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The debate about gear rages on

GAJ said:
No kidding.

I had no idea this thread, which I hadn't clicked on till now, was 15 pages!
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Yaaaaaaaaaaa...I may have opened a can of worms with this one lol. But quite the fun and educational thread I must admit, and after all, that's what were here for.
 
GAJ said:
If ultimate safety were the goal we wouldn't ride.
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It isn't. The ultimate goal is to mitigate injuries reasonably. There's danger in nearly everything, as in something as innocuous as taking a shower. Using shower as example, if a person can reasonably avoid slippage, electrocution, burns, etc, a person should.

The separation between shower and riding is that shower is way, way more contained than a public road. If I slip, crack the skull and become unconscious while bathing, it is unlikely anything will happen to a neighbor. Perhaps water damage in case of condos, but even that is very minor. If I slip, crack the skull and become unconscious while riding, it's a crapshoot for many of the fellow road users. What if that can be avoided with entry level BILT gear?

If the rider wants to ride in its own property, ride naked then! If a rider wants to use public roads, then there is a minimum of responsibility towards the rest of us.

Oh, for all the peeps, please ping me if you need to borrow gear. Fat, skinny, girl, boy, new, old, you name it. This gear whore will gladly lend stuff. This gear whore will even lend you money so you can buy something of your own.
 
InNoHurry said:
If a rider wants to use public roads, then there is a minimum of responsibility towards the rest of us.
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I have no minimum responsibility towards anyone else in regards to gear. Once again, I'll use the food analogy. You feed your kid french fries and milkshakes, and that kid grows up to weigh 699 lbs and gets a reality show because it's somehow McDonalds fault, his blood pressure, his diabetes, his whole fucking life is fucked because of something he does, yet there doesn't seem to be much backlash about that (I just saw an article in the LA Times that had a pediatrician, say that fully 50%+ of all her patients were either overweight, or obese). Yet, I have a responsibility to you because I ride with flipflops, a beenie helmet with a mohawk? I don't think so.
 
Breaking Daniel said:
Actually I've been surprised as well as to just how hard something the size of a fly can impact at 65mph. Pretty impressive actually.
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Based on the size of the goose egg on my forehead, I'm guessing this was some sort of beetle, cicada or something along those lines. Headache lasted for almost 2 days, as I remember... and it made a god-awful sound when it hit... :barf
 
MCSFTGUY said:
Where in the hell have you been hiding?

Even when you wear all of the gear it won't help a knuckle-dragger like you:teeth:thumbup

Whatsup Eric?

Enough of this arguing... I say we hang Breaking Daniel in effigy for starting this and then go have a beer....

Right after I ride home from work wearing my JEANS!:twofinger
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Had to take a self imposed Barf break. The douchebaggery got to be too much but happy to be back and engaging in brilliant discussions such as this. :laughing

:wave Hi Steve!
 
I made this for you guys.

picture.php
 
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Gixxergirl1000 said:
Just as an FYI- before the helmet law, riding at dusk, I caught a big disgusting bug to my forehead that literally almost knocked me off my bike. Not in my eyes- to my forehead. I saw exploding white lights, and it knocked me so far back on the seat that only the very tips of my fingers were on the bars. I was lucky we were going in a straight line- had it been a turn, it absolutely 100% would have been a crash. Had I been going 65 instead of 45, I believe it would have knocked me off the bike.
So yeah- wearing gear really can prevent a crash.
FTR, I never rode without a helmet after that.
Also FTR, I had to wait 5 or 6 days before I could ride, because it took that long for the giant goose egg on my forehead to subside...
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The impact knocked you back, not the pain. A helmet would have done precious little to keep you from falling off. Of course, it would have helped once your head hit the ground.

Have someone hit you in the head with a pillow. Now put a helmet on, and have them hit you again, same spot. Same impact force to your dome, same amount of force trying to upset your balance.
 
aminalmutha said:
No way, dude, I'm here for t3h LULZ.
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Oh yeah, and those too of course.

