Helmets - mean time betweef failures

[TimC]

On 2006-01-04, Tamyka Bell (aka Bruce)
was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea:
> downhill, at 60km/h, it's going to hurt regardless of whether I'm on the
> road or the trail. But at least on the trail, I'm not going to
> concurrently get hit by a tonne of metal.

Yeahbut, at least a car is theoretically movable[1], and hence absorbs
some of your energy. A tree is a rather immovable object


[1] Why is it that tiny little 600kg cars always seem to give me more
room? Oh yeah, they'd feel it

--
TimC
It's written GNU/Linux, and pronounced "Linux". Or, "Linux, with a
silent GNU/" -- Kubric on /.

 

[Theo Bekkers]

flyingdutch wrote:

> wwooopppp wwooopppp wwooopppp wwooopppp wwooopppp
>
> HELMET DEBATE!!!!!!!
>
> run fer your livesssssssssssss

First one for the year. Had to happen.

Theo

 

[Theo Bekkers]

Andrew Price wrote:

> Recommendations for one with significantly longer life span?
>
> I had just got fond of it too, sort of like an old sweater with holes
> in it that you don't want to give up.

I bought my Bell in 1986, wore it every day for ten years, less regularly
since then. I see no need to replace it.

Theo

 

[EuanB]

Even though I'm far more competent at road riding than mountain biking,
I consider mountain biking safer. The primary threat to my safety is my
own lack of skill.

Let's just say that I'm a hell of a lot more competent as a commuter than I am an off road cyclist. Three bimbles in the space of an hour, one of which saw me (much to my surprise and delight) digging deep in to my long dormant judo roll skills ;-)

 

[Rayc]

Ah, well you have a choice in everything, just like we aren't supposed
to talk on mobiles while driving - but many do. Travelling down
brunswick st how many people do you see with the helmet on the
handlebars. Again your choice

It's not that I think we should all wear our helmets and need to swap
them over regardless every two years.
But in answer to the original poster, the lifetime of a helmet is quite
defined and lessened by exposure to UV, and body oils and hair
products.
I was trying to point out that the is quite likely no way to guarantee
the working life of a helmet and in fact the actual use will accelerate
the wear.
An old sweater may be comfy, but a five year old helmet most likely
will not provide the full impact absorbtion of a new helmet, that's my
point

 

[Dee Dub]

It's not that I think we should all wear our helmets and need to swap
them over regardless every two years.
... the lifetime of a helmet is quite defined and lessened by exposure to UV, and body oils and hair products.

...but a five year old helmet most likely
will not provide the full impact absorbtion of a new helmet, that's my
point

I can understand these things may be possible, but where's the evidence of this? When I ring to try to get my helmet repaired, I get the "replace every 3 years" line. This sounds like the bike shop trying to sell more helmets to me.

I'd be interested to see the evidence on the deterioration models.

Still, I'll be buying a new one soon enough...

Dee Bub

 

[Rayc]

If your Betamax recorder still works then who am I to argue.

 

[EuanB]

I can understand these things may be possible, but where's the evidence of this? When I ring to try to get my helmet repaired, I get the "replace every 3 years" line. This sounds like the bike shop trying to sell more helmets to me.

I'd be interested to see the evidence on the deterioration models.

A quick google popped up this:
http://www.gcrio.org/UNEP1998/UNEP98p62.html

 

[DaveB]

Theo Bekkers wrote:
> Andrew Price wrote:
>
>
>>Recommendations for one with significantly longer life span?
>>
>>I had just got fond of it too, sort of like an old sweater with holes
>>in it that you don't want to give up.
>
>
> I bought my Bell in 1986, wore it every day for ten years, less regularly
> since then. I see no need to replace it.
>
> Theo
>

I thought the only reason you replace old helmets is the embarassment
factor.

DaveB

 

[Theo Bekkers]

Rayc wrote:
> If your Betamax recorder still works then who am I to argue.

I was never stupid enough to buy one.

Theo

 

[Theo Bekkers]

Rayc wrote:

> But in answer to the original poster, the lifetime of a helmet is
> quite defined and lessened by exposure to UV, and body oils and hair
> products.
> I was trying to point out that the is quite likely no way to guarantee
> the working life of a helmet and in fact the actual use will
> accelerate the wear.
> An old sweater may be comfy, but a five year old helmet most likely
> will not provide the full impact absorbtion of a new helmet, that's my
> point

See Zebee's post.

