grt@hocda.UUCP (G.TOMASEVICH) (05/11/84)
I have a question others may have. The USCF does not allow mirrors on helmets, so if I got one, I would have to detatch it for every race. Can they stand up to that? They look rather flimsy. George Tomasevich, ihnp4!hocda!grt
bill@utastro.UUCP (William H. Jefferys) (05/11/84)
Bike Nashbar sells a very nice helmet mirror (cheap, too) that has two clips and easily attaches & detaches. Nicest mirror I ever owned. Sturdy. Sorry, I don't have the address but you can look an any recent copy of Bicycling for their ad. -- Bill Jefferys 8-% Astronomy Dept, University of Texas, Austin TX 78712 (USnail) {ihnp4,kpno,ctvax}!ut-sally!utastro!bill (uucp) utastro!bill@ut-ngp (ARPANET)
scot@dartvax.UUCP (Scot Drysdale) (05/12/84)
<> I have one of the early Bell bike helmets to which I added a mirror. I once had the kind that clipped onto my glasses on the end of a rigid wire. It was a pain to put on and to take off for short trips. Also, the owner of a bike shop asked me to visualize what would happen if I fell face first and the rigid wire with the clip on the end popped off. I decided that if it started next to my eye .... I bought a mirror (I don't remember the brand) on the end of a flexible copper wire that I bent into a sort of double s-shape and slipped between the styrofoam and the shell of my helmet. It stays put, but would be easy to remove if I needed to remove it. It is especially valuable for commuting. By turning my head slightly I can see everything behind me. I don't bike without it. As for horror stories about helmets, I was convinced by literature that said that some huge percentage (90%?) of all fatal bike accidents involve head injuries. Personally I have had two serious accidents - I was run off of a country road onto a gravel shoulder and spun out, and I hit a California-style lane divider reflector with similar results. The second was my fault, but the first would have been hard to avoid. In both cases I ended up sliding on hip, forearm, and side of helmet. Considering the amount of clothing and skin taken off of my hip and elbow, I was glad to have my head protected. The styrofoam was not crushed, so I probably would not have have been killed or brain-damaged, but I was very glad to be wearing it. (I probably should replace it, even though there was no visible damage except a few scratches.) Scot Drysdale (scot@dartmouth, {decvax, cornell, linus}!dartvax!scot)