helmets and wrist guards?

Unicycles and Equipment
1

How many of you other unicyclists do or don’t wear protective equipment to
ride on the streets?
I just learned to ride this summer, and I’m quite comfortable going for a
good ride on my 24" without wearing anything special.
I get asked a lot about falling on my face, but I just tell all that I fall
on my feet (for the most part…I did fall on my hands this morning while
trying to freemount…it sometimes takes me a couple of attempts.)
I don’t take any jumps or anything, I just like to ride, and don’t really
feel I need any safety equipment (44yr old stubborn male, rode a bike all my
life and scraped my knees more than my head).
Thanks to all who don’t flame me.

–
Remove the OBVIOUS to autoreply.

2

If I’m on a unicycle I always wear wrist guards. Always always always.

I don’t wear a helmet is if I’m “just riding” in front of the house.

But I can’t help it. Pretty soon I’m trying to hop the curb or learn to idle/ride one footed or something. On goes the helmet.

I wear a helmet if:

  1. I’ll be sharing the road with cars/trucks
  2. Trying some trick (new or old)
  3. MUni
  4. Being a good example for kids.

The thing about helmets is you don’t need it 2697 times you ride. Then, one day, from out of nowhere, it saves your life.

I wish we had a smilie with a helmet. :sunglasses:

3

I feel that safety equipment should be used if you are really trying to push your boundaries, or doing something which could be potentially extra hazardous. I have never worn a helmet - I almost always land on my feet, apart from the occasional wrist or butt landing. At the moment I think footwear could perhaps be the most important safety equipment which may get overlooked. The other items like Helmets, wrist guards, and shin/knee guards are all personal preferences which are especially suited to technical terrain such as stairs and other uneven surfaces. I do not like the restrictive feel of safety gear, and for most riding situations I get myself into I am better off without it. Everyone is free to make up their own mind, I don’t mind anyone wearing whatever personal protection suits them best.

4

I pretty much agree with that.

I think there’s scope for wearing a helmet always cos then you’re totally covered and you’ll get so used to it that it’s no hassle.

I’ve just spent the last 8 months wering helmet 100% of the time, and now occasionally go without when I’m just cruising along the streets.

For being on the road or muni definitly ahelmet is good.

Setting an example to kids is a good reason, with so much peer pressure in the skating scene that protection = naff, I think it’s great for them to see someone doing something as unual/cool as uni/muni having the confidence and sense to don protective equipment.

As for wrist guards, they’re no trouble to wear whatsover, will almost certainly come in useful at some point and, in my opinion, look really cool!

5

hehe. you said ‘naff’

6

I have become a big proponent of safety gear. Not necessarily because of safety, but because it makes me feel indestructable, and so I try cooler things.
If I’m street riding, away from traffic, I generally don’t wear all my gear, not even a helmet. But that’s because I play sports and ride a razor scooter and other things of the sort that are actually more dangerous than straight uni riding, and if I’m tempting fate, then I’m tempting fate a lot more with my other activities. (Personal philosophy; I assume no responsibility for any injuries sustained while trying to be like Paco)
But for trials, MUni, etc., you bet I wear my gear!

7

I commute 4 miles on a 20" unicycle up and down hills every day, and I only wear a helmet. I also wear roach arm and leg pads for trials or muni, and occasionally I’ll wear the leg pads for freestyle. I only wera wrist guards on my left hand for trials because the plastic interferes with my handle grip, that is to say, on the 2-3 rides per year where I bother with wrist guards. I prefer riding gloves. I won’t ride without a helmet though, bottom line.

8

I always ride with a helmet. This is partly because I spend time working with kids and I don’t want them to see me riding without one. Also, I have had accidents where I have banged my head hard enough that I was glad to have it.

Wrist guards I wear almost all the time. The exception is when I am juggling. I only juggle on surfaces I have ridden several times and I am quite confident on. I do feel exposed, though. I make a living on computers and I cannot afford a wrist injury.

I wear shin guards all the time because I have received a couple of nasty pedal whacks.

I wear knee pads when I am trying something new or for muni.

-Mandell

9

Re: helmets and wrist guards?

“The 70’s” marc_70 wrote:

>How many of you other unicyclists do or don’t wear protective equipment to
>ride on the streets?

At a minimum, I wear wrist protectors and a bicycle helmet. I almost
always wear hard shell knee pads as well. I usually ride my Coker on
streets and bike paths. I rarely fall, but when I do, the wrist
protectors save my hands, the knee pads save my knees and I just slide
on the pavement without losing any skin!

>I just learned to ride this summer, and I’m quite comfortable going for a
>good ride on my 24" without wearing anything special.

