Protection - always ?

[PLEASE_DELETE]

Deleted.

Edited March 18 by PLEASE_DELETE

[tenofnine]

16 hours ago, Espen R said:

Funny how us old-timers, who grew up in a time where safety gear was either totally absent or viewed as a bit unnecessary, still carry a reluctancy towards waring safety gear. 

 

My girlfriend had to persuade me to wear a helmet when I bought the Onewheel. I bought a cheap skateboard helmet and felt like a complete fool, but I didn't take it of because of all the children who used to watch me.

 

I switched to EUC's because of range and off-road capability about 1.5 years ago, and added better wrist guard, gloves, knee- and elbow-pads to my safety gear. Last winter the cheap skateboard helmet saved me from a more serious injury. The roads were either hard packed snow or ice, but a new layer of snow had been wet enough to stick to the surface underneath, so the riding conditions were safe. I came down a hill, at not much than walking pace, and at the bottom of the hill the wheel slid out underneath me. I fell backwards and smacked the back of my head/helmet in the ice. Cold air had gathered there, and the snow was dry and light, not sticking to the black ice. I only got a light concussion, but had to spend two weeks in bed listening to audiobooks. The cheap helmet went to the bin and replaced with a new full-face flip-up helmet, and now I wouldn't even consider riding without a helmet. 

 

Isn't that just a cultural thing though? Correct me if I'm wrong but I've seen a lot of footage and travel clips from Scandinavian countries and The Netherlands and there are lots of bikes but no-one is wearing a helmet.

I realize you may not have a choice, but riding on ice or in icy conditions? C'mon that is not wise at all. These  EUCs can handle snow but ice and loose mud/silt are it's arch-nemesis.

[mrelwood]

 

Quote

I realize you may not have a choice, but riding on ice or in icy conditions? C'mon that is not wise at all. These  EUCs can handle snow but ice and loose mud/silt are it's arch-nemesis.

They are indeed... unless you tire up!

 

I have no problem riding over 40km/h on ice and a moderate amount of snow. I do slow down a lot in corners though, since I haven’t yet gotten a proper feel for the grip limits. So far it has just gripped great.

[Espen R]

9 hours ago, vasuvius said:

OK. You changed my mind. I just ordered a mountainbike helmet with a chin guard as none of the 10 other helmets I have have a chin guard other than the motorcycle helmets which are too heavy for the EUC.

I agree, motorbike helmets are a bit too heavy. I wanted the flip-up function and bought the only full-face bicycle helmet in my big head size with that function I could find:) The mountain bike downhill helmets are very light and solid, so I don't think you'll regret it.

2 hours ago, tenofnine said:

Isn't that just a cultural thing though? Correct me if I'm wrong but I've seen a lot of footage and travel clips from Scandinavian countries and The Netherlands and there are lots of bikes but no-one is wearing a helmet.

I realize you may not have a choice, but riding on ice or in icy conditions? C'mon that is not wise at all. These  EUCs can handle snow but ice and loose mud/silt are it's arch-nemesis.

Don't know the age of the pictures and clips you have seen, because most adults and all the children are wearing bicycle helmets these days. Norway, my home country, was perhaps a bit slow implementing this, but Sweden, where I live, is very safety oriented. They have probably invented or produced at least half of the safety gear you use in your everyday life:)

I was born above the arctic circle with a lot of Sami blood in my veins, and in the Sami language there are over 250 words for different snow conditions. I know snow and ice! I tried to explain the conditions, where the warmer new snow sticks to the colder ice and hard packed snow on the ground, which creates a very safe surface to ride on. There is a lot of friction in new snow if the temperature and humidity is right. Cold air pockets or cold air rivers/tunnels, the even more precise condition I experienced, are a bit more difficult to predict, especially if there are open water not covered in ice nearby. Open water pulls cold air toward its selves, and this creates cold air rivers/tunnels where the air becomes drier and the temperature drops a few degrees, and that was what had happened where the wheel slid out underneath me.

Edited January 26, 2020 by Espen R

[EUC Custom Power-Pads]

On 1/25/2020 at 12:16 AM, winterwheel said:

Counter-intuitively, the risk may be bigger with the smaller wheel; we've had three faceplant-style incidents in our group and all were on small wheels;

I can imagine that it happens especially in group rides more often, because the people on the slower wheels try to keep up with the faster ones.

Also some of them want to be very cool, get exuberant and want to show what they can (or can't ) and then it ends with their face on the concrete. 

[vasuvius]

8 hours ago, /Dev/Null said:

I use a motorcycle helmet on my EUC and don't feel that at all.  YMMV of course....

 

The Shoei GT Air i use on the motorcycle weighs 1700 grams. The Bell Transfer 9 mountain bike helmet I ordered is 1200 grams (one of the heavier ones) but it was 70 bucks on sale.

I don't want to carry 500 grams more on my neck when I don't need to. As you say, it's a personal comfort choice. 

[Espen R]

28 minutes ago, vasuvius said:

The Shoei GT Air i use on the motorcycle weighs 1700 grams. The Bell Transfer 9 mountain bike helmet I ordered is 1200 grams (one of the heavier ones) but it was 70 bucks on sale.

I don't want to carry 500 grams more on my neck when I don't need to. As you say, it's a personal comfort choice. 

I have a Scott motorcycle helmet, which I thought I would use on my hard off-road rides, but 1800 grams vs 1100 grams on my full-face-flip-up-bicycle helmet makes a huge difference for me. My neck isn't perfect after a few knocks in a fairly active life, so 700 grams feels like a ton after an hour hard riding.

[alcatraz]

3 hours ago, buell47 said:

I can imagine that it happens especially in group rides more often, because the people on the slower wheels try to keep up with the faster ones.

Also some of them want to be very cool, get exuberant and want to show what they can (or can't ) and then it ends with their face on the concrete. 

Look at me! I can plant my face... 

[winterwheel]

7 hours ago, buell47 said:

I can imagine that it happens especially in group rides more often, because the people on the slower wheels try to keep up with the faster ones.

Also some of them want to be very cool, get exuberant and want to show what they can (or can't ) and then it ends with their face on the concrete. 

As long as everyone is mindful of beeps it isn't an issue. We have a group ride every week and this has never occurred.

Problems occur when people are testing wheels, pushing them to the limit.

[Circuitmage]

Well, I was going 15mph on my little honda 250 mc, when a car hit me. My very cheap plastic DOT helmet cracked all the way down the middle when my head hit the pavement...so yeah....helmets are good. I can't bring myself (yet) to wear a full face...but my bicycle helmet is most frequently worn. The only time I do not is when I am making a short trip 1 or 2 blocks away.