Which? stirs the helmet debate with product test

Can anyone summarise the Which report in terms of which helmet models were good & which were bad. I can recommend the Catlike Kompact'o for what it's worth! Two accidents & 2 smashed helmets in a year but no concussion.

No chance of Road.cc begging the rights to reprint the full article from Which?

why is it that people in the wear a helmet camp want to force people to wear helmets and people in the don't wear a helmet camp could not care less whether you wear one or not? cycling is NOT dangerous!!!

I'd rather have a piece of flimsy polystyrene and thin plastic shell than nothing at all.

I'm more concerned with over-population, so for those who are in with a shout of winning a Darwin Award, excessive smoking/drinking, obesity, not wearing a helmet, etc. more power to you.

Current helmet safety standard requirements are very modest, so it is pretty shocking if some are failing!

OK - two things -
1) Learn not to fall
2) Learn how to fall if you are going to have an off

The vast majority of people who cycle and will now be attracted ti cycling due to Wiggo's victory will more than likely cycle along cycle paths and round parks. Their avg speed will more than likely be less than 10mph. If they fall off their bikes it will be more of a topple than anything else. The rest - well there may be a case for the wearing of a helmet. Again falls can be avoided by reading the road, not overcooking corners and desents, not cycling through standing water etc.

We are in greater danger from SMIDSY's, boy racers and misled 'road owners' and there is no way a bit of polystyrene and hi viz is going to protect us. The autorities need to emphasise that all road users do not have 4 wheels (min) and 200bhp and respect needs to be given to all.

Again I refer to the first 2 points if you insist on falling off a bike

I had a big spill yesterday and was glad to be wearing my helmet. The thing is, I was competing in a BMX event and the reason I went over my bars was because I mis-timed a jump into a berm. If you're racing, then yes a helmet is a good idea because you're going fast and the margins of safety are slimmer. For road riding I don't see the need. I do wear a skateboarding helmet, not unlike Cauld's most probably, when I'm doing regular commuting through London but for shorter trips I don't bother. And when I'm riding my motorcycle, I always wear a helmet because it is a legal requirement.

I'll be curious to see the results of the Which tests. I am a qualified mechanical engineer (even tho I don't work in that field any more) and 90% of shell type cycle helmetsseem to me to be so utterly flimsy that they offer next to no protection anyway.

I wear a skater's helmet out on the road - much better looking and, imo, a bit more protection than the flimsy things most riders wear. Then again, I'm not trying to look like I'm some saddo emulating Cav or Wiggo.
After decades of motorcycling helmet wearing and being able to say, hand on heart, that motorcycle skid lids saved my head on a couple of sub-30mph occasions, I need no convincing of the efficacy of a decent lid.
It should still be a matter of choice though, and I do occasionally nip down the village without one on.
I'd hate to see it made compulsory.

The only statistic you need to know is how many helmets are left in pieces after many accidents... I have never met a cyclist who does not have a "helmet in pieces" story of their own or fellow riders'

Some say its a financial gimmick that the pro's all have to wear helmets however the UCI say it's safety reasons

However if they come off at the speed they travel and its meant to help prevent injury (notice i said help prevent - not stop) then a mere mortal like most cyclists should in reality be travelling slower so the impact they take on their bonce should be less, therefore the wearing of a lid should in turn help prevent more injury to us.

At school in science we were told "for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction" hence my arguement above.

In the end though it will come down to personal choice and i hope those who dont wear a lid dont look back one day and say "if only".

Something I found out yesterday which I'm excited to learn more about when I go to the product launch in September, is that Scott say they've got a new bicycle helmet out that has a membrane layer inside it that mimics what the fluid surrounding the brain does in an impact. It's come from their snow sports experience supposedly and is meant to be good at shrugging off 'glancing' impacts that are, according to Scott, the most common type.

having survived the etape at the weekend, I got back on my bike tuesday on the streets on london in time to suffer the kind of accident Robwiz describes. While I was lucky it happened at the top of a hill, stead of at the bottom, I was happy to be wearing a helmet as the cut on my forehead from the side of the car would've been something worse. not saying everyone needs to wear a helmet, but i'm firmly in the yes camp after 12 years riding in london.

yay helmet related article, what a great place to rehearse a really long boring argument.

I'm going for a bike ride, and i just might wear a helmet.

I had a big off in February when riding with the Lotto guys - dislocated my collarbone, and trashed my helmet. it was always an essential piece of kit IMO, but now having seen the damage it sustained, and how well my head was protected I simply would'nt ride without one

Quote from Which: 'But an international review of the evidence gathered by the UK Department for Transport in 2009 concluded there was no reliable evidence that helmets resulted in a lower risk of head injury for cyclists.'

No reliable evidence for a thing does not necessarily mean that it is not true. It might just mean that evidence has not been found yet, or is difficult to produce. It seems obvious that if you crash onto your head that you will have a lower chance of injury with a helmet on than with nothing between your head and the road. How would you prove this with 'evidence'? Do you need to prove it?

Quote from above: 'Cycle helmets are designed to absorb the impact of a rider falling off a back onto the ground' - what is this supposed to mean? Can anyone explain?

I'd say per mile travelled the stairs are more dangerous than the road in the UK. Let's put it another way, if you treat cyclng as purely a sport the only two sporting activities that are less dangerous are rambling and golf.

That doesn't mean that more couldn't and shouldn't be done to make it safer as a form of transport - especially now that more people who are new to it are being encouraged on to the roads, but also that we shouldn't dangerise cycling unnecessarily. The fact is that for the vast majority that do it, cycling is helping to extend their lifespan not shorten it.

[[[[ So, more folks die falling down stairs than die cycling?
Okay, (I'm no statistician), but surely stair-walkers vastly outnumber cyclists at any given time, so the statement looks vague to say the least. Hmmm...I imagine more dozy pedestrian jay-walkers injure more bikies than the other way round, but isn't there a case for urban pedestrians to wear helmets, given the very serious noggin-injuries they incur when run over by motor vehicles? I'd wear a skidlid myself, if I could find one that didn't make me look like The Mekon...
P.R.

After having had a bad racing bike crash at the age of 13 following which I had amnesia and spent 3 days in hospital (was not wearing a helmet!!), I always wear a helmet now!
I recently saw someone recently get airlifted to hospital during a sportive who also was not wearing a helmet (organisers are making it compulsory next year apparently) I would not risk going without one. Is it worth the risk to not wear one??- yes they are not infallible however if it decreases the risk of head injury if by only a few percent then its still worth it in my mind.

I voted yes.
Helmets save lives and prevent catastrophic injuries.

I work in brain injury rehabilitation and see the results of serious head injuries on a daily basis. Protect your head, when you're on your bike always wear a helmet.

I'm from the UK, lived in Asia for 10 years, the last 3 of which in Singapore, (crowded, busy, poor driving). I always wear a helmet. I've just moved to the Netherlands, if I go for a long ride, I see maybe 3 out of 200 people on bikes wearing helmets, and they are usually expats or people going fast on serious kit. The other 197 are crazy in my opinion. But in a country that has so many dedicated bike paths, with even their own traffic lights systems (which no one jumps), why would they need helmets.

I think it depends on your own personal choice, if tis