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On the back of the kids wearing helmets in trailers thread I've just thought back to when I first wore one myself. Shocked to realise when I thought about it harder it was not until 1997 at the age of 25 that I first put a bike helmet on my head. In the preceding 25 years I quite liked wearing a bike cop toy helmet shell thing aged about 5 then nothing at all through my early mtb years in my middle teens or my road riding in a club a year or two later. Raced in both mtb and road at that time too. Always fancied one of those leather hair net jobs but never had the cash and would have looked a right dick if I had bought one. When I came back to bikes via triathlon in 97 and discovered wearing one was mandatory I went out and bought my first one. Probably didn't start wearing one (nearly) every ride until about 2006. Still 'forget' when I nip to the shops and enjoy a bitter winter road ride with a proper snuggly hat hat instead. But the default instinct is to put a helmet on now.
Funny how times change.
When did you pop your helmet cherry?
About 2007 or so, heading down conic hill, which was handy as I had an otb and landed on my head!
About 30. Only wear them at trail centres and to race. So not very often.
2005, I was 28 although I hadn’t ridden for about 10 lyears.
Simply because the R2W scheme im work insisted you ordered a lid as part of it.
Never throught about it before, but now realise it was about 2001 (20yo) when I bought my BMX. It was one of those mushroom shaped skate helmets. Never wore one other than on the BMX. Next helmet I bought was in 2006 before touring round Normandy on my hybrid.
Mum got me one when I bought my 1989 Saracen Tufftrax. Been using one since.
About age 15, when I got "into" mountain biking, and probably only because John Tomac wore the same helmet (Bell Image). Have worn one ever since.
I had a Raleigh bmx full face helmet when I was about 5, so 1981 ish.
After that though not until 2003 when I bought a red specialized chamonix to go with my new GT Avalanche.
Granite pattern Giro Hammerhead, probably so I could do the race series at Thetford. 91/92ish?
I was 18. Same time as I got my first "proper" bike, a Marin Palisades with fluro yellow forks. I mainly have worn one ever since and have had two accidents without helmet (always a side slip, once on moss on an off camber hotel driveway and once on ice under a dusting of snow) where I wished I had worn a helmet.
I had a Yes BMX lid for racing way back when, then sort of stopped until MTB really took off and I was in a Vetta polystyrene bucket with a fabric cover around '89.
I bought one at same time as my first mountain bike. Never wore or even thought about one before then but thought it would be the wise thing to do.
Probably sometime in 1987. I don't remember using one with my first Muddy Fox, but definitely did with the 2nd - it was white with neon pink bits which clashed with the courier's lovely lilac fade! AARGH!
1990.
lilac fade
That would be the '88 Courier.
#anorak
A mate of mine wanted me to try mountain biking in Sep '93 so I borrowed his flat mate's bike. I went OTB and flew headfirst between two trees. I was hooked so when I bought my first MTB ('94 Lavadome) and was told they couldn't discount but could give me 10% in 'stuff', I thought a helmet might be a good idea.
I always wear one on the MTB but if a ride starts with a long climb on a hot day I'll often start with it strapped to my pack until I get to the top. On the road bike it's <50% of the time. In fact, thinking about it my current road helmet is probably so old it would crumble to dust without absorbing any energy if I ever called on it.
Dunno exactly, sometime in the mid 90's and only because I had to wear one in order to enter a race, bought it the day before. It was a Bell mushroom bonce.
Probably early 2000’s when Riding Aston hill.
Up until about 5 years ago I’d only wear a lid if I felt the risk was high enough. I’ve never really felt that protected by a bit of polystyrene covering the strongest part of my skull (open face lids). So struggle to see the point for low risk stuff.
I pretty much always wear one now so I don’t get grief from the Helmet police..
I nearly crashed into a pedestrian who didn’t look before crossing the road recently, I pointed out he should look before crossing the road, he said “you should be wearing a helmet”.
