Witterings

I was riding at the weekend and had just had to stop suddenly as some people coming the other way came downhill and round a corner fast and as I pulled away it felt like my brakes were still on so I was looking down at the wheel instead of ahead of me as I gathered speed again and didn't see a tree branch that was drooping down into my path and smacked it with a hefty impact ... all I can say is thank goodness I was wearing a helmet.

It's broken the covering in a couple of places but it seems to be superficial and there doesn't appear to be any other damage .... if I push hard in the areas where the covering's been affected it seems totally solid ... would you replace the helmet as a matter of course or would you think it's OK???

I only started wearing a helmet a coupe of years ago when I became a "more serious cyclist" but the number of people I know that have had accidents that if they weren't swearing one could have been really quite serious ... a friend of my parents ... their son wasn't and he has to be permanently looked after / can't hold a job or anything .... can't believe how stupid I was for so many years!!

Interested to hear people's thoughts on the helmet although I'm erring towards it'd probably be stupid not to replace it.

livedarklions

Definitely replace it. It clearly was hit hard to cause the visual damage, and my understanding is that you wouldn't really be able to see the microcracking that would compromise its ability to absorb energy.

We've had our differences, but I'm glad you're ok and would like you to stay that way. Don't take the risk of wearing this helmet again.

himespau 

Helmets are single crash and then throw away items.

indyfabz

At a minimum, I'd look it as a mandatory need to upgrade.

livedarklions

Why an upgrade? He could just replace, seems to have done its job well.

Witterings

I feel like that's a bit of an olive brunch for which I have the greatest respect ... takes balls ..... happy to put anything that's gone before behind us as a stupid internet misunderstanding and thank you for the well wishes!!

I definitely agree with this ... it really was a hell of a bang, the 2 guys behind me were .... Christ are you OK as they heard how hard the impact was and apart from having my head jerked a bit I didn't feel a thing so it did a brilliant job .... won't look down at my brakes again in the future unless I've taken a long good look ahead of me 1st or am stationary so a cheap lesson learnt.

livedarklions

I think as long as we don't talk about dogs, we're cool.

I've never hit my head falling or flying off a bike, but the branch thing is almost unavoidable if you ride enough trail miles or anywhere with roadside hedges and bushes--there's often a tree branch hidden in the mix. I usually get it where the road is rough and I'm having to focus on avoiding bumps and potholes, so I really can't look up as much as I want to. I've had a number of glancing blows, but nothing so hard as you describe. Startles the hell out of me, but the helmet has always stopped it from being anything injurious. If nothing else, I'm pretty sure I would have suffered some pretty nasty gashes. Really an underestimated benefit of wearing helmets--thanks for bringing it up.

Slightspeed

I've retired two helmets due to crashes. My old Costco Bell was dented in two places from street contact, but I was fine, never lost consciousness. The other one, a Specialized, had no obvious damage but I was out cold, with concussion. Both did their jobs, I guess. I hated to retire the Specialized. I liked the fit and color, and never found one just like it again, but there are others just as good. Not about style, and some don't cost that much, just stay safe. Specialized used to have a discount for crash replacement, but I couldn't find my receipt, proof of purchase.

delbiker1 

Bike helmets are designed to protect the head from one hard blow. They would have to be more like mortorcycle helmets, very heavy and sight/hearing restrictive. Be glad the helmet did its job and retire it immediately!

livedarklions

If the helmet appeared undamaged but your head wasn't, I'd have to question whether the Specialized actually did do its job. Problem is, of course, you can never prove or disprove the "it would have been worse" scenario, but personally, I'd probably never buy the same helmet I was wearing when I got knocked out.

I think it's pretty clear at this point that safety, comfort and price are independent variables and not well correlated.

Glad you're ok.

Myosmith

Agreed. If you hit hard enough to ask the question "Should I replace my helmet?" the answer is probably "Yes".

livedarklions

This is the same reasoning my doctor used--if you can't answer when you had your last tetanus shot, out came the needle.

alfordjo

I am a little confused by this....if you are stating bike helmets would have to be more like motorcycle helmets to protect from more than one blow, this is incorrect.

Unless something with motorcycle helmets has changed in the past few years they are one bang items also.

Insurance companies agree....

I was in a motorcycle accident 3 years ago and when the insurance company began the claim on my bike, the first line item was $xxx for a new helmet. When I questioned why, they said that helmets were rated for one hard blow and would need to be replaced.

After a little research, I discovered back then that even if you dropped a helmet on the ground, you should replace the helmet.

delbiker1 

I stand corrected, thanks.

