Take Your Helmet Off, Why Don't You?
#76
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Cheers
#77
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Using the rear view mirror attached to my helmet I can keep an eye on potential pickpockets.
#78
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I see this along some of my bike and eat routes, guy sitting in a restaurant having breakfast and wearing a bike helmet.
Personally I always think "what a freakin' nerd"...I think it but don't say it. As soon as I stop pedaling that most unflattering piece of gear comes off.
Personally I always think "what a freakin' nerd"...I think it but don't say it. As soon as I stop pedaling that most unflattering piece of gear comes off.
Last edited by bykemike; 11-15-16 at 08:01 PM.
#79
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Let's see:
1 My helmet fits well and is comfortable to wear, so I sometimes forget I'm wearing it. I do unbuckle the chin strap most times.
2 It hides a bad hair day.
3 My helmet and attached lights are worth well north of $300 and are never left on the Bike.
4 At long rest stops the helmet can act as a headrest when lying down, although this can conflict with lights noted in 3.
5 Some coffee shops and other merchants offer a small discount to customers riding bikes and wearing a helmet shouts I'm riding a bike.
6 It adds credibility when asking store owners to install bike racks.
7 As a corollary I often don't remove my bike gloves.
1 My helmet fits well and is comfortable to wear, so I sometimes forget I'm wearing it. I do unbuckle the chin strap most times.
2 It hides a bad hair day.
3 My helmet and attached lights are worth well north of $300 and are never left on the Bike.
4 At long rest stops the helmet can act as a headrest when lying down, although this can conflict with lights noted in 3.
5 Some coffee shops and other merchants offer a small discount to customers riding bikes and wearing a helmet shouts I'm riding a bike.
6 It adds credibility when asking store owners to install bike racks.
7 As a corollary I often don't remove my bike gloves.
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#81
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I don't know that it makes much difference. Why does what others do offend your sensibilities so much,Indy? Do you also want those at a cyclist get-together to take off their bike shorts, too?
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Does not wearing a helmet off the bike help people understand why you are wearing the stupid looking shorts or tights? I'm used to wearing stupid looking tights. I don't think about it unless it comes up here. Then I remember I'm wearing stooopid looking tights. Who cares?
#83
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Okay I'll bite too. Wearing the helmet off the bike because it leaves the hands free and the helmet isn't swinging and possible bumping into or snagging things and you don't have to worry about forgetting it. There are many reasons why someone might choose to wear their helmet whilst they're off the bike.
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A common theme I'm noticing in this thread is one of the "stinky, sweaty helmet." Is this really a thing? My helmet has three little padded fabric bits in it, which are removable and get washed once a week. The rest of the helmet is hard foam and plastic. Even if I'm really sweating on a ride, it's not like the helmet is filling up with sweat like a bucket. My helmet has no sweat-induced odor whatsoever. I clean the outside of it with automotive quick detailer, so it generally smells like that.
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Here is a good reason. One day on a bike ride, I stopped at a local park used by cyclists as a rest stop. On a wall was a brand new Giro Pneumo helmet sitting all alone. I waited there for several minutes waiting to see if the ride returned. Nope! I even placed a lost and found ad trying got locate the owner knowing these helmets were about $150 at the time.
Probably lost by a cyclists not wanting to look like a Fred in front of fellow cyclists!
Probably lost by a cyclists not wanting to look like a Fred in front of fellow cyclists!
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When I used to bike to the park with my kids,
they would not infrequently forget they had their helmets on just start playing.
Helmets may look funny, but they're just not that uncomfortable.
they would not infrequently forget they had their helmets on just start playing.
Helmets may look funny, but they're just not that uncomfortable.
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So there's yet another answer: possibly some people forget that they have it on! Now I have to wonder whether I've been one of those, walking around with my helmet on, and didn't realize. Very possible.
#89
Non omnino gravis
So that's not just me, then. The wicking jerseys do smell weird once they get sweat in them, right? My wife says once my jersey gets really sweated up, it smells like tortilla chips... so I guess it could be much worse.
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Just another one of Indy's threads started just to pick on what he deems to be nerds. Bike helmet ediquette? Give me a break.
#93
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I have jerseys from a number of brands, and the Castelli seem to get it the worst, Pearl Izumi the least. I'd like to try wool, but I'm not independently wealthy.
#94
Senior Member
When racing, I seldom wore a helmet, until one of my teammates (in an evil hour) told our coach I was a good sprinter. From that point on I was the one pushed up to the front of the flat stages to sprint it out. Sprinting in a big race is a lot like the Roller Derby reruns I used to watch as a kid, only you are moving much faster. I ended up developing a love for sprinting (it's a goddamn rush, your body burns like you just took an IV shot of dilaudid), and enjoyed the pushing, shoving, and cursing. Sprinters are the most interesting cyclists, and have the most war stories and battle scars. In sprints, like in war, a helmet is a good thing to have handy. In the mountains or long stages, my helmet stayed in the trailer.
Though I still ride regularly, I have not worn my helmet in years. The last time I put it on I noticed that the padding had started rotting, and padding for the old Twinner helmets is hard to find.
Though I still ride regularly, I have not worn my helmet in years. The last time I put it on I noticed that the padding had started rotting, and padding for the old Twinner helmets is hard to find.
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