Theo

 

[Dee Dub]

A quick google popped up this:
http://www.gcrio.org/UNEP1998/UNEP98p62.html

Thanks for adding this piece to my jigsaw. EuanB

And as for betamax comments - I'm not looking for an arguement. (Rayc)

Dee Dub

 

[Tamyka Bell]

EuanB wrote:
>
> Tamyka Bell Wrote:
> >
> > Even though I'm far more competent at road riding than mountain
> > biking,
> > I consider mountain biking safer. The primary threat to my safety is
> > my
> > own lack of skill.
>
> Let's just say that I'm a hell of a lot more competent as a commuter
> than I am an off road cyclist. Three bimbles in the space of an hour,
> one of which saw me (much to my surprise and delight) digging deep in
> to my long dormant judo roll skills ;-)
>
> --
> EuanB

Only three? Dude, you got nothin' on me!

Tam

 

[Rayc]

Not an arguement, just an observation.

if your happy to keep using something that is widely accepted as
outdated and sub standard, then by all means.

The idea that a 19yr old helmet, is still good to wear and will protect
you is not something that I want to test on me or my loved ones. Apart
from the idea that the helmet will be most likely be stinky and gross.

Newer helmets generally fit alot better. Thats where the money
generally goes for the better helmets - R&D. Trickle down to the lower
range later or next season

 

[TimC]

On 2006-01-04, Theo Bekkers (aka Bruce)
was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea:
> Rayc wrote:
>> If your Betamax recorder still works then who am I to argue.
>
> I was never stupid enough to buy one.

Stupid? What was stupid about betamax?

--
TimC
"Consider a spherical bear, in simple harmonic motion..."
-- Professor in the UCB physics department

 

[Random Data]

On Wed, 04 Jan 2006 11:18:54 +1000, Tamyka Bell wrote:

> The bike shop was very responsible and insisted I smash the **** out of
> the helmet so that no one would take it out of the bin and try to use
> it.

So did you? I dropped bricks on the last few helmets I had to get rid of -
they were showing cracks and/or depressions after a few largish hits, so I
thought it was time to get rid of them. A house brick, edge on, leaves a
fair mark in a helmet from about 3m up.

--
Dave Hughes | [email protected]
"Love is a snowmobile racing across the tundra and then suddenly it
flips over, pinning you underneath. At night, the ice weasels come."
- Matt Groening

 

[Random Data]

On Wed, 04 Jan 2006 01:30:03 +0000, Zebee Johnstone wrote:

> Just to make life more difficult... The bod in charge of testing
> motorcycle helmets for Oz compliance recently tested a bunch of old
> helmets - some worn a lot, some not much, the oldest 12 years old.

Moto helmets are very different from push bike helmets, and I suspect
exceed the design requirements by a fair bit. Out of interest, was there a
noticeable difference between new and old, or were the models sufficiently
different that this wouldn't mean anything?

That's not to say it's not interesting, just not totally conclusive in
this discussion.

--
Dave Hughes | [email protected]
"Love is a snowmobile racing across the tundra and then suddenly it
flips over, pinning you underneath. At night, the ice weasels come."
- Matt Groening

 

[Graeme Dods]

On Wed, 4 Jan 2006 12:45:24 +1100, EuanB wrote:

> Three bimbles in the space of an hour,
> one of which saw me (much to my surprise and delight) digging deep in
> to my long dormant judo roll skills ;-)

That's nothing to do with competence, that's called "enjoying yourself"
My friends used to grade rides by how many times I came off. I tended to
come off more than others as I was sent down new routes as the guinea pig
and tended to go faster and try more than others (using gravity to to
compensate for my lack of fitness).

Despite never having done anything as constructive as judo, I found I had a
fairly decent roll-ability when it came to stuff ups (if only I could say
the same of my kayaking!).

Graeme

 

[Peter Keller]

On Wed, 04 Jan 2006 11:18:54 +1000, Tamyka Bell wrote:


>> >
>> I am not sure if an "inspection" service is useful at all. The propaganda
>> is that after any knock, however minor, the helmet should be replaced as
>> damage to it may be invisible but still real, thus lessening greatly
>> whatever protective properties it had.
>>
>> Peter
>
> I found a miniature compression spot on a helmet after I'd stacked it...
> which happened to correspond to a small bruise on my head, so I decided
> to check it out. When we peeled back the plastic, we found a massive
> crack that was not at all visible from outside. The bike shop was very
> responsible and insisted I smash the **** out of the helmet so that no
> one would take it out of the bin and try to use it. The thought of that
> scared me - I am always amazed when people sell second hand bikes with a
> helmet included.
>
> Tam

What? A bump causing a small bruise on your head caused that amount of
massive damage to the helmet?
My!! Aren't they protective!!

Peter

--
No Microsoft involved. Certified virus free --

 

[Peter Keller]

On Wed, 04 Jan 2006 10:36:14 +0800, Theo Bekkers wrote:

> Rayc wrote:
>> If your Betamax recorder still works then who am I to argue.
>
> I was never stupid enough to buy one.
>
> Theo

I was. It still works.

Peter

--
No Microsoft involved. Certified virus free --