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I have been riding very little since falling into the hands of the cardiologists, and need to get back to it. Now one of my medications is clopidogrel which while not full anticoagulation stops platelets aggregating and so reduces the ability of the blood to clot. If I cut myself shaving it takes ages to stop and makes me look like the Texas Chainsaw Massacre so it is working. My daughter, Area Coroner for Lancashire, tells me regularly that Head Injury plus Anticoagulation equals Death.
I need a helmet which will give me the maximum protection, is very large (I have a large head), and preferably is easily available, preferably in an actual shop so I can try it on. I am based between Blackburn and Bolton but am prepared to travel in search of the right product. As I am quite attached to my brain I don't mind paying lots of money. I would be most grateful for suggestions.
The difference in safety between any given helmets is really hard to figure out. Luckily though, the good people of Virginia Tech have been looking into this for a while now, probably not perfect but as good as you’re going to get. Plenty of big brand options that should be reasonably easy to get hold of
That’s what she said fnar fnar.
I’m sure you’ll get lots of recommendations for good helmets to try but 1st find a couple of good local shops and go see what they have. Try a few on for size and fit.
You do know that not even the best helmets claim to prevent head injury I assume?
Beyond that, the testing is the same (iirc US standards are higher) but even then you'll only get a "passed astm", there's no quantification so any one helmet with the cert is likely to be better or worse than the next so really, it's just comfort and fit that will decide what suits. (an uncomfortable, ill fitting but brilliant helmet is likely to be less good than a bad but well fitting one)
FWIW though I'd be similarly concerned about the other injuries a helmet certainly won't help, I've ruptured my spleen riding (well, as my riding abruptly stopped to be honest) broken bones including femur aren't uncommon and they're dangerous enough without the anticoagulant. It's your money and your choice but if I were you and genuinely worried about the risk of a crash I'd be thinking it might be time to start playing golf...
Wow! Thanks very much, especially for the swift reply. I was astonished to see mention of "soccer" helmets among the many varieties. BWFC kick off the new season on Saturday 5th August, I shall see if any of the players wears one.
I can't help with your question despite being local (I'm in Padiham) but I just wanted to say good luck.
I'm reminded of back when I was learning to ride a motorbike. I asked a more experienced rider friend for helmet advice and his response was "well, how many heads do you have?"