[Xylakant]

The “anti helmet crowd” wouldn’t have any issue reading be this. Wearing helmets when you’re on a sports bike is very common in the Netherlands. It’s just not common on Dutch commuters cycles, but then again, these do not have this failure mode. Sports bikes in general have much less margin for failure, and thus fail more often and catastrophic than a solid steel bike.

[jupp0r]

Right, all commuter bikes are made of solid steel and steel bikes never break. Got it.

[prmoustache]

You are very unlikely to crash at 15-20kph and even less likely to hit your head at such speed in a very upright position.

In fact the odds aren't bigger than when running. Do you think runners should wear helmets?

I chose to wear or not my helmet depending on the conditions. Running errands nearby on my girlfriend's lady bike? I don't use it. Riding on mostly separated bicycle paths at my girlfriend's slow pace, same. Riding 3h on the roads or trails on my road and mountain bikes, I wear it.

[Xylakant]

Typical Dutch commuter bikes are made of steel. And yes, steel breaks, but the failure mode of a solid steel fork is much much different from a titanium, aluminum or carbon fork. They bend, crack and at some point break, but they’ll typically not snap like this because steel is much less brittle than any of those materials.

Also, speed matters. Going 15 or 50 when the thing breaks makes a difference.

[digitalscribe]

> Also, speed matters. Going 15 or 50 when the thing breaks makes a difference.

Isnt this an argument that helmets are more important for passenger vehicles? After all, car accidents cause about 10x more head trauma in the usa.

[toast0]

Passenger vehicles from this century come with airbags that significantly reduce head trauma. Three point seatbelts have been mandatory in all seating positions for longer, IIRC, and significantly reduce the likelyhood of head vs pavement collisions.

But, if absolute safety is paramount, you do want a five point harness, flameresistant coveralls, neck support, and a helmet, sure.

[ajuc]

When you're driving 15 km/h on a flat road accelerating and decelerating at 0.1 g (and almost always only in the horizontal direction) - you don't have the structural requirements for the bike that sport cycling has, yes.