RECALL WARNING: 31K bicycle helmets recalled for risk of head injury (Bell Sports model numbers B0605Y, B0605C or B0494Y, and B0605Y) - sold from Target and Walmart.
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I was 16 when I busted my face open from a bicycle ramping accident, without a helmet. I ripped my chin flesh off my jawbone when that happened.
I've always wondered what's the deal with helmets having that visor part in the front. If I had been wearing one of those when that happened, it would have pushed my head further back and broke my neck..
I'm still alive today, because I wasn't wearing a helmet.
I'm still alive today, because I wasn't wearing a helmet.
presses X to doubt
Helmets (at least when properly designed) absorb impacts and even rotational force with MIPS.
Also, if you're doing jumps, you should be wearing a full face MIPS helmet.
Not only would you not be dead, you might've come away completely unharmed (minus a dead helmet).
A MIPS+Spherical helmet (Bell Super Air R) saved my life last year too.
Don't be a dumbass: Wear a helmet.
The visor would have broken free way before their neck too. They’re barely held on in the first place.
Yo, even the emergency room was surprised I didn't break my neck. The only reason I didn't was literally because I didn't have a helmet on to push my head further backwards.
I survived a concussion and facial injuries, no broken bones. I would not have survived a broken neck..
I did stop doing jumps after that though, counted myself lucky, not stupid.
It's not that I don't believe you but, I don't believe you.
I'm still alive today, because I wasn't wearing a helmet.
Still alive, but with permanent brain damage hehue
Only minor motor control damage on the right side, for like 2 years, which recovered practically perfectly. The worst I'm left with is a partly numb lower left lip.
Don't Helmes limit the movement to the backside to keep your neck from breaking?
Yes and the anchor points will also give way before your neck does (which is exactly what happened when I crashed: My neck, along with the rest of my head and face: all completely fine, but the helmet was toast).
That guy is totally full of shit and should be ignored: Wear a helmet!
I'm pretty sure that's part of the general design intent yes, but you'd have to know the exact angle of my impact. Chin first, left side, dragging upwards, from about 6 feet in the air, tire level, which means my head started off about 9 feet in the air. It also jammed my glasses into my forehead, which is how I know the angle I hit. It only takes about 7 pounds of force to snap a neck, and I impacted chin first with all ~150 pounds of my body weight from pretty high up.
I could have largely avoided the chin/face impact if I had put my arms and hands out in front of me, but I would have ended up with broken arms and my handlebars stuck through my gut instead.
Yes things would have went differently if I had been wearing a helmet, perhaps could have been better, perhaps could have been worse. No way to truly know, and I'm damn skippy not about to try it again.
The reason that happened was because the ramp wasn't secured to any sort of frame, it was just a sheet of plywood laid on a ~4 foot high dirt mound. There were 4 of us taking turns ramping, and as my front wheel came off the ramp, the next friend was just hitting the ramp behind me. That caused the plywood to flex, pushing my back wheel upwards as I was leaving the ramp.
I had a whole second or so to say "OH SHIT!" and decide whether to keep hold of the straight handlebars or not. I didn't want my handlebars stuck through my gut, so I held the bars.
Anyways, from that sort of height, chin/face first, I don't think a helmet would have made all too much of a difference. But if I had been wearing a helmet with a visor, my glasses probably wouldn't have been jammed into my forehead, which would have meant that my head would have been pushed back at more of an angle. Even the ER doctors noticed that.
Not saying it's right, but in my 42 years of life, I've never met a bicycle rider that even owns a helmet. To even obtain a helmet, you gotta ride to another city to even get one. And the intersection at that Walmart is one of the absolute most dangerous intersections out there for bike riders. So oddly enough, its safer to avoid the only place we can even get helmets.
TL;DR - I was 16, doing stupid shit and ramping a rigged up ramp with 3 other friends, and nobody out there wore or even had helmets. What did I learn? Don't do stupid shit, don't ramp, keep the wheels on the ground. So I switched to flatland.
Oh that reminds me it's probably time to replace my helmet. I bought it around 2019 I think. What's the frequency supposed to be? Like every 5 years or so?
Absolutely replace it after a crash. The manufacturers say replace every 3 to 5 years, but I've heard some say that they're actually fine longer as long as the impact foam is still intact and they haven't been stored in direct sunlight/harsh conditions.
Then again, I haven't seen anything definitive on them being better for longer and you've only got one brain, so I'd err on the side of caution. If you keep an eye on Slickdeals.net, you can get some killer deals. I actually picked up a MIPS helmet that was featured in the VT helmet study for $25 a couple months ago, but even without sales you should be able to find a good one for under $100.