4 ms·

Knocked myself out back in the 90s on a road bike not wearing a helmet. Stitches in head. Concussion for a month. Knocked myself out 2 years ago on a mountain

Knocked myself out back in the 90s on a road bike not wearing a helmet. Stitches in head. Concussion for a month. Knocked myself out 2 years ago on a mountain bike wearing a MIPS helmet. No stitches in head. No concussion. Last year wife went over the bars at whistler and took it on the face with the best carbon fiber full face downhill helmet money can buy. Pressure on her face was so much she had lines of blood under her eyes just from the pressure. Big scratches on the face-guard. But she was totally fine, not knocked out, walked it off and laughed about it later. Completely unscientific data above, but when it comes to my budget distribution these days, it goes into helmet, then pads (D3O for downhill and cross country), then bike, camelbak and rest of gear. Helmets are awesome. For reference: https://www.d3o.com/ https://www.d3o.com/ Various manufacturers use this stuff - Fox, Raceface, but my personal favorite are these TLDs. They're great for long sweaty rides and gnarly stuff. https://shop.troyleedesigns.com/raid-knee-guard?color=7 https://shop.troyleedesigns.com/raid-knee-guard?color=7 This is the helmet she was using: https://shop.troyleedesigns.com/19f-tld-d3-midnight-chrome-carbon-helmet?quantity=1&color=370 https://shop.troyleedesigns.com/19f-tld-d3-midnight-chrome-c... I'll also add that I'm not a fan of Bell's Super 3R helmet with the removable face. It's MIPS these days, but I don't feel the chin guard provides enough space in case you actually take a face hit. The more DH specific helmets have more clearance. I guess now that I've seen one work and save someone, I'm a little more picky. Thisis the Super 3R I'm referring to: https://www.bellhelmets.com/bike/p/super-3r-mips-mountain-bike-helmet https://www.bellhelmets.com/bike/p/super-3r-mips-mountain-bi... For cross country rides that have some more challenging DH, I use this helmet which breathes way more than the TLD I linked to above and has more clearance than the Super 3R: https://www.foxracing.com/proframe-helmet-matte-%5Bblk%5D-m/23310-001-M.html?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&gclid=CjwKCAjwzJjrBRBvEiwA867byrst9OjRtuAQMGVTjsGdFc2qBphbQ6BpD9J4ZX_-XzKoOs15U4171hoCkp0QAvD_BwE https://www.foxracing.com/proframe-helmet-matte-%5Bblk%5D-m/... I'm sure there are tons of cyclists, XC and downhill folks on HN and we all have our opinions and experience. Would love to hear from others. YMMV considerably from mine. Stay safe!!

blendo 7y ago
Preach. I bought an e-bike a few years ago, and I ride 20mph _everywhere_ now. I might upgrade to a 26mph speed pedelec, at which point a full-face may be prudent. I'd recommend a white helmet, with stick-on reflective tape, to maximize visibility. And CINCH IT DOWN TIGHT. Fun times we live in -- I expect in 5 years we (in the US) will be able to buy a 45mph, 50kg e-bike (e-motorcycle?) for $3,000-$6,000. We'll need better helmets, gloves, shoes, and pads for that, but hopefully stil shy of full motorcycle regalia (known as "ATGATT", all the gear, all the time). And I like my current Troy Lee Designs helmet simply because it fits so well.
dahart 7y ago
I crashed at Whistler last year, into several large rocks, going fast, wearing a full face and a neck brace and full body armor. I remember hitting the rock with the back of my head and wondering while it was happening how serious it was going to be. I’m certain that without the protection, I’d have been in the hospital at the very least. Walked away with no head injury, no broken bones, only some torn shoulder soft tissue and a really ugly hematoma on my hip where it was exposed in between two body armor pads. Ditto: helmets are awesome.
- yellow_postit 7y ago
  Would you have put yourself in the same situation if you didn’t have all that protective gear on? iirc this is one of the theories about injury being higher in American Football vs. Rugby, the increased safety equipment leads to a cycle of increased hitting force which leads to increased equipment, etc.
  - dahart 7y ago
    I do put myself in similar situations with less gear, just for shorter periods of time, and when I’m closer to home. I don’t wear all that gear when riding in traffic, and arguably the consequences can be much higher when hitting or being hit by a car. The gear helps when I have much greater exposure (i.e. longer periods of time) to the risks, and part of the idea is when I’m taking a vacation and spending a lot of money to go up to Whistler for a week, fewer small problems will end my vacation early. The gear also helps when I run the risk of exhaustion, which is a major cause of mountain bike crashes. BTW, I actually do think there’s some truth to the idea that gear increases risk taking. That doesn’t mean that overall safety goes down though, so you have to be careful how you think and talk about it. If injury outcomes are on average lower when wearing gear, then that’s that, it doesn’t matter if people are taking larger chances, the protection is still outweighing the risk.

blendo 7y ago

Preach. I bought an e-bike a few years ago, and I ride 20mph _everywhere_ now. I might upgrade to a 26mph speed pedelec, at which point a full-face may be prudent. I'd recommend a white helmet, with stick-on reflective tape, to maximize visibility. And CINCH IT DOWN TIGHT. Fun times we live in -- I expect in 5 years we (in the US) will be able to buy a 45mph, 50kg e-bike (e-motorcycle?) for $3,000-$6,000. We'll need better helmets, gloves, shoes, and pads for that, but hopefully stil shy of full motorcycle regalia (known as "ATGATT", all the gear, all the time). And I like my current Troy Lee Designs helmet simply because it fits so well.

dahart 7y ago

I crashed at Whistler last year, into several large rocks, going fast, wearing a full face and a neck brace and full body armor. I remember hitting the rock with the back of my head and wondering while it was happening how serious it was going to be. I’m certain that without the protection, I’d have been in the hospital at the very least. Walked away with no head injury, no broken bones, only some torn shoulder soft tissue and a really ugly hematoma on my hip where it was exposed in between two body armor pads. Ditto: helmets are awesome.

yellow_postit 7y ago
Would you have put yourself in the same situation if you didn’t have all that protective gear on? iirc this is one of the theories about injury being higher in American Football vs. Rugby, the increased safety equipment leads to a cycle of increased hitting force which leads to increased equipment, etc.
- dahart 7y ago
  I do put myself in similar situations with less gear, just for shorter periods of time, and when I’m closer to home. I don’t wear all that gear when riding in traffic, and arguably the consequences can be much higher when hitting or being hit by a car. The gear helps when I have much greater exposure (i.e. longer periods of time) to the risks, and part of the idea is when I’m taking a vacation and spending a lot of money to go up to Whistler for a week, fewer small problems will end my vacation early. The gear also helps when I run the risk of exhaustion, which is a major cause of mountain bike crashes. BTW, I actually do think there’s some truth to the idea that gear increases risk taking. That doesn’t mean that overall safety goes down though, so you have to be careful how you think and talk about it. If injury outcomes are on average lower when wearing gear, then that’s that, it doesn’t matter if people are taking larger chances, the protection is still outweighing the risk.