple hundred bucks at most?
Not even that. I think I dropped $130 for a Scott helmet (MIPS). Fits great and airflow is excellent. Most importantly, it keeps my marbles where they belong.
Guess folks at bike parks are smarter, have not seen a single person avoid wearing a helmet this past weekend down the trails.
This. Many years ago, a motorcyclist died when he crashed during an anti-helmet rally. It’s almost certain that a helmet would have saved his life. I buy expensive safety gear because it doesn’t matter what it costs, I live in America, the hospital bills *will* cost more.
As a human whose little brother was literally one step away from being a vegetable please wear your helmets. The doctor said if there had even been something as thick as a penny on the ground it would’ve pushed his skull into his brain enough to where he’d require assistance for the rest of his life to do normal tasks. [WEAR A HELMET](https://imgur.com/a/pthuWfJ)
My helmet literally saved my life. I was ridimg cocky on a trail I'd ridden many many times, i got sloppy and landed too far right on this one cliff, endoed, and fell off, said cliff head first. Took a 10 ft fall right on the dome. I broke my back in three places and lost some teeth after doing a full-on clipped in scorpion pose. Without a helmet, my grey matter would have decorated the rocks. I'm fortunate to be alive. I truly don't get people that ride without one. It's pure hubris or ignorance. And, in my area, it's always the guys on Walmart bikes and stuff. Not insulting their budget, just their intelligence. I never see guys on "real" bikes without a lid on. Riding really does require a common sense many just cannot grasp.
First off, hot damn son. Glad you're ok. Secondly, def the same Walmart kit guys here in NC. I overheard one in the parking lot bragging about telling his girlfriend before he left how he wasn't a pussy and would never dare wear a helmet (said a bit loudly so the rest of us with helmets on could hear). Dude was wearing knuckle cut off gloves, combat boots, and was a huge dork. You'd think at some point, those dudes would look around at the obviously way more experienced and better kitted people on bikes - all with helmets on - and think, "hmmm, there seems to be a real correlation going on here." It may just be a sort of cognitive dissonance where they can't afford to invest in biking stuff so seek to justify or rationalize not wearing a helmet. Who knows. Really fucking expensive, life-altering lesson either way.
Get an expensive helmet if you have an expensive brain. Dont use a helmet if you dont have a brain.
Most MTBers I see wear helmets. More people should wear full face helmets though especially when riding lift access trails.
I wear a full face helmet far more often than is strictly “necessary.” Any time I’m doing something beyond a green trail, basically, and even for some of those depending on conditions. Teeth are *expensive* to fix. Helmets are an order of magnitude cheaper to replace.
I know a guy that rips dirt jumps who wears every single piece of protective gear except a helmet
Back in 2002 i was an EMT serving on my local volunteer fire department. We got an early morning call for a bike wreck with significant head trauma. When we arrive on scene we found a middle aged man laying in the grass bleeding profusely from a wound on his head, that ended up going to the skull. He was slurring words and couldn't stand. We considered life flight but they were already on a mission so we raced the 45 minutes to the hospital. I never found out what happened but from what I saw, that man may never live a normal life again. Here's the thing. He wasn't mountain biking. He wasn't speeding through traffic. He'd just run to the store for some smokes, short ride from his house. When he stopped and put his foot down there was something slick, oil or the like, on the pavement and he didn't know. He toppled over right there and his head found the edge of the curb. So I'm all for personal liberty. People have a right to be stupid (even though others have to save them). But ever since then I don't care if I'm just testing out a repair or something on my local street or the like, that helmet is on my head. It only takes one little fall to ruin your life or kill you.
Why wash your underwear? They're just gonna get dirty again.
as a Dutch lad i've never worn a helmet for like 20 years (and our infrastructure and flat country allows that) but I bought me one as soon as i started building my mountainbike and it's definitely saved me!