When I first learned to ride 24 years ago, I never wore protective gear
except when required to race in the National Unicycle Meets. I lost a
little skin on my knee in a race at the 1980 NUM and a few years later I
got fed up with occasionally losing skin on pavement, so I started
wearing wrist protectors and knee pads whenever I rode, especially when
riding big wheels.

I’ve never injured my head, but I can easily see that I may not always
be able to protect my head with my arms for example, so I started
wearing a helmet as well and continue to do so.

Now, I recommend wearing the best body armour you have or can get
regardless of the type of unicycling you plan to do.

>I get asked a lot about falling on my face, but I just tell all that I fall
>on my feet (for the most part…I did fall on my hands this morning while
>trying to freemount…it sometimes takes me a couple of attempts.)

Continue to tell the public you fall on your feet standing up, but you
know you don’t always do so:

Wear protective gear for those times that you aren’t able or just
somehow don’t land on your feet. Protective gear doesn’t just protect
against scrapes; it can prevent or minimize the damage from bone
crushing impacts and sprains.

>I don’t take any jumps or anything, I just like to ride, and don’t really
>feel I need any safety equipment (44yr old stubborn male, rode a bike all my
>life and scraped my knees more than my head).

A properly fitted helmet will feel like a second skin and will prevent
at lot of fatal head injuries. The probably of a head injury is
extremely low, but the probable outcome is too high for anyone to pay.
I recommend wearing at least a helmet.

Sincerely,

Ken Fuchs <kfuchs@winternet.com>

10

As a stubborn, possibly-older-than-44 female, I don’t wear a helmet, wrist guards, or kneepads for the riding you’re describing.

When people start scolding about the lack of helmet, I agree with them that it’s entirely possible to get hurt. But since I’m going slower than many runners, and I’m upright rather than behind a set of handlebars, it seems a helmet isn’t any more necessary for me than it is for runners.

On the recent St. Paul Bke Classic, we rode 15 miles, along with a mere 7,000 bcyclists. (I think I saw the back of all 7,000 jerseys that day.) We were required to wear helmets. I also used gloves and kneepads, because I’m not 100% steady on my 27 sometimes.

Looking back on that, I realize that the helmet was very important. With so many people flying by us (cars and b*kes), it was all too possible to have an unpleasant encounter with Mr. Pavement. In fact, there was one accident, though I’m not sure if the helmet helped the uni rider. But I’d say he was far better off having it than not.

Even though I haven’t used a helmet for the last four years of riding, I’m not saying I never will. When you start getting into the larger wheel sizes and the more risky stuff, it makes sense. Wrist guards would be very sensible too.

Still, it seems to me we need to educate the general public. On the one hand, we have a whole bunch of people asking, “Where’s your helmet?” On the other, we have people whistling the circus tune. So which is it? Rarely do you see a unicycling clown wearing a helmet.

Carol
Minnesota

11

I wear…

Freestyle/Giraffe/Just a ride (usually on Muni):
cycle gloves

Muni:
cycle gloves, helmet, 661 leg pads, wrist guard, (sometimes elbow pads)

Trials:
full fingered cycle gloves (stops blisters on fingers), helmet, 661 leg pads, wrist guard,

Joe,

12

Re: helmets and wrist guards?

When I learned 35 years ago, there was no safety equipment. No BMX, no
Mountain bikes. All that was available was hocky pads. And you try and ride
in that gear…lol

Mind you in the last couple years since my accident, I have taken to wearing
bike gloves. Because my skin grafts hadn’t matured, I need to protect my
hands when catching the seat. I can’t recall the last time I fell and didn’t
land on my feet, honestly. And I rarely fall off anyways. But I hate having
to replace a seat that gets dropped, torn and scuffed up.

But thinking how many times I feel, when learning, safety equipment might
not be a bad idea for beginners.
Maybe it is even good for experts. But think of me as a hockey old timer,
that would rather take a puck in my head, than have the restrictions of
equipment.

“The 70’s” <marc_70@OBVIOUSyahoo.ca> wrote in message
news:KrC9b.1536$Ie5.264577@news20.bellglobal.com…
> How many of you other unicyclists do or don’t wear protective equipment to
> ride on the streets?
> I just learned to ride this summer, and I’m quite comfortable going for a
> good ride on my 24" without wearing anything special.
> I get asked a lot about falling on my face, but I just tell all that I
fall
> on my feet (for the most part…I did fall on my hands this morning while
> trying to freemount…it sometimes takes me a couple of attempts.)
> I don’t take any jumps or anything, I just like to ride, and don’t really
> feel I need any safety equipment (44yr old stubborn male, rode a bike all
my
> life and scraped my knees more than my head).
> Thanks to all who don’t flame me.
>
>
> –
> Remove the OBVIOUS to autoreply.
>
>

13

i am lucky

i have 661’s for muni and trials but i have only fell on my back the 661’s are for peddle bites.
but i am luck as i have twin air bags so i am ok

14

Re: helmets and wrist guards?

