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What are folks using for helmets?

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What are folks using for helmets?

Old 08-08-20, 05:49 AM
  #26  
gearbasher
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I've been using Limar helmets for years, I bought my first one before they were being sold here in the US. Many Euro dealers would not ship them here at that time, But, found one that did . One of their helmets saved my life or at least kept me from being a vegetable.
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Old 08-08-20, 05:51 AM
  #27  
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I put that's stripe on it to match my Sachs.
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Old 08-08-20, 09:32 AM
  #28  
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Bell Sixer MIPS

Gotta have a visor.

Most comfortable helmet I have owned.

https://www.bellhelmets.com/bike/p/s...500000069.html

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Old 08-08-20, 09:55 AM
  #29  
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Built this bike just for local stuff, no roads posted above 25mph, always within 10mi of my house. No bike “gear” required, whatever I happen to be wearing at the time, get on and go. I find that I ride more often if I don’t have to gear up. If it’s a high traffic time I’ll grab the helmet, otherwise Nada. I like that word. Also, nice having a kickstand again.
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Old 08-08-20, 10:09 AM
  #30  
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POC Tectal, I added some Scotchlite to the visor, and some reflective material used on road signs on the back. People remark about the visibility. I've replaced the cheap generic lights with smaller/lighter ones from the swap.
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Old 08-08-20, 10:17 AM
  #31  
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Bell helmets fit me better than the rest. Got a new Falcon this past week.

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Old 08-08-20, 10:44 AM
  #32  
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Originally Posted by davester
The urgency generally doesn't appear until you're in the process of being catapulted headfirst into the asphalt.
Ummm, yeah. If and when that happens I'll be wearing a perfectly functional Garneau X-Lite Pro. Maybe you missed that part.

Originally Posted by Drillium Dude
You must mean that gaspleen or whatever it is; I remember the last time I fell for a "will change everything" claim was in the run-up to the introduction of the Segway scooter. Never again will I believe any kind of hype
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Every once in a while they still get me. I recently went in for that on the Nitto Noodle, going so far as to replace a stem with subtle aesthetics I absolutely loved with a Pearl in 26.0 to accommodate the new bars. Supremely anticlimactic.
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Old 08-08-20, 11:21 AM
  #33  
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Back in the day we wore these helmets, but we had to make whirring sounds and chose African swallows. We had to make clicking sounds and had crickets in clever small cages. We had to make squealing brake sounds, so we carried small pigs and would squeeze them at appropriate times. It would have been better to have a bicycle.
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Old 08-08-20, 11:45 AM
  #34  
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Giro Aeon. Plain black, stickers removed, and it's still ugly. I confess I'm a long time no helmet wearer, but the times are different. The modern driver is angry and distracted, and cares more about the cell phone than watching the road or staying between the lines. This Giro is not any more of an inconvenience than wearing a hat, so there really isn't any rational reason not to wear one.

It is getting pretty well past its prime though. Due for replacement. I was looking at the POC, but they are just so expensive. I wonder how they hold up? I'm on my second set of hardware for the Giro.
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Old 08-08-20, 01:41 PM
  #35  
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Specialized Chamonix MIPS for me. I like it okay. All black, which I'm fine with (though a couple of friends have hi-viz yellow and I have to admit they're cool), and at least it's not pink or some other "girly" color. What they had at the bike shop in my price range on the day I went (I have never in my life owned such an expensive helmet, though I realize that ~$70 is on the low end). These days I'm not 100% sure it fits perfectly; when I bought it the guy at the LBS thought I'd take a medium/large despite the fact that I have a small head (I wear kids' glasses, or at the very least the smallest women's size, and often wear kids' hats, so you can see why this was a surprise to me). When I compared the medium/large vs the small/medium, it did seem the larger size had less of that look of "perching" on top of my head that I tend to get with helmets (despite the fact that my head is actually all the way in) so I agreed with him and bought the larger size, but now I'm not certain. I can get it snug with the adjustments though, so there's that.

And I agree with Salamandrine. I have never in my life fallen off a bike in such a way that it wasn't my elbows/knees that took the brunt (next candidate would likely be my face, which nothing but a full-face helmet is going to save me from)-- I'm no super-fast rider so it's unlikely I'd go crashing onto my head at a low speed*-- but, all bets are off if I were to get hit by a car and actually go flying. I don't especially trust other drivers at all anyway, but it's more of a concern when there's no heavy metal frame or airbags or seatbelts between me and their two-ton fast-paced projectile.

