Safety Gear

[binlagin]

Hey Guys,

So what gear does everyone wear?

I have a full face DH helmet, goggles, thin leather gloves and that about it.

I was using new knobby tires on asphalt and I had a little fight with a curb edge at 30km/h and I was the looser. I don't wanna post pics, but my road rash is not the most preety thing to look at and hurts like a biatch too!

I can't imagine falling at 50km/h+ must feel like.

I'm going to be wearing my motocycle mesh jacket while on the street from now on and possibly look at getting some knee pads.

I would love to hear what everyone uses and how effective it's been!

 

[kfong]

I'm even worse, often times no gear or helmet at all. My ebikes only go 30mph max. I keep away from main streets and usually ride the sidewalks if there is too much traffic. If I know I will be travelling far, I usually wear a bike helmet. While trail riding, I usually wear a bike helmet and gloves. I did have a hard fall last week in the trails, and was thinking body armor at the time, but that soon left my thoughts once I got riding again. Usually you can't get into dangerous speeds on single track, but that doesn't make it safe either. If I start pushing my bikes past 30mph, I would concider a full face just to kill the wind noise. One of the main attractions for me on ebikes, is to ride them like bikes and stay below the levels where wind noise gets distracting.

They dropped the helmet requirement this year on motorcycles in Mi, but not to wear one at those speeds is stupid.

 

[cal3thousand]

I wear a regular bike helmet, jacket, gloves and glasses.

I want to get a full helmet soon to block the wind, bugs and keep my head warmer. But my bike is not fast enough to warrant the upgrade yet. I plan on being able to hit 40MPH+ eventually, so a full helmet will be good then.

 

[dogman dan]

One reason I ride slow so much. I can take a 20 mph road rash ok, and bike helmet's enough.

On a really fast bike like 40 mph or more, it's full race gear, knee padded pants, armored jacket, dot full face helmet, riding gloves.

 

[advancedelectricbikes]

Things are not always what they appear to be:

http://www.onestreet.org/images/stories/pdf/Efficacy_of_Bicycle_Helmets.pdf

http://crag.asn.au/?p=67

 

[The fingers]

Bike helmet, shoes, yellow reflective vest, ankle strips, and gloves (got to protect The fingers).

 

[Ykick]

Training, MSF courses are excellent starting point! Bicycle safety websites have helpful resources but MSF is top drawer stuff compiled and taught by highly skilled and experienced people. Don't be a douche, get some training but if you only read the materials on their website, you'll still be better prepared than just trying to figure this out on the spot.

 

[dogman dan]

Got that right. Beats the way I learned it, one close shave after another in my teenage years. Every time I nearly died, I learned another lesson.

Such as, brakes don't always stop you in time, but they might give you time to choose the kind of crash you get. Maybe even time to avoid it all. But don't just pull brakes and hope. Pull brakes and take evasive action in the time you just bought yourself. Lock the front brake, yer toast.

Post all the helmet stuff you want. I know guys who died because they took a dive at greater than 20 mph, and the regular bike helmet wasn't enough. I know it was enough when I took a flying dive into a curb at about 15 mph. Mighty glad that huge dent in the temple area of the helmet wasn't in my skull. I was busted up bad, but the head was completely fine.

I just wear helmets. To go fast, good helmets.

 

[anarce]

I dumped my bike a week and a half ago going about 25 mph. I just had shorts, t-shirt, and helmet on, so I got some bad road rash and bruises. I remember the sound of the helmet scraping across the concrete as I slid and thinking I was glad that wasn't the side of my head instead. The helmet was totally worth it.

 

[MattyCiii]

In the winter I ride with a motorcycle helmet ("modular type, the whole face lifts up) and a motorcycle jacket - has nice plastic pads to mitigate fall impact. The m'cycle helmet is mostly for keeping eyes & ears warm. I also wear gloves, and this year I picked up heated glove liners but the New England winter was so warm I hardly used them.

Summer - it's breathable summer weight m'cycle gloves and a standard bicycle helmet. I pedal a lot (exclusively actually) so I'd get too hot with the m'cycle helmet.

 

[oatnet]

Helmet, moto gloves with knuckle protection, moto jacket with spine/shoulder/elbow pads, boots sometimes.

-JD

 

[John in CR]

Glasses to keep wind, grit and bugs out of my eyes, and when I'm going on the highway or roads with which I'm not intimately familiar I put on a motorcycle helmet. My attitude is the more exposed I am, the more exposed I will feel, and just like it's natural to tread with care and focus near the edge of a high cliff but daydream walking on a sidewalk, I aim to ride with absolute focus and care, so being exposed is an asset.

Other than some minor traction incidents, which occurred due to ignorance of the effects of slight wetness on cheap bicycle tires and inexperience in loose dirt and rocks, my approach has worked well for me, and all incidents were valuable learning experiences. Once I build a trail ebike, I'll need to gear up, since even the very experienced go down simply due to the nature of the riding.

 

[gensem]

One more point that I agree with John... more exposed I am, the more exposed I will feel....

I do have full MC gears and did use it a couple time... problem is that you dont feel the speed and act like super man.

I usually go by with gloves, glasses and a quality bicycle helmet. Main problem in São Paulo is the traffic and no moto gears will save you if a truck runs over you.

 

[smudger1956]

MTB style helmet /Tube face mask/ Glasses / Leather Jacket( not a m-cycle type) / Hi-Viz vest /my old m-cycle gloves for commuting-pub run-looning...
A meander to the local shops....just wear my helmet.