On Sat, 24 Apr 2004 12:41:22 +0100, Jon Senior
jon@restlesslemon_DOT_co_DOT_uk.remove said:In article <[email hidden]>,
[email hidden] says...
Quoted message said:On Sat, 24 Apr 2004 12:01:23 +0100, Jon Senior
jon@restlesslemon_DOT_co_DOT_uk.remove said:Riders are around 1.5m above the ground. Cyclists are
around 15cm above the ground.
Sitting on my bike, my head is about 1.90m off the
ground.
Distances to feet, or thereabouts, not to head. If you
could sit on a horse with your head at 1.5m, it'd be a
Shetland pony and you could probably put both feet on the
floor and stand up!
Children on Shetland Ponies are encouraged to wear helmets.
Quoted message said:Quoted message said:Quoted message said:If a horse is scared it may throw the rider.
A bike with mechanical failure may throw the rider.
Happens less. Especially on roads, during commuting, or
even on off-road tracks. In fact in around 15 years of
riding regularly on a variety of bikes, I've never once
been thrown by mechanical failure, only by rider failure
which is usually more predictable.
Fair enough. But mile for mile of non-competitive
riding/cycling I would *guess* that cyclists come off their
bikes more often than riders come off their mounts.
Quoted message said:Quoted message said:Quoted message said:Bikes don't get scared.
If a rider is thrown, the horse (300kg) may land on them
or trample them.
If a cyclist is knocked off a car (1000kg) may run
them over.
(In both cases a helmet may do little to protect).
If a cyclist has been knocked off by a car, there's good
odds that their injuries are already serious and any helmet
that they had will do little to help. On the contrary a
riding helmet can protect against a reasonable force
(although a horse landing on you is more likely to cause
additional injuries such as a collapsed rib cage!).
I've once been knocked by a car, it was a low speed impact
by a car turning right across a bus/cycle lane. I didn't
come off my bike, although the rear wheel was damaged beyond
economic repair. However, the biggest danger to me would
have been coming off and banging my head on the
tarmac/kerbstone.
Quoted message said:Quoted message said:Quoted message said:If a cyclist falls off, the bike (~12kg) may land
on them.
Which on an unprotected head could result in nasty head
injuries.
Given that a cycling helmet is designed to protect against
impact with flat objects like paving slabs, 12kgs of bike
with all the sharp bits it entails will probably cut clean
through it. If you want protection against penetration
rather than impact, you need a sheet (or two) of ceramic as
part of the lining.
The polystyrene inner will slow and probably stop an
otherwise slicing pedal.
Quoted message said:Quoted message said:Quoted message said:A riding helmet will withstand a considerable force and
will protect the head in the likeliest cases of direct
impact with the floor. A cycling helmet will withstand a
minimum of force and will protect the head in the
unlikely event of a direct impact with the floor.
Modern riding helmets are similar in design to cycle
helmets.
Really? Not any of the ones I've seen. In fact. Every horse
rider I've seen was wearing a traditionally styled ventless
helmet which, when I last saw one, consisted of a
continuous curve of relatively thick, rigid plastic, not a
lightweight shell that relied heavily on the foam padding
to offer protection.
holtzsaddleco.comeacces1.htmlOpen ↗
Quoted message said:As I suggested in my other post to you, the comparison with
climbers has a lot more mileage in it than this one.
I don't believe so. A climber's helmet is designed to
protect the head from impacts from above. Cyclists' and
riders' helmets are designed to protect from impacts with
the ground. The only case I have heard when a cyclist's
helmet protected the cyclist from an impact from above was
an irate motorist striking the cyclist with a stoplock.
