Swoop

I had my first spill in 10 years. Going down a fairly steep bit of hill, roads still wet from earlier rain. There was solid bumper-to-bumper traffic on my side so I was the fastest object on the road, but I was taking it easy; braking all the way so far. There was pedestrians coming up along the side of the road so I had to swerve out a bit (let's not get into why they were in the road).
Next thing I know the handlebars have disappeared from in front of me and I'm fighting to keep my face off the road. I have no idea which wheel slipped out first but one evidently did, quite badly! My right knee and left wrist took the brunt of the impact, going for x-rays tomorrow to see how bad it is. It happened so fast there was no time to prepare to fall 'properly'. My knee had already taken lower body impact and it was my hand or my face that was going to take upper body impact.

I was wearing a regular cyclist helmet. So as I was seeing the road come closer and closer I was thinking "boy, this helmet is a bit ****ing useless right now". I estimate my impact speed at 20-25km/h. In dry conditions I might bomb down that hill at double that. There's no way my wrist will be enough to take the impact in a similar crash at 40km/h. With a full face helmet I wouldn't have to play last minute "What body part would I like to sacrifice today?". I'm going to go look at motorcycling gloves as well, and elbow and knee protectors are not off the table either.

Would this be overkill? Madness? Sensible? Impractical? Does anyone out there don motorcycle protection already and can advise? Only problem I'm seeing is sweat in the helmet - I can deal with this.

cplager

Most baseball players wear regular batting helmets. Those who have taken a shot to the jaw often wear one with more face protection.

Ventilation is likely to be your biggest problem. The more aggressive your position, the more likely you'll have vision issues (which are probably avoidable) and the more likely the weight of the helmet will get to you. Some people won't like the funny looks.

Cheers,
Charles

Leebo

Look at bicycle downhill helmets. What kind of bike? Would better /bigger tires help? Better brakes?

Swoop

Those downhill helmets are exactly the style I got in mind. Any real difference between them and moto-x helmets? Just because I think moto-x will be easier to find in my part of the world.

Bike is a Giant Avalanche, still on original 2.25" Kendos. Cable disc brakes ;(

Thanks moochems, definitely considering leather gloves. I used to ride a motorcycle myself too so no stranger to gloves and full helmet. I'll keep a look-out for that book.

-=(8)=-

I have a BMX full face --a Bell of some type -- and it's not bad at all as far as weight goes.
I could see wearing it in some road situations. When I lived in VT, there was a little kid that rode a BMX bike
in traffic doing all kinds of crazy stunts n stuff, and he wore one, and actually the whole scene looked kind of cool
from an onlookers perspective.

ro-monster

There is definitely a difference between motocross helmets and downhill MTB helmets. I have both. For general riding, the downhill MTB helmet is nicer because it has a lot more vents, so you don't overheat. This is what I wear on my bicycle every day. If it is cold and rainy then the motocross helmet is nice because it keeps the rain off your head. Do be prepared to have people point and laugh, and make rude comments, if you wear a full-face helmet, though.

I have leather gloves from motorcycling but usually I wear motocross gloves with knuckle protection on my bicycle, since they have some ventilation and can be washed. After I shattered my shoulder in a bicycle crash, I wore upper body motocross armor for about a year when I was able to ride again. Unfortunately it isn't washable and the mesh shirt part of it eventually began to smell pretty bad, so I gave it up.

jyl

Do you get overheated wearing those helmets and riding hard? I mean, suppose you are pushing hard, heart rate 170+, do those helmets vent well enough?

AGoodleyUK

I do motocross as a hobby and I have been for 12 years, I would say a MX helmet would be too heavy for cycling and I would suggest a full face cycling helmet instead. They are worn by downhill riders and they are a lot lighter and thinner, but still have full face and head protection.

CrankyOne

Sounds like you don't have a safe place to ride. I wonder if it wouldn't be better to work to get the dangers that caused this in the first place delt with? Well, unless you really want to ride around all of the time in full MotoX leathers and helmet in case this happens to you again in 15 years.

chaadster

Overkill? Yes
Madness? No
Sensible? No
Impractical? No

So, do what you want; it is unlikely to make a difference one way or the other. If you fall off your bike at 25mph as happens everyday in races around the world, likely nothing more than a few scrapes and bruises and minor broken bones. If you get hit by a truck at 25mph as happens everyday on streets around the world, likely you'll be dead anyway. Any level of rationalization can be given for wearing as much protective gear as possible, but the facts-- the hard facts-- are that those measures will never protect you against every eventuality, so probably getting a grip of your fears is the best possible course of action and best foundation from which to proceed.

Mark Stone

Swoop, do whatever makes you comfortable. I agree with Chaad that no amount of helmets and guards will change the inevitable, but a perceived sense of security is a sense of security nonetheless. Cycling is an individual activity, which is one of the coolest aspects of it. If you want to try a full face helmet and knee elbow pads, go for it! Forget the motorcycle gloves thing, though, unless you don't want to use handlebar controls ever again

e0richt

don't they have BMX type of gloves that have armor for hands?

gregjones

+1 That's the bottom line of just getting out of bed. Everything is a matter of the risk on is willing to assume.

Although with the recent ice and winds in Georgia, pine trees falling on bedrooms is a frequent story on the evening news.


That's the reason The Michelin Man gives for having tread on road tires.

ro-monster

Since I ride almost entirely for transportation I don't know the answer to that.

Motolegs

First off, glad you're OK! IMO, helmet needs to be worn. The other thing is that you can take youself out of dangerous situations in traffic. There is no need to barrel down a hill. If it looks dicey, get off the bike and walk it. Or stand for a minute after pulling off to the side of the road safely, and wait for the *ahem* well trained operators of motor vehicles to pass. The best part of riding a bike is that you don't HAVE to be part of the traffic flow. You can bail anytime you like.

Swoop

Thanks for the feedback everyone. All points are being considered

ItsJustMe

It depends to some extent on what kind of injury you're trying to guard against. Most common would be facial injury and it's likely that a BMX full face helmet would add significant protection against that.

However, what worries me more is brain injury. The latest research is that rotational injury is responsible for a lot of brain damage. So I'm now riding with a MIPS helmet. I don't know if anyone makes full face MIPS helmets. I won't give up MIPS to get face protection.

Swoop

Thanks for the introduction, I'd never heard of MIPS before.
It would appear a couple full face MIPS helmets are available: https://mipshelmet.com/find-a-helmet
Not cheap though

ItsJustMe

Yeah, I have a POC Trabec Race MIPS. Retail is $250, I think street is around $200, I got it on a double secret probationary sale for $140 or so.

AdamDZ

You're looking at it the wrong way: it's not about putting on body armor to protect yourself from harm but about making changes to your riding to avoid this harm from coming to you again. Think better tires, riding more defensively, not riding in bad weather, avoiding bad roads and hills during rain., etc. How much fun can it be riding daily wearing full face helmet, body armor, etc? So yeah, IMHO this is highly impractical. Not really madness, but highly impractical.

CenturionIM

I have a full face helmet because of the same fear. It is not that bad but definitely heavier and hot. It is okay during the winter. Regardless I almost never wear it.

Darth Lefty 

It sounds to me like you need a hard wrist protector like the ones they used to sell next to the Rollerblades.

WeekKnees

overkill = no

I injured my wrist the same way and I've been wearing snowboarding wrist guards for the added protection.

Having separate gloves and wrist guards is a hassle, so recently I ordered EVS Wrister Gloves [amazon]. They are arriving next week.