Football, little league baseball and hockey all started without face protection, but slowly evolved to include facial protection.
Should bike helmets be designed to protect the facial bones? Is it even feasible, would it hurt peripheral vision? Could you make it stiff enough to protect your chin, cheeks, eyes?
you shouldn’t even ride a bike at all if you are risk averse.
or jog
or swim
we should all stay in nutrient vats, monitored by computers
we should all stay in nutrient vats, monitored by computers
We will be doing that soon …
As someone who worked in the ER and held the hand of a college kid as he was spitting blood and teeth into an emesis basin, I say yes. BTW he was wearing a helmet but had landed on his face.
Hello Sully and All,
If you watch bull riding you will see the pro riders gradually shifting to flak vest and helmet instead of just a cowboy hat.
It doesn’t look as cool but seems a lot smarter.
Body protection in race cars is getting very sophisticated and effective - amazing the crashes some drivers live through nowadays.
Live to fight another day.
Cheers,
Neal
The helmets I have used have quite a bit of “overhang” at the forehead which is intended to protect your face in a frontal impact. However, and this is a big however, if you don’t wear your helmet strap tight then it won’t do you any good. I cringe when I see folks, or worse–children, using a helmet and the chin strap is so loose you could easily remove it without undoing the buckle. That’s not a design flaw, but user error and you can’t do much to fix it unless you require a full facial helmet, which will never happen.
Present helmets will protect your eyes and cheekbones if you wear it correctly. It is a compromise, but if you tried to require more then you may as well require full body armor while you are at it.
Chad
I’d be cool with a full on motorycle helmet
in the winter
I haaate the cold lol
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At what point do we just give up and roll around in padded balls of foam?
Biking is a risky activity. I accept that risk and take reasonable precautions to minimize the risk. But when people start telling me that I’ll need full-on body gear, I start to tune them out. Face gear on the bike? Seriously?
I don’t have numbers to back me up, but it’s been my experience and observation that facial bone damage is one of the least common cycling injuries. There’s far more broken wrists, collarbones, legs, hips, arms, and spines.
And if I face plant and bust my face or get hit by a bus, it’ll have been completely worth it. To me, the joy of biking in good and bad weather in the mountains and on the flats is worth any amount of bodily harm. Sure, getting hurt sucks the big one, but if I had to sign a contract that said I could have 10 years of great biking for every major accident, I’d sign it with a Sharpie.
but tyson, think of the children!
I told you those jelly donuts would go right to your hips…
No helmets should not have face masks but nothing is stopping you from where a helmet with a facemask now if you would like.
I can’t wait to see threads about aero facemasks…
If thats what you really think you want … just buy a football helmet now … much better head protection as well as that face mask you want. Everyone can get a chuckle when they see you … only in our current state of bizarreness in the US could someone really propose something like this … heck, just wear it all the time … who knows, a meteor fragment might unexpectedly come through your roof while you’re sleeping.
Dave
but tyson, think of the children!
I don’t know how I survived the 50’s riding my Sear’s bike without a helmet. Shame on me;-). And don’t get me started on my '56 Chevy in the 60’s without a seatbelt.
If thats what you really think you want … just buy a football helmet now … much better head protection as well as that face mask you want. Everyone can get a chuckle when they see you … only in our current state of bizarreness in the US could someone really propose something like this … heck, just wear it all the time … who knows, a meteor fragment might unexpectedly come through your roof while you’re sleeping.
Dave
But how to get a drink bottle anywhere near ones mouth?
Why exactly shouldn’t they? Cause they aren’t cool looking or might be too hot?
From this (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motorcycle_helmet) Wikipedia article on motorcycle helmets:
35% of all crashes showed major impact on the chin-bar area
I know of at least one person around here that has lost teeth due to an accident and I’ve seen several that had facial injuries. I know that when I’m hitting 40mph on my bike, I feel so much more vulnerable than when I’m doing 40mph on my motorcycle.
Because, there has to be a point where one just accepts the given level of risk of an activity and balance that against available protections. I enjoy riding and think it’s ridiculous not to wear a helmet. Having face protection makes sense in hockey (uh, flying puck) and football (constant contact) against the risks in those sports. I simply don’t think it’s warranted in cycling.
you shouldn’t even ride a bike at all if you are risk averse.
Being risk averse is not a “if” but a “how much” for any being programmed for self-preservation. Risk aversion is a good thing . . . to a point.
Proverbs 22:13 The sluggard says, “There is a lion outside; I will be killed in the streets!”
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Downhill mountain bikers already have full-face helmets. For the tri and cycling crowd the problems come with weight/heat. Most pro cyclists only wear helmets because they are required to, and they crash a lot more than we all do. Helmets are all about preventing severe brain injury/death, so that’s what they focus on…they won’t save you from a broken collarbone or rib…that’s why the aforementioned downhillers also wear body armor.
Jen’s Crash: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZxNzgTlqdEg
Jen’s Recovery (pretty banged up face, but the grey matter still works fine): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nn3LC6uVkcY&feature=related