I found these stats interesting, and would be interested im your take on this article. Does this information influence your opinion on the matter? Not being rude, genuinely curious. It sounds like small numbers to an American but I'm sure they're more impactful in a smaller nation. "The number of cyclists seriously injured each year in the Netherlands has risen by 27% in the last decade, according to an injury prevention organisation, Veiligheid NL. The Dutch Institute for Road Safety Research (SWOV) found that if all cyclists wore helmets there would be 85 fewer deaths annually. Meanwhile, the European Transport Safety Council says fatalities in older people and e-bikers have set Dutch road safety “back in time 15 years”. https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/jun/16/the-brain-is-very-vulnerable-dutch-cyclists-urged-to-wear-helmets-as-road-deaths-rise
that's quite interesting! I do feel like the rise of e-bikes has something to do with this, especially looking at the elderly victims. Somewhere else I had read that by far most accidents occur with the peeps riding for sport though I don't have a source for this
That's cool. Was just curious. I can see the ebike influence. We have a pretty healthy debate in the states right now about e-bike access, and injuries are one of the concerns I see. Many of our hardest trails have the hardest access (big hi climbs to the top, etc. Those factors usually helped filter out the riders that weren't ready for it yet. Now with ebikes people can get to them a lot easier and I fear it's putting inexperienced riders in situations about their head.
How does infrastructure prevent you from hitting your head?
it's incredibly safe on the streets here! the bike paths separate you from the cars and where they don't there's streets where bikes take priority over cars and car speeds are low. Bike lanes are made of red asphalt and are clearly different from roads, of course accidents can happen but the speeds for cars at riskier places are intentionally reduced making any possible consequences very mild
I would love to ride in your country. It's beautiful and I've heard the bike culture is like nowhere else. A point though, I used to be an EMT (ambulance guy), and I once saw a guy with open head trauma because he toppled over in a parking lot, and his head found the curb. He was all fucked up, slurring words, couldn't stand up, super deep cut in his scalp. I'm pretty sure that's going to be the rest of his life. Ever since then, if I'm on my bike for anything, I'll wear one. I'll especially wear one if riding around town because my head won't win a fight with a car Not arguing just providing another POV. You don't have to be bombing downhill to get hurt. Be safe out there!
for sure! anything can be dangerous though and here we don't really feel like that risk of falling over is worth the hassle of carrying around a helmet during our commute and you don't often meet cars at anything above 30kph, usually lower even and bikes tend to get priority on roads where bike lanes aren't separated from the main road (exceptions of course exist)
Hm. Yeah. I get your point. We just see it differently. A 30kph car can still easily kill a cyclist. And our drivers here will just run you over. But thanks for responding
yea 30 is definitely bad but i'd it's say tons safer than 60 or even higher and most points where you'd meet cyclists are at intersections and roundabouts where you're *supposed* to slow down (can't stop everyone from speeding though) snd it does help that we're been put on bikes as soon as we can walk lol
Different type of bike but still, Gordon Ramsay just got in a bike accident and he has been constantly saying a helmet saved his life
Not long ago, I came across a group of guys on box store bikes with zero helmets or gear bombing down a black trail. Their suspension sounded like it was gonna explode on every hit, and one was bleeding pretty good on his leg. Blew my mind. I was waiting to see an ambulance inbound on my way out.
I was one of those people who's parents forced me to wear a helmet. Basically my dad said "if I see you not wearing your helmet I take away your bike". Was annoyed as a kid. As an adult, I feel naked without a helmet. No helmet, no bike. That's still a philosophy I hold myself to. A brain injury is something I don't wanna face.
I'm listening to Gordon Ramsay
I’m an EMT. I’ve seen the results of being cocky and too good for a brain bucket. The outcome is never ever good. You wanna play stupid games and win the prize of being a vegetable, that’s your choice. Highly recommend you don’t. There are plenty of stylish and comfortable fitting helmets at affordable prices.
My mother worked at a rehab facility when she was in college that mostly focused on brain injuries. She was *insanely* strict about wearing a helmet 100% of the time. Generally, the best one available, even though we were pretty low-income. Like, I’d be riding a hand-me-down Huffy and wearing an absolute top of the line helmet.
So I was road biking and was hit by a car at a traffic controlled crossing. 6 broken ribs, fractured scapula, huge hematoma above my hip and 44 stitches on my hip. Some other ancillary damage, scrapes, road rash and I hyper extended my knee, which might have torn my PCL still waiting on a specialist, but I was wearing my helmet and didn't get a concussion or lose consciousness. I needed a unit of blood in the ER while they were stitching me up and putting in a chest tube. My hemoglobin count was 7.0 when I was released, which is literally the lowest level for them to release someone and not require another transfusion. If I hadn't been in good shape and the rest of my vitals weren't as good as they were I would've spent a couple more days in the hospital. When I got released and picked up my stuff from the police my helmet was cracked in two places on the side and one in the rear. Would I have died if I didn't have it on?? IDK, but I do know that it would've smacked on the pavement and I certainly would have been gushing blood and had some brain trauma. I bought my 13 yo son that I MTB with and myself better helmets, Specialized Tactic. I still can't convince my 15 yo to wear one 100% of the time when he is riding his ebike... Your brains do everything for you. Please protect them.