On Tue, 16 Sep 2003 07:30:28 -0700, “The 70’s”
<marc_70@OBVIOUSyahoo.ca> wrote:

>How many of you other unicyclists do or don’t wear protective equipment to
>ride on the streets?
I usually have a helmet and wrist guards when riding on the streets. I
plan to buy a set of knee pads too especially for the faster rides. I
do have 661’s but don’t like them for street (too warm/packed),
although for MUni with pinned pedals I do use them.

>Remove the OBVIOUS to autoreply.
How do you mean autoreply?

Klaas Bil - Newsgroup Addict

If the crank is moving then it really sounds as if it’s loose. - onewheeldave trying to pinpoint the cause of a clicking crank

15

It varies alot.

When I commute by Coker I wear a helmet only. That’s because of cars, not me.

When I commute by Blue Shift I wear knee and elbow pads and a helmet unless I’m going to crash…then I wear a helmet only.

Trials and trails I wear 661 full leg and full arm protection, full fingered gloves, and a helmet.

I rode the Iron Horse Trail a couple of weeks ago by Coker, 20 some miles, and wore no protective gear. I took a 10 mile Coker ride last weekend, mostly on bike paths, and wore no protective gear. I never rode fast during either of those two rides and almost none of it mixed with traffic.

I did some trials stuff last weekend and wore everything I had, the two sets of 661’s, Active Ankles, full fingered gloves, and a helmet. I didn’t “ride” anymore than 1/4 mile and I’m glad I had every bit of it on. And most of it served its purpose more than once.

16

commuting: i wear shin guards and gloves, and sometimes bike shorts if it’s a long ride.

trials, muni, and freestyle: i wear a helmet (bmx style), gloves, bike shorts, knee pads, shin guards, and ankle braces.

17

Re: helmets and wrist guards?

–
Remove the OBVIOUS to autoreply.
“Klaas Bil” <klaasbil_remove_the_spamkiller_@xs4all.nl> wrote in message
news:3f6787f0.5107256@newszilla.xs4all.nl…
> On Tue, 16 Sep 2003 07:30:28 -0700, “The 70’s”
> <marc_70@OBVIOUSyahoo.ca> wrote:
>
> >How many of you other unicyclists do or don’t wear protective equipment
to
> >ride on the streets?
> I usually have a helmet and wrist guards when riding on the streets. I
> plan to buy a set of knee pads too especially for the faster rides. I
> do have 661’s but don’t like them for street (too warm/packed),
> although for MUni with pinned pedals I do use them.
>
> >Remove the OBVIOUS to autoreply.
> How do you mean autoreply?

That’s the signature I use on my yahoo mail and Outlook Express. I’ve had to
add the OBVIOUS to minimize the amount of spam I’m getting (should have
used this sooner, get way too much now, especially when I post in these
NG’s.)
>
> Klaas Bil - Newsgroup Addict
> –
> If the crank is moving then it really sounds as if it’s loose. -
onewheeldave trying to pinpoint the cause of a clicking crank
>

18

i always wear a helmet too unless i’m riding on grass in which case sometimes i don’t, i don’t bother wiht knee pad ai feel i can’t move in them and arm things seem to fall down my arms even if they’re done up tightly

19

Re: Re: helmets and wrist guards?

What you say is clear and I do a similar thing, but I mean shouldn’t you say ‘reply’ rather than ‘autoreply’?

Klaas Bil

20

Re: helmets and wrist guards?

I don’t think others can answer this for you. This is a big topic here, and you will get a million different responses. Just search on “helmet.”

It all depends on your experience, skill, wisdom, foresight, risk-tolerance, sense of adventure, proclivity to tricks and screwing around, helmet/armor tolerance, weather, street conditions, pedestrian density, obstacle density, mood, reaction speed, self-confidence, maturity and bunch of other things to numerous and variable to get into. There are a million arguments either way, most of them make sense. You need to objectively step back from yourself, assess the overall situation, and make as informed a decision as you can. Fortunately we still have freedom of choice in the matter.

Beginning at 44 is great! I just hit the big 40 myself! I’ve been riding off and on since I was 12. I never wore a helmet until I started doing Muni and agressive tricks.

For basic street riding, I never wear a helmet. I do insist that my kids reach a certain street riding ability before they can lose the helmet. Offroad, we always wear helmets. Between those two extremes I just try to be sensible as to when to put a lid on.

Don’t let your age and biking experience fool lull you into a false sense of security. Being that you are in the beginning stages, there is a greater likelyhood of an accident. Read the posts here. There was a thread where people talked about odd accidents and head injuries. Enough to make you think.

Joe