Can O' Ale <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...
Quoted message said:Steffik said:I am slowly and painfully coming back to cycling after a few years'
hiatus. After a nice incident where I forgot how to brake and gaily
catapulted myself over the handlebars on a completely flat road *on
the way to the trail*
I've done that too a couple of times. My problem stems from my time
riding BMX when I used to have the levers reversed to help with certain
freestyle tricks. Even 17 years later my mind sometimes regresses and
wants me to jam on the front brake instead of the back 🙂
Ouch! At least you have a *good* excuse. Hard front braking was a
childhood habit with me; I thought I'd trained myself out of it and
indeed I do remember thinking "Lots of back, little front, lots of
back-waaaark!" and then lying on the tarmac with a small bevy of road
cyclists looking concernedly at me. Luckily I'm in the UK and the
'trails' around where I live hardly count as such, so I'm not likely
to encounter seriously diffucult terrain off-road.
Quoted message said:Quoted message said:How do they affect your hearing and peripheral vision?
That in mind, would you feel safe (never mind silly!) using one in
light traffic?
You definitely have to be a little more aware of what's going on around
you, as they do reduce your peripheral senses a bit. I find they feel
more secure than the more traditional 'aerodynamic cycling helmets',
which always felt uncomfortable to me as if they were just sitting on
top of my head rather than enveloping it, and felt they could easily be
detached in a fall. Any is better than none though, as long as it
doesn't seriously hinder hearing/vision in traffic.
Apparently some of the more aerodynamic styles are easier to knock or
drag off your head in a fall-less rounded shape, more protrusions.
Unfortunately, I may have to accept that, since my traffic sense is
pretty cruddy at the best of times and a very enveloping helmet might
be dangerous-the best protection from an accident is not to have an
accident at all.
Quoted message said:<snip some stuff about visors>
Don't worry about looking silly wearing a helmet, it's sillier not to
wear one in traffic.
Excellent point. And, in fact, some of the full face ones *do* look
satisfyingly menacing; with that and some official looking reflective
bands I'd like to think motorists would give me a wide berth... :-D
Thanks for the advice,
Steff
