Joe Bike on helmets and trackstands
j...@uvacs.uucp
Joe Bike is moved to put in his 2 cents worth about helmets.
The Joe Bike helmet usefulness test is this:
Take a piece of your helmet material. Hit it with a big hammer.
See how far the hammer bounces. The less the better. If you
can't figure out why, you don't need to wear a helmet.
Now if you have a hardshell-single-impact helmet, the Joe Bike helmet test
will be passed with flying colors. The SkidLid people can't seriously
think that the harder ya hit with the hammer on their special jet-age
foam the less it'll rebound. Quit trying to mess with Joe Bike's mind.
You know you're worse off in a SkidLid than a hardshell no matter how ya
mash the melon. Don't gimme none o' that strain your neck crud neither.
I'll grant ya that SkidLid's better'n NoLid, but I won't hop on my ole
bike without my hardshell strapped right where it belongs - on the noodle.
On another subject:
Mister Jeff Houston (article dual.476) thinks he can outdo good 'ole Joe
Bike in the track stand department. He's got another thing comin'. I
haven't told y'all about my commutin' bike, cause that's a whole nother
article, but let it be known that Joe Bike commutes with a fixed gear and
can trackstand the tits off a boar hog. We're talkin no-hands, we're
talkin track stands on freewheel bikes, we're talkin track stands on water,
wellll, maybe IN water. I'll track stand Mister Jeff Houston at GEAR
Charlotte or GEAR Up if he wants, but go too much nearer the land of Fruits
and Nuts (California) -- I don't know. I think the man is just too chicken
to confront Joe Bike on his home turf.
If you're gonna be at the GEARs, let Joe Bike hear from ya. If you don't
know what they are, stop down at a bike shop and pick up your copy of
Bicycle USA ragazine. It'll give ya the lowdown on what a GEAR is.
If ya wanna ride the GEