My criteria for a helmet include protection for my head (from sun and impact), comfort (is light, breathable, fit), promotes visibility (for others and does not reduce visibility for me), and looks OK (both wearing and what it does to the hair upon removal). I don't expect much of any of those criteria for a helmet. As for fit, I recommend folks try on many: I require a size L or XL from Bell and Specialized, but just barely comfortably fit into a size medium with a Smith helmet.
I consider it a nice thing that cycling provides an expectation for wearing a helmet. Honestly, I consider wearing a helmet to drive (hey, how many people still wear N95s when driving alone?), and wonder if that trend would catch on. Funny thing about cyclists: We''ll spend an extra hundred dollars on tires that might or might not increase our speed by a mile an hour or so, and who knows how much to reduce the bike's weight to add another mile an hour of performance. Noting that a crash at 14mph, likely exceeding a bike helmet's safety limit, introduces 1/3 additional energy at impact vs. crashing at 12mph. And, oh, the nail-biting difference riding from twelve to fourteen miles an hour - takes your breath away. Of course, we really enjoy cycling for the exercise. But then spend hundreds of dollars more on tires and bike weight reduction to make the ride easier. Actually, we ride for the social benefits of being with a group of friends. And then spend hundreds of extra dollars on tires and bike weight reduction to drop those jerks on a sprint or climb. Seriously, I intentionally ride slower on the flats and descents, even tapping the brakes and sitting or standing upright to decrease speed, and go for it on the climbs. I love how my Clem is suited to me for that mindset. Somehow I hang on the climbs with the folks on their CF bikes. Not so seriously, I don't always wear a helmet. I in fact wear two around the house and in the shower. I just take one of the two off when I want to go for a ride. Cheers, Chris On Thursday, June 20, 2024 at 10:51:43 AM UTC-7 Doug Van Cleve wrote: > Too funny, I'm bummed I didn't get further through this thread before > responding: > > "The 81-year-old, *who was not wearing a helmet*, was transported to > Ryder Trauma Center in Miami with “serious” injuries, according to the > highway patrol." > > Doug > > On Tue, Jun 18, 2024 at 1:50 PM Edwin W <dween...@hotmail.com> wrote: > >> Gene Hackman had a bike wreck at age 81 and survived with minimal >> injuries and could have said "thank god I wasn't wearing a helmet." >> https://www.cnn.com/2012/01/13/showbiz/hackman-accident/index.html >> >> Now, I am not saying he had no injuries because he was not wearing a >> helmet, but if he HAD been wearing a helmet, everyone would have said it >> saved his life! >> >> Edwin >> >> On Tuesday, June 18, 2024 at 3:30:48 PM UTC-5 Matthew Williams wrote: >> >>> No one has ever said: >>> >>> “I had a bad bike wreck, thankfully I wasn’t wearing a helmet! >> >> -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/b4b82b36-362b-486a-b837-773d6b8cae7dn%40googlegroups.com.
