Adam's bike challenge. Stage 2: Why I'm buying a new cycle helmet

Adam Bradbury

13 October 2011

Heads up. I'm getting into gear for the Big Green Bike Ride - Friends of the Earth's fundraising cycle challenge. It's still about 7 months away but I need to sort out a few things before then - bike, body, time, money.

This week - my head.

Helmets seem to divide cyclists like nothing else. Some people really don't like wearing them. They argue there's evidence that helmets make some injuries worse. Or that helmets give riders a false sense of security - so they're less careful. This is sometimes called risk compensation.

I'm open to such arguments but there's also evidence a helmet protects your head from getting broken. I wear a helmet on my two-wheeler. Here are just two accidental reasons why.

Freak accident 1

We're not expecting antelope attacks between London and Edinburgh, but watch this video anyway - right to the end.

Freak accident 2

For years I didn't wear a helmet. Then one day, toddling along in broad daylight down an empty road - no traffic, no pedestrians, dogs or other cyclists - my front wheel locked and I flipped over the handlebars.

First to hit the tarmac was my hair. Just behind it was the top of my head. And it really, really hurt. If you can't imagine how much it hurt, ask a friend to hold you upside down over the pavement and drop you from about three feet.

I went straight to a shop and bought a helmet. I haven't tried falling on my head again to see if it hurts less with a helmet but I'm happy to trust that it does.

Nor am I really planning to fall off - or get knocked off - my bike on the Big Green Bike Ride. But towards the end of a day when you've done 75 miles and a lot of hills, who knows? The information pack for participants certainly recommends a helmet.

Mine is now a few years old, fits badly and has a crack in the expanded foam bit (see picture). So I'm on the hunt for a new one.

Having idled away an evening online I've boiled down my criteria to:

• Safety
  A snug fit protects better. I'm going to go into a real live shop before buying.
• Price
  It's one of the few things I'm not going to buy second hand. You can spend hundreds of pounds but I'd like to be nearer the hundreds-of-pence bracket.
• Comfort
  A long ride in May could get hot. Natural air-conditioning seems like a good idea.
• Looks
  To me they all look a bit weird so this is bottom of my list of worries.

You might have other priorities - and know the best place to pick up a bargain. Why not tweet from the button above using #bgbr?

Meanwhile you might find Whycycle informative on helmets generally.

Adam Bradbury, Publishing & New Media Team