Post by markpedal on Feb 11, 2006 1:34:02 GMT -5
I agree, a very interesting subject.
12 years ago when I got back to cycling, I didn't wear a helmet, though I made my kids wear one...the ultimate hippocrate. Eventually fellow cyclists, two accidents avoiding cars and dim witted bicyclists (though no head injury, just nasty road rash) and my kids pestering me as to how come they did and I didn't convinced me to wear one, and am I glad I made that smart decision.
A few years later, when dear old dad took his teenaged son out for his 1st trail ride, after said son had just received a new mtb, said helmet saved me from serious injury, or.....don't even go there.
The seasoned veteran that I was...yeah right... was showing my son how to trail ride. We were on a stretch that had some serious moguls. I showed him how to obtain the right speed, and launch from one mogul and come down the back side of another. I'd ridden these quite a few times without incedent. This time however, I didn't clear one of the moguls, but hit the front portion. My front wheel buckled to almost 90°, which launched me air born over the handle bars like a rocket, and I slammed head 1st into the base of a tree. The helmet, a Specialized, which is designed to obsorb the blow at impact, fractured in half as it was made to. I managed to walk away with a very minor concussion. (the foam is designed to fracture, obsorbing the energy of the impact, not your noggin. the plastic shell on the outside simply functions as a vechicle to hold the fracture portions together, which is why older foam only helmets were always sold with cloth outside covers. these weren't just decorations, they did poorly what the laminated shell covers now do far more effiecently)
If I'd not been wearing the helmet....well I'm gald to say I can still ride vs. the potential or being a para or quadrapallegic (sp) or worse if I'd not been wearing it. If a helmet is worn correctly, and this is critical for it to function properly (am a bike rodeo trainer), it will save you from serious injury. (obviously if a car hits you going 60 mph, the helmet's of little value)
And....I brought it back to my local bike shop and it was replaced free of charge. They and Spl. have a policy of replacing any helmet damaged in impact, provided details as to how it happened are included, so they can anaylize how the fracture/break occured, to improve future designs. TOO COOL.
As a professional Quality Engineer, I fulled understand the ANSI/SNELL standards and test, and they are valid. Again the key to a helmet saving someone from serious injury is proper fit and being worn correctly.
A firm believer who never leaves the house without his American Express Card.....er.......or helmet I mean.
markpedal
12 years ago when I got back to cycling, I didn't wear a helmet, though I made my kids wear one...the ultimate hippocrate. Eventually fellow cyclists, two accidents avoiding cars and dim witted bicyclists (though no head injury, just nasty road rash) and my kids pestering me as to how come they did and I didn't convinced me to wear one, and am I glad I made that smart decision.
A few years later, when dear old dad took his teenaged son out for his 1st trail ride, after said son had just received a new mtb, said helmet saved me from serious injury, or.....don't even go there.
The seasoned veteran that I was...yeah right... was showing my son how to trail ride. We were on a stretch that had some serious moguls. I showed him how to obtain the right speed, and launch from one mogul and come down the back side of another. I'd ridden these quite a few times without incedent. This time however, I didn't clear one of the moguls, but hit the front portion. My front wheel buckled to almost 90°, which launched me air born over the handle bars like a rocket, and I slammed head 1st into the base of a tree. The helmet, a Specialized, which is designed to obsorb the blow at impact, fractured in half as it was made to. I managed to walk away with a very minor concussion. (the foam is designed to fracture, obsorbing the energy of the impact, not your noggin. the plastic shell on the outside simply functions as a vechicle to hold the fracture portions together, which is why older foam only helmets were always sold with cloth outside covers. these weren't just decorations, they did poorly what the laminated shell covers now do far more effiecently)
If I'd not been wearing the helmet....well I'm gald to say I can still ride vs. the potential or being a para or quadrapallegic (sp) or worse if I'd not been wearing it. If a helmet is worn correctly, and this is critical for it to function properly (am a bike rodeo trainer), it will save you from serious injury. (obviously if a car hits you going 60 mph, the helmet's of little value)
And....I brought it back to my local bike shop and it was replaced free of charge. They and Spl. have a policy of replacing any helmet damaged in impact, provided details as to how it happened are included, so they can anaylize how the fracture/break occured, to improve future designs. TOO COOL.
As a professional Quality Engineer, I fulled understand the ANSI/SNELL standards and test, and they are valid. Again the key to a helmet saving someone from serious injury is proper fit and being worn correctly.
A firm believer who never leaves the house without his American Express Card.....er.......or helmet I mean.
markpedal