Helmets @ Aldi

[Jimod]

Yep, I stand by my belief that they should be compulsory.

That is your right to believe that. I always wear my helmet but would argue very strongly against compulsion.

 

[KTM Bike Industries UK]

One of the things you'll never hear......
Cyclists who dont wear a helmet, telling cyclists who do wear a helmet, that they shouldn't.

that's because I suspect the ones not wearing helmets won't be the ones having to do the scraping of brains off the road, or be the ones who have to look at the crash victim if they can't work anyone.

My dad crashed his bike in Spain last year, he's a very active cyclist and split the helmet in two - he ended up in hospital having a brain bleed drained. He's alive and well and back riding, had he not been wearing a helmet - on the plus side I might have got my inheritance early, but more likely he'd be in a home and my mum's life would be a nightmare.

There is no reason not to wear a helmet, and a load of reasons to.

So if you don't wear one, its just selfish / stubborn.

But I also don't think they should be compulsory.

 

[flecc]

Yep, I stand by my belief that they should be compulsory.

Thank you Lardo, I appreciate the confirmation.
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[flecc]

So if you don't wear one, its just selfish / stubborn.

That's quite an accusation of almost 70% of the Dutch and almost 50% of the Danish populations. Somehow I think they'd object.
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[JohnCade]

Rather more accuracy needed here John, wrong on all points.

Post 3 wasn't me, it was Roadie Roger including a teasing taunt naming me which I naturally answered in post 5. Then in answer to Croxden I posted again in post 7, explaining my entry to the subject was a tease. So I didn't derail anything and without the mention of my name I would never have entered this thread. Our history is full of such thread originating posts on helmet offers with absolutely no entry from me since they don't concern me.

And in post 43 Lardo very definitely did advocate helmets should be compulsory when he posted this:

As much as I value personal choice where it is reasonable, this isn't an area I feel choice should realistically enter I to it.

And that is why I enter these threads on helmets, since I know from experience that while they often pretend they are in favour of choice, the strongly pro brigade usually have this agenda. As someone else remarked, one never sees a post from a non-wearer protesting about the choice of those wearing a helmet, since we are invariably all for free choice. That's all my argument ever is as I make crystal clear each time.
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So it was post four and not post three. He made a tongue in cheek comment and you bit as he probably knew you would. I haven’t seen anyone on this thread apart from Lardo advocating compulsion, and as I wrote above I would strongly oppose that.

But the stuff above about the people pretending to advocate choice but really having a pro compulsion agenda seems like paranoia to me. Do you include me in that? Because I can assure you I don’t give a monkey’s if you or anyone else does or doesn't wear a helmet. Unless they were my children when I would insist.

But I do get fed up with some people rubbishing them and pretending they don’t save lives when they do simply because they don’t want to wear them.

 

[Lardo]

That's quite an accusation of almost 70% of the Dutch and almost 50% of the Danish populations. Somehow I think they'd object.
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What is the cycling infrastructure like in those countries compared to the UK? Do those countries have a greater number of dedicated cycle lanes where bikes are separated from other vehicles?

 

[flecc]

Do you include me in that? Because I can assure you I don’t give a monkey’s if you or anyone else does or doesn't wear a helmet. Unless they were my children when I would insist.

But I do get fed up with some people rubbishing them and pretending they don’t save lives when they do simply because they don’t want to wear them.

Of course I don't include you John, that's implicit in my posting that I'm happy for others to wear them.

Nor do I pretend they can't save lives, again implicit in my reply to an inquirer that I would wear one for a high risk branch of cycling. The proof of that as said earlier is that I wore a helmet for the risky off-road part of my motorcycling at a time when they were almost never worn on the road.

My position is clear, it's a matter of balanced judgement, risk versus inconvenience and discomfort. No-one has a god given right to say their choice is better for me in this matter, simply because they don't have the necessary information to make that judgement, any more than I have to judge for them.
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[flecc]

What is the cycling infrastructure like in those countries compared to the UK? Do those countries have a greater number of dedicated cycle lanes where bikes are separated from other vehicles?

Yes they do, but they haven't always and in Denmark that development has largely been very recent and is very incomplete. Even the Dutch say they still have a long way to go in that direction.
Helmets have been around much longer than almost all of their cycling facilities, but they've almost entirely never worn them.
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[KTM Bike Industries UK]

That's quite an accusation of almost 70% of the Dutch and almost 50% of the Danish populations. Somehow I think they'd object.
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I never mentioned the Dutch or the Danish... I was talking about the UK. I'll amend my post so its a bit clearer.