Originally Posted by Drillium Dude
True, but you put it out of your mind a couple seconds later

DD
And it does quickly turn to regret, so there's that...


*I think the last time I fell off-- keep in mind that I don't ride that often so don't have much opportunity anyway-- was maybe 15+ years ago when I was actually stopped, trying to turn the bike around on a sidewalk; somehow I turned the front wheel too much, put myself enough off-balance that I hit the concrete. I can't even remember the last time I might've fallen off while actually riding, if it actually has happened since I was learning. Maybe that time I hit a pothole fast-ish, but that at most would've just resulted in me coming off the seat and slamming onto the center bar/into the handlebars, not actually falling.

Last edited by Kat12; 08-08-20 at 01:47 PM.
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Old 08-08-20, 02:17 PM
  #36  
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Originally Posted by Salamandrine
I was looking at the POC, but they are just so expensive.
I got lucky with mine. Stopped at the Erik's store on Madison's east side on a whim, as we were driving past. They had mine on sale, close to 50% off, I'm guessing because the pink was, er, a slow seller. For me it was a bonus. No hardware issues, BTW.
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Old 08-08-20, 02:43 PM
  #37  
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because it fits so well...
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Old 08-08-20, 03:57 PM
  #38  
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On the recommendation of a local bike shop owner, I chose the Giro Xen for its spherical shape, which fits my head perfectly.


(Little Erik E., age 2 in this picture from last year, has to wear a helmet instead of his favored Mickey Mouse cap when riding his tricycle or in the Burley trailer.)
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Old 08-08-20, 04:02 PM
  #39  
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^^^^^^^ Find a Mickey Mouse cap big enough to fit over the helmet.
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Old 08-08-20, 04:36 PM
  #40  
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Originally Posted by Wildwood
because it fits so well...
When do you strap on that hard, yellow thing you posted the other day?
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Old 08-08-20, 08:33 PM
  #41  
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Recently got a Smith Convoy to replace a heavier, less airy gray Bern that I gave away along with a bike to my nephew.


I like the design, but I wish I liked wearing a helmet better.
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Old 08-08-20, 08:43 PM
  #42  
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I use a bike helmet. It has a name on it. I can't be bothered to remember what the name is. It was a closeout at Nashbar last time I ordered something from them (over two years ago).

They're all ugly and they're all hot and they're all important. When I'm wearing it, I can't see it ... so the ugly doesn't bother me.
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Old 08-08-20, 08:59 PM
  #43  
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I haven't had an ugly or hot helmet since, roughly, the turn of the century.

My old '80s Bell Biker, well, that's another story.
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Old 08-09-20, 01:57 AM
  #44  
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Originally Posted by Salamandrine
I was looking at the POC, but they are just so expensive. I wonder how they hold up?
Several friends (mostly hardcore roadies, and one casual rider) have the POC Octal and Ventral, and one has a POC mountain bike helmet. No problems or complaints. I've had the Omne Air Spin for a year, no problems other than my own for buying a size slightly too large. I'd buy another Omne Air Spin because it's so comfortable in hot weather, but I'd get the medium.

They are kinda bulbous or mushroom-head looking, so be sure the style suits you. The EPS foam is thicker than most other helmets, and the polycarbonate shell may be a bit thicker too, so they run a little heavier than some helmets. But most folks love the ventilation.

I'm considering an Abus, which also fits lower on the skull, especially the sides and rear, but more tapered so it appears less bulbous.

After seeing a pretty horrific crash at 20+ mph last year I won't ride without a helmet now. The guy's front tire nicked a raised ledge of pavement in the middle of what appeared to be a smooth road, smacked the right side of his head hard, then slid several feet and hit head first into a curb.

I know some folks think they have fast enough reflexes or can roll with the fall or some such thing, but... nah. Most of us fall like a sack of potatoes and smack our heads on the pavement. We aren't highly trained, zero body fat pros, and even those guys don't duck, cover, roll and pop up like ninjas when they crash. When I was hit by a car a couple of years ago it was fairly slow speed (driver ignored the yellow yield light and turned left into me while I had the green), maybe 10-15 mph, and as I fell I remember consciously trying to roll with the fall and keep my head up. Nope. The side of my helmet smacked the pavement and my shoulder was broken and dislocated. All my boxing and martial arts judo, karate and wrestling training years ago meant zippo when it came to a 60 year old man vs car and pavement.
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