The 6-Miler » Headgear

Bell Metro helmet, great deal

todd — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 16:46:31 +0000

A quick one here, to say that if you need a helmet, you should not miss this deal. (The Bell Metro is a great helmet — very comfortable — I wear it every day — it looks less nerdly than many models although this is not saying much — make sure you know your size before ordering.)

Bike Nashbar.com – Bell Metro Helmet

‘The chinstrap of social obedience’

todd — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 03:45:31 +0000

Absolutely brilliant essay by Boris Johnson, the mayor of London (shown at right in a photo from the Telegraph), on his being caught not wearing a helmet while cycling to work.

Choice bits:

Of course I accept the case for cycle helmets, although the only time I have had a serious prang in almost a decade of cycling in London, a helmet would have made no difference whatever. I was negotiating Knightsbridge with extreme caution when a French tourist walked across the road without looking (you could tell he was French by the noise he made on impact) …

And this:

As soon as I started to wear a helmet, I was denounced as a wimp, a milquetoast, a sell-out to the elf and safety lobby, a man so cravenly attached to his own survival that he was willing to wear this undignified plastic hat. As soon as I was pictured not wearing a helmet, I was attacked for “sending out the wrong signal” and generally poisoning the minds of the young with my own reckless behaviour. The situation, my friends, is a mess.

In addition to this being a hilarious tale, Boris captures the conflict between “the competing imperatives of safety and liberty.”

Do not fail to read the whole thing. Hat tip to my esteemed elder Brian for sending this along.

A review of two hats

todd — Sat, 08 Dec 2007 20:33:59 +0000

Keeping the head warm goes a long way toward keeping the rest of me warm, so I wanted to make sure I went into this winter riding season with an adequate supply of lids.

To that end, I made a couple of purchases recently from Bike Nashbar: the Pearl Izumi Microsensor Skull Cap ($20) and the Cannondale Alpacor Balaclava (also $20). Here’s an evaulation of each:

Microsensor Skull Cap: I bought this because I wanted something simple that would cover my ears, and this cap is “contour cut to cover ears without obstructing view,” in Nashbar’s words. Unfortunately, it doesn’t do the job. The contour-cut part keeps riding up, leaving my ears uncovered, and I keep having to tug it down while I’m riding. Maybe my head is too egg-shaped for this design. (My head measures 18 3/4 inches from just below one ear lobe, over the top of my head, to the just below the other ear lobe.) Still, from this name brand at this price I expected more.
VERDICT: Not recommended.

Alpacor Balaclava: It’s soft, it’s silky — it’s made of alpaca wool. (No, I’m not kidding.) It feels very nice on the head, it dries quickly, and it covers the forehead, mouth and nose very nicely. The only problem is, it’s not quite long enough. I like a balaclava to cover the neck as well as the head. This one just barely makes it to the collar of my jacket; when I turn my head, it rides up just a little and exposes the neck. (It is 29 inches from the top of my head down my face to the base of my neck.)
VERDICT: Recommended, with reservations.