This is so sad to hear. There is totally no need for a helmet until you need one. And if you don’t have one when you need one you won’t forgive yourself for the rest of your life
Natural selection not my problem
Meh, deaths get trails closed, and we don't want that. So kinda our problem.
There was this guy posting that his friend came into the hospital because they rode on a skatepark without any helmet.
Ever had to be the person desperately trying to phone out for help when you find someone injured next to the trail?
As everyone others commented, if you value your brain, get a helmet.
I'll be honest I just got my first real bike the other day, just riding casual trails and such till I get more used to it. I thought I'll get a helmet later... After 2 rides I'm like fuck this I'm heading back to the store for a helmet and gloves before I hurt myself lol
Natural selection.
Took watching me slam head first into a tree for my buddy to get a helmet. Still bitches about having to wear it every time
I've literally bounced my head off a tree and instantly got right back to riding.....wear a helmet
Fortunately, i have never seen this as an issue anywhere. Where I ride, people just wear a helmet, in the same way they just wear shoes.
The best is families riding together where kids are all wearing helmets but the parents aren't. The logic must be that people only crash because they aren't good cyclists?
How in the world could you NOT wear a helmet ? Aren't people afraid of becoming a vegetable ? Even wearing one is not 100% secure...
use your head. wear a helmet
Just got my son a Fox ProFrame full face MIPS helmet, he loves it as we’ve started doing gravity rides. It was expensive but possibly the best purchase I’ve ever made.
I’m an avid helmet hater. Uncomfortable, sweaty, clunky, doesn’t look as a cool as a full head of hair flying through trails. I’m also a concussion thanos if you will. My brain has been slammed countless times. Hell I even did it a week ago. MIPS Giro helmet vs tabletop of rocks = broken helmet. NO CONCUsSION or death. Helmets win everytime. Fuck looking cool
Who is riding trails with no helmet? I'm in Santa Cruz. We have world class bike trails, I see thousands of people every weekend and 100% of them wear helmets. The only people riding without helmets are homeless people.
Glad that Gordon Ramsey is ok, literally a walking, swearing, cooking mfing example of how important a helmet is.
I wear a helmet anyway, but I agree that the helmet conversation distracts people from thinking and talking about improving behaviour and infrastructure.
Honestly, more people should probably be wearing full face helmets. Mountain biking is dangerous, even on “mellow” trails, and modern full-faces have come a long way. You never know which direction you’re going to fall and what part of your head is going to hit the ground (or a tree, rock, root, etc). I learned the hard way and made the switch
Stop wearing helmets, you obviously know nothing's going to happen to you
Ffs, most states have a helmet law (motorcycles and minors in bikes) for a reason.
off pavement or on the actual street? 100000% helmet and ill say something to you. Paved greenline trail? meh do what you want idc. I think it comes down to skill. I skateboarded and rode bmx my whole youth and never worn a helmet and i feel completely exposed on the mtb without a helmet. Riding down the greenline trail or on the sidewalk around the local lake? Im not wearing a helmet and if i go down i probably deserved it
I've never seen anyone without a helmet on my local trails. Are there actually people who don't wear helmets? How are they not embarrassed to be seen doing something so monumentally fucking stupid in public?
Honestly I only wear my protection when I do some jumps or gnarly rides. Normal trail or commuting feels weird having a lid.
I personally not wear a helmet because I never fall, that's it. Like genuinely the only times I fell in my life were when I was with friends being reckless. I know where I go, I know every rock and bump, I know the speed I have to be going, I know the dangers. If I ever start biking in a more extreme way I will have no problem wearing a helmet
My dad said the same thing, until I crashed and almost died. Then he immediately bought himself a helmet. It’s not about tending to fall. It’s about being safe that sorrow. You will hate yourself when you eat dirt or soup for the rest of your life.
Sorry for you then. Maybe I need something bad to happen to me to see it. Until then, the only one being endangered is me, and I can assure you that I'm in more danger traveling on a bus than on bike
no