Comments on: Save the planet — ban cycle helmets

By: Andrew

Andrew — Sat, 16 Apr 2011 01:25:53 +0000

Cycling home a few nights ago on my old fashioned bike sitting bolt upright like my Grandad used to, I passed a walker and then was passed out by a tall jogger. Even while on my bike the top of my head was lower then his. Since he was faster and higher should he be wearing a helmet. Maybe the type of bike you cycle is a factor? Are you in balance? Is your weight forward and less stable? Can you signal without shifting weight onto a supporting hand? Why do so many riders of racers cycle upright with no hands? Why does everybody in the English speaking world always land on their head when they fall off a bike and never on their arse? Does your neck hurt when you cycle a bike with the saddle higher then the handle bars? Why are bikes designed at the turn of the last century more comfortable, easier to cycle and
enjoyable too?
Could it be they were made by people who cycled bikes for people who just wanted to get to work? So many questions

By: jephy

jephy — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 20:16:08 +0000

if i take a spill off my bike and i’m not wearing my fancy cycling shoes, i can still walk away.
if i take a spill off my bike and i’m not wearing my fancy cycling clothes, i can still walk away.
if i take a spill off my bike and i’m not wearing my fancy cycling helmet, i may not walk away.
if you don’t want to wear a helmet that’s your choice but if you take a spill off your bike, whack your noggin, and wind up slurring your words, drooling into a cup, and losing the motor skills to be able to ride… maybe i’ll wave as i smile and ride on by.

By: Dazbert

Dazbert — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 21:10:04 +0000

Great piece.

It’s a shame a few people are taking it as a rant against decent cycling kit, which I’m pretty sure it isn’t. It reads to me as a rant against cycling tyranny, and in particular that special self-righteous tyranny that says “safety is everything: you can never put a price on someone’s life.”

Really? Try telling that to an insurance company.

I’m not saying safety isn’t important, because of course it is. But the kind of safety that insists on a helmet for a pursuit as innocuous as cycling is interested in commerce, obstructionism and blame culture rather than a genuine concern for peoples’ wellbeing.

By: tomas

tomas — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 21:55:20 +0000

Valid points and relevant perspective.

It’s a thousand times worse in australia – where its considered a crime against humanity not to wear a helmet, even if you’re pedalling 100 metres down the road for a litre of milk.

I’m not anti-helmet per se, but they have a time and place.

If im going to be cycling through heavy traffic or in some city areas, or will be cycling quickly or for extended periods – then i’d wear one.

but taking a nip down the road at 8pm in the evening, on a quiet, wide and well-lit road , and being slammed with a 50 dollar fine, for removing a helmet for 2 minutes as the strap had become loose, is a bit much in my book.

Yes, that is what happened.

I’d advise anyone travelling to The fourth reich, to watch out for the local gestapo.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 19:57:53 +0000

Great viewpoint and I agree one hundred per cent. I have cycled for decades and the easiest, quickest and most enjoyable way to cycle is with an old high Nelly. Its more like amplified walking
In my city 50% of car journeys are a mile or less thats I dont know maybe four mins on my bike. But my bike sits outside the door so open the door get on go! Each journey is door to door and no time wasted parking or getting dressed to cycle.

By: Sam

Sam — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 19:56:27 +0000

Are you a fat, slow angry cyclist?

Just wondering as I don’t really understand this rant. I cycle with all the shit you talk about because I like to. If I see another cyclist with none of the gear on a big belly wobbling slowly along I couldn’t give a shit, and they certainly don’t look like they give a shit about my gear.

By: tom

tom — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 14:45:29 +0000

So, after an hour-long ride to work in a string vest on an old bone-shaker with barely effective brakes, I should be happy to spend the day feeling sticky and sweaty and having my colleagues avoid me and even happier when I leave the office to find it’s gone from where I left it, sans lock, because I can just buy another one and who needs to get home anyway, if by some miracle the brakes worked and I haven’t died on the way in because someone didn’t see me and I cracked my head open on the pavement.

Yes, yes, I know, people want you to buy their stuff. It’s awful, isn’t it.

*pat pat*

By: atomheartfather

atomheartfather — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 15:05:38 +0000

There are those who adapt to current conditions, and those who fight to change things for the better. Helmets – a cheap skate excuse for crap infrastructure.

By: Should helmets be banned? | cyclingsucks

Should helmets be banned? | cyclingsucks — Sun, 21 Nov 2010 02:35:26 +0000

[...] Short seems to think so. Check out his article on the topic discussing how we all get so bogged down buying bike crap and worrying about our gear [...]

By: loulouk

loulouk — Sat, 20 Nov 2010 21:38:35 +0000

You kow I write the other blog, right? Mr Short, I <3'd you. I really did. Now I'm going to have to come back down the M1 and race you off the lights, all 18 stone of me :O)

I wear a helmet because I ride off road. Over rocks down bridleways. Not fast, no mtb warrior, I'm a linear rider, I like riding long distances and taking pictures. But I've been over my handlebars once at slow speeds, whacked my head on compressed hard enough to shake my teeth and walked away. Cos of my helmet. I've seen pics of my mate @nezbo with a helmet shaped imprint on his forehead and broken ribs to match – glad his head aint broken.

Road riding? Well. Yer average 3 speeder, I agree, don't need no helmet. Roadies on carbon racers flying down hills taking racing lines? They need helments. Right tool, for the right job. *nod* I know every kind of cyclist there is, some need helmets, some don't, but nearly all wear one despite the discomfort. Psychological?