InNoHurry said:
It isn't. The ultimate goal is to mitigate injuries reasonably. There's danger in nearly everything, as in something as innocuous as taking a shower. Using shower as example, if a person can reasonably avoid slippage, electrocution, burns, etc, a person should.
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Though I would definitely agree with never showering with a hair dryer in the shower with me, I'm not gonna wear an electricity insulated rubber suit tp prevent the risk of electrocution. As kinky as that sounds, it's overkill, and plus I'm not in to that sort of thing. :wow

ATGATT is ridiculous as it doesn't know when enough is enough, or what times are appropriate. Consider the saying itself "All The Gear, All The Time." ALL THE TIME? Well isn't that closed minded. What if it was 140 degrees out. Would you still wear EVERYTHING ALL THE TIME? My guess is no. And yes, plenty of people do ride in places where it hits 140 regularly. Why not take an educated approach to it, and dress as each ride requires?

IMHO, anyone that has to rely upon ATGATT as the only way to know how to gear up for a ride is [insert the most minimally offensive negative adjective here]. I, on the other hand, have the wherewithal to assess each ride and gear up accordingly. <---That might be the most smug statement I've ever made, but I promise I don't smell my own farts.

Factors when considering how to gear may include, but are not limited to the following:
  • Speed I will be traveling.
  • Distance of the ride.
  • Traffic conditions.
  • Weather conditions.
  • How much sunlight is left in the day.

Compare it to this. You don't wear your tinted visor "ALL THE TIME" because it protects your eyes from UV rays do you? No. You consider your ride and determine if a clear visor is more appropriate because it's getting late and about to be dark out.
 
mean dad said:
The impact knocked you back, not the pain. A helmet would have done precious little to keep you from falling off. Of course, it would have helped once your head hit the ground.

Have someone hit you in the head with a pillow. Now put a helmet on, and have them hit you again, same spot. Same impact force to your dome, same amount of force trying to upset your balance.
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I've caught some big nasty bugs with a helmet, and not had any issues.
Beyond that, though, catching a big bug with a helmet means no exploding lights and loss of vision... and no 2-day headache... and no giant goose egg on my forehead, either (cuz that's a great look on a chick!)... :laughing
 
Breaking Daniel said:
You don't wear your tinted visor "ALL THE TIME" because it protects your eyes from UV rays do you? No. You consider your ride and determine if a clear visor is more appropriate because it's getting late and about to be dark out.
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Actually I do. I only ride during daytime and in relatively good weather. It's a hobby, and there are plenty of hobbies for the other times.
 
Ok, so I guess this discussion is about something else than I had initially thought, and maybe I'm not a gear Nazi after all. I don't believe wearing gear by itself can reduce your probability of a crash in a meaningful way. I can imagine some people will don gear when they want to ride harder. I would also expect some riders who don't wear gear to be more likely to crash (higher willingness to take risks), so that any correlation between gear and crashing is bound to be spurious.

I do cringe when I see the shorts and flip-flops, but just because I can visualize the "what.if", not because of any implications on the rider's skill or actual probability to crash.

PS: I'll have to put that one on the "to read" list
 
I have said it before and I will say it again. Gear is like wearing a condom. You wear a condom to protect you from disease and/or unwanted pregnancy. However, I think everyone knows it will do nothing to protect you from that crazy husband or boyfriend that catches you in the act and wants to cut it off. :)
 
Gear nazis bug the fuck out of me, as their rant seems to imply that ATGATT offers superior and nearly invincible protection.

First rider I knew who died on a bike was ATGATT.

If the gear nazis were actually serious about their spiel, they'd stop fetishizing the gear so much and work on injury reducing skills: I have never seen a gear nazi recommend a rider get some kind of training to deal with getting thrown to the ground hard. If Judo teaches novices how to survive hitting the ground hard, or football players learn how to get blindsided and not break a wrist when landing, there's no reason why a training curriculum couldn't be developed to help a rider when OH SHIT time arrives.
 
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