79pmooney

I'm not quite so "you gotta have a new one, now!". Yes, your helmet is compromised. So for a specific hit, it is not as good. The odds that you will need that helmts's protection in the next say 6 months - not very high. Multiply those odds and you get a very small number.

I approach issues like this like I do bends to traditional steel forks. Re-bend the fork and order/keep an eye out for a replacement. Do small damage to the helmet, keep wearing it and have your eyes out for a new one; either the same on sale if you like it or a step up that strikes you. (I wore my original Bell which took a very hard hit until I received the replacement from Bell.)

I'm still wearing the POC I crashed wearing two weeks ago. Dazed myself/slight concussion. No visible damage to the helmet. (I have suffered a major TMI and can get concussions simply from hard body slams, no head contact needed.) The helmet is 5 years old and has served me well. So my eyes are open for the next one.

Ben

CliffordK

Don't post here and expect the group to say to put duct tape on it and keep riding.

We can see that the cover has been compromised. But, I've seen that with age and banging around the house (which may also be bad).

But, it is impossible to see the condition of the foam from your photo, and whether there are cracks in the foam. That would be a judgement call you'll have to make.

Nonetheless, that appears to be a relatively cheap helmet, and replacing it may well be worth peace of mind... or preventing the mind to be in pieces the next time.

livedarklions

I've said this before, but one of the reasons I won't pay a lot of money for a helmet is because I'm afraid it would tempt me to keep it even when I shouldn't. I really want them to feel disposable, especially since many of the cheap ones are rated as safe or better than expensive ones.

pdlamb

I don't "believe" helmets do much good, and the data behind helmet use is mixed, but it's time to replace this one. Why?

I look at helmets as lawyer repellants. The insurance company's lawyers, or lawyer for the jerk who runs into you, the first question coming out of their mouth will be, "Were you wearing a helmet?"

Wearing this helmet with cracks will let them argue, "The helmet wasn't being used according to manufacturer's instructions, which say replace after every accident, so it's the victim's fault his leg ended up broken. (A subsequent review of the original TRT data showed no significant reduction in head injuries with helmet use, but did show that helmet use was associated with a reduction in leg injuries.) Especially since OP posted a picture.

No, it's time to replace the damaged helmet so your magic defense against attorneys remains intact.

dmanthree

Had this same choice in April. I replaced it without hesitation. Helmets are expensive, but still cheaper than heads.

surak

I crashed two days after buying a Lazer Cyclone MIPS, top of the VTech safety ratings. No concussion, but a small dent and scratch on the Lazer. It's no longer readily available to buy, which is a bummer, but I haven't worn it since. In the meantime I still have the once-king of those VTech ratings, the Bontrager Ballista, but I ordered a new road helmet to replace the Lazer since I feel silly wearing an aero road helmet on slower rides.

livedarklions

I'm pretty sure I bought the last Cyclone. I think I paid $30. It's the one I'm wearing on every ride right now.

livedarklions

Believe what you want, but like I said above, I've had this tree branch thing happen to me a few times in the last couple years, and not gotten injured due to the helmet. Nothing magic and no lawyers involved, it's just good to have some head protection, your cynical leg scenario notwithstanding.

MikeyMK

There's no legal case against anyone at any time, in any situation or case, where a rider wasn't wearing a helmet - in areas where the wearing of one is not mandatory by law. Here, it couldn't be used against me.

Should you wear a helmet? Or replace a damaged one? Yeah, if you're likely to hit your head on something because you don't look where you're going. In fact the really clumsy should just wear one 24/7 regardless of what they're doing.

livedarklions

If you're riding your little scoot-scoot faster than 45 mph without a helmet, good luck to you!

It's really easy to miss a branch hanging right above eye level when you're looking forward--it's just not somewhere you're paying attention to because there's almost never anything there.

Witterings

I didn't pay much for this helmet .... weird thing I had a decent one quite a few years ago and in the days I was earning a good income that "disappeared" ... this was just a cheap one from the local Tesco's I think.

I may go up one level from this and would like one with removable padding as I'm sure on the really hot days salt accumulates in the padding from when you sweat and can contribute to making your eyes more sore than they'd otherwise be on those scorching days if you can't remove and wash the padding from time to time.

I'm also in the camp of not spending a fortune on it as livedarklions mentioned you're then in the bracket being reluctant to replace it after a bang .... especially if it happened within a week or two of buying it and even the cheapest ones have to conform to a level of safety testing.