There is no good reason not to wear one, which in my book is good enough reason to wear one, before you even discuss the reasons why people should be encouraged to wear one.

but yes if we ever get to the level of cycling participation that is experienced in Denmark and the Netherlands, along with the corresponding infrastructure and driver awareness, then I will revise my judgements.

 

[anotherkiwi]

But I do get fed up with some people rubbishing them and pretending they don’t save lives when they do simply because they don’t want to wear them.

I rubbish non full face helmets because they are not as safe as full face ones. I have been in contact with injured cyclists and a lot of them had broken noses. I even shared an emergency room with one when I had my MB accident.

Helmets give a false sense of security. Even I who should know better let my guard down more easily when I am wearing mine.

 

[flecc]

but yes if we ever get to the level of cycling participation that is experienced in Denmark and the Netherlands, along with the corresponding infrastructure and driver awareness, then I will revise my judgements.

Chicken and egg Col, which came first. They cycled without helmets when there were no such facilities and conditions but helmets were available as I posted to Lardo above.

Helmets are a huge switch off where cycling is concerned, as Australia proved when they suddenly made helmets compulsory years ago. The incidence of cycling crashed and they've held the lowest position in the world ever since as they did at least admit. That was solely caused by helmet compulsion, and it's why our UK governments have firmly killed every attempt to make helmets compulsory. They want to encourage cycling, not put people off, so they even crushed a well supported private members bill to make helmets compulsory for children.

Perhaps the most telling thing about personal choice and circumstances is the way Dutch kids sometimes wear helmets but almost never do once they reach adulthood.
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[danielrlee]

I rubbish non full face helmets because they are not as safe as full face ones. I have been in contact with injured cyclists and a lot of them had broken noses. I even shared an emergency room with one when I had my MB accident.

Helmets give a false sense of security. Even I who should know better let my guard down more easily when I am wearing mine.

I rubbish full face helmets because they are not as safe as a suit of armour.

This conversation has gone the same way as many others on this forum. The OP was bringing to our attention a winter helmet for sale at a good price. Why certain individuals feel the need to evangelise one way or the other on the wider issue of helmet legislation, I don't know. Start your own thread if that's what you want to discuss and leave the rest of us to discuss the original talking point.

 

[Lardo]

Fair point, well made.

 

[Cyclezee]

OMG, you would think I would know better by now than to start an innocent thread with the 'H' word in it

 

[flecc]

Start your own thread if that's what you want to discuss and leave the rest of us to discuss the original talking point.

A bit disingenuous, no-one stopped such a discussion and three did discuss the subject. Nor could anyone be put off entering since the thread title was "Helmets at Aldi".

The thread would have been dead at around those three posts, but instead it's provided 4 pages of discussion at a time when there's been precious little else going on in the forum.
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[danielrlee]

A bit disingenuous, no-one stopped such a discussion and three did discuss the subject. Nor could anyone be put off entering since the thread title was "Helmets at Aldi".

The thread would have been dead at around those three posts, but instead it's provided 4 pages of discussion at a time when there's been precious little else going on in the forum.
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Will. Not. Bite.

 

[danielrlee]

This one is a bit more expensive but the visor comes standard not as an extra

Oooh, I like the look of that one. A quick google tells me the model is the 'City V' and also available in a matt black. Anyone know of a physical store that has them in stock to try on?

 

[EddiePJ]

Strange how at every single organised cycle event in the country, the wearing of a BS/EN cycle helmet is a mandatory requirement. I wonder why that is.

 

[flecc]

Strange how at every single organised cycle event in the country, the wearing of a cycle helmet is a mandatory requirement. I wonder why that is.

It's an event insurance requirement.
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[JohnCade]

I rubbish non full face helmets because they are not as safe as full face ones. I have been in contact with injured cyclists and a lot of them had broken noses. I even shared an emergency room with one when I had my MB accident.

Helmets give a false sense of security. Even I who should know better let my guard down more easily when I am wearing mine.

Many years ago before helmets became compulsorily in the UK I rode motorbikes, and I even hit a lamppost when I was sixteen on my first bike within the first few weeks - long before the days of off road competence testing - wearing a flat hat back to front. I bought a helmet for my next bike…

But I don’t recall full face helmets were available then and a friend smashed his face up wearing a jet helmet at that time. He had his jaw wired for months. So I know what landing face first can do. But full face helmets are impractical on road bicycles so we have to make do with the next best. Which IMO is a lot better than nothing.