10 or 11 ish I reckon so about 1990 or something, probably resembled a bunch of bananas or something like that
Complete second nature now unless I'm just pootling about on a MoBike. Weirdest site on the commute is those carrying one flapping about clipped to something rather than on their head
Went to a Specialized demo day at Blazing Saddles in Hebden in about 2005.
They wouldn't let me ride a bike without a lid, didn't have one, so they lent me one of theirs.
Didn't get round to buying one until a few months later, but that was the catalyst.
Got my first MTB in 1990/91, so a bit of a late adopter.
For cycling camp, July 1988.
It was a Bell, foam shell with a red and black Lycra covering that stretched over it. A hideous thing.
open face bmx lid in the 80s when I was less than 10, didn't like wearing it as it was so heavy, tuff top briefly and then some limar thing in 1991 that saved my bacon when I fell down a small cliff and got it wedged between a the rock face and a tree stump, got a classic Giro hammerhead in that lovely sunset finish after that. Have had two really bad concussions in silly falls since... neither time was wearing a helmet...
first bike around 5, first OTB not long after, first helmet at 45, don't know how I survived.
Weirdest site on the commute is those carrying one flapping about clipped to something rather than on their head
road touring i'm more likely to clip it to my pannier, It'll do me sod all good on my head if I get hit by some dick in a car on an a road, on the pannier it keeps them an extra 6in out
Yeah these are more likely the shoulder strap of a backpack, literally more dangerous than wearing it on your head along the canal
I don't own a helmet. Never have.
There are certain times I feel I need one because I have to stop and walk the bike, steep lumpy descents and reds at trail centers mainly.
Serious question though, why buy a technically inferior cycle helmet, and not a proper motorbike helmet and a neck brace?
Yeah these are more likely the shoulder strap of a backpack, literally more dangerous than wearing it on your head along the canal
Fair point, my old neighbour wouldn't go to the corner shop without a helmet, but would then ride back with the shopping in a carrier bag on the bars.
Till it caught in the wheel and she broke her arm.
To be fair tho. her head was fine.
22years ago when buying my Gary Fisher Wahoo fully rigid mountain bike ..and I've worn one ever since .
1991 i bought my first helmet (,a foam with cloth cover one it was grey with multi coloured highlights).
anyhoo i was in trowbridge one day, having finished college for the day an riding home. i thought i saw some people i knew from school and didn't want them to see me wearing this monstrosity on my head so looked away from them as i cycled past. not noticing the car trailer that i cycled into, thus hitting it and rolling off said trailer and onto the main road colt seavers stylee.
well i can assure you that they did notice me what with them doubling up laughing etc (it wasn't actually anyone i knew) i quickly straightened my bars on my 88 dawes ascent mtb (quill stem) and continued on my way.
😐
Always fancied one of those leather hair net jobs
I had one of these in 1988. They were mandatory in the road races I rode even then - although possibly just for juniors.
First tried one in 2004ish and that was the one and only time I have worn one in 45 years of cycling. If I didn't wear one when riding BMX for hours a day over 8 years then I think I have missed any opportunity of worthwhile use of a helmet.
Got my first mtb and helmet in 2007 at 44 yrs of age. Having been over the bars dozens of times , smacking my head on branches and various other crashes I'm a firm believer in wearing a lid .
When I started racing in 1988, so when I was 36.
Serious question though, why buy a technically inferior cycle helmet, and not a proper motorbike helmet and a neck brace?
At least neck braces haven’t been adopted in mtb like they have in mx. Neck braces are a helmet substitute in mx arguments.
Fun fact. You don’t need to wear a helmet to ride a quad on the road. It’s marvellous...
Around 2005 ... so early thirties.
When I was growing up only very young children wore helmets on bikes to pretend they were on motorbikes; they usually had a card pegged to their rear wheel to make a sound too.
fast forward a generation, and the bicycle is seen as a dangerous thing that requires a helmet to be worn at all times!!
I got a BMX full face when I was 8...for use on my motocross bike.
1995 in my mid 20s.....I'd<span style="font-size: 0.8rem;"> fallen off and whacked my head on ice riding around Derwent Valley in the snow. I learnt that breaking on ice is not clever and that a good bang to the back of the head can make you feel ill for days.</span>
fast forward a generation, and the bicycle is seen as a dangerous thing that requires a helmet to be worn at all times!!
lol
About 1984, (18 years old) I’d entered the crits at Crystal Palace and needed a helmet so bought one of the leather hairnet ones. Only wore it racing. Bought a more modern version when I started riding / racing velodromes about ten years ago and that got used when I started mountain biking. No longer race so only use one on the mtb nowadays.
1993, when I got my first 'proper' mtb, big Bell thing that looked ridiculous. But, I was riding motorbikes at the time so seemed sensible to get one. Wore one ever since, had a crash last year at about 20mph onto concrete splitting my helmet which would have been my head if I didn't have the helmet on. It's not the bike that is a dangerous thing, it's you and the environment you ride it in that is dangerous. Roads are very different to 40 years ago and we hurtle along trails at 25mph, the roads and the ground are very unforgiving.
I don't quite remember, but I think it was a Specialized Sub 6 in the early 90s. Certainly I don't remember ever wearing one as a kid, but I may well be wrong in this.
Would feel naked without one now, but I suppose that's just because I've worn one for nearly 30 years!
About 3 months after buying my first MTB ('88 Saracen Tufftrax).
After a few OTBs, I thought it was sensible. I was 16.
Bought my first helmet the day after buying my first mountain bike in 1986. It was while going down a very bumpy track and realising my hands were no longer actually on the bars. Seemed like it might be best to get some protection. 32 years on and so far no helmet has actually been tested, hopefully I never get to find out whether they are effective or not.
At the age of 31 in 1990 when I entered my first mountain bike race (on a Trek 830) and helmets were compulsory. Think it was a Specialized - at least it wasn't one of those polystyrene wrapped a sock ones.
About 1991, prob about a year after getting first mtb (Trek 950) but shortly after witnessing friend get knocked out, still doubt they'd do that much in an accident and wear one mainly so no lawyer could discount any payment for "contributary negligence" should the worst happen on the road, off-road they prevent my naked bonce getting scorched or ****ted by twigs.
Sometime in the early- to mid-90s, aged 15 or 16 or so.
Somehow I survived the Cycling Head Injury epidemic of the pre-helmet days.
When I was 30 and hiring helicopters to fly me up mountains in New Zealand. Those were pretty rad days.
Early 80's. My mum (Santa) bought me a Nolan motorbike helmet when i got my Super Burner. . Wore it xmas morning for a couple of minutes and swapped it a year or so later for a copy of Michael Jackson's Thriller video. Had to wear a lid BMX racing /comps/ demos but never when riding for myself. Thousands of crashes and not one head injury in 20+ years of licking the BMX envelope. Probably just luck
Just found a pic that pretty much looks like my first (save for the brand):
I am so glad they invest in design like they do now!
When I got my first proper bike - a special edition chrome Raleigh BMX. Was back in the days of BMX Bandits
It was a red plastic shell with chin strap and a white peak that attached with poppers that popped every time I went OTB riding home made jumps (ply wood and bricks) in the close we lived in. Happy fearless days.
I've got a new found respect for head injuries this week after a silly head injury in the house has left me struggling due to the effects of concussion on the front area of my brain.
The first head gear I can remember buying, was one of those three band, stop you loosing your scalp, jobs from Sandy Wallace Cycles in Inverkeithing. Similar to this, but in Italian colours.
My first proper helmet was a large, poorly ventilated Spesh one, bought in Aberdeen in the mid Nineties, on the advice of various Triathlon racing colleagues.
When was this a thing?
I bought exactly the same helmet and covered it in stickers from the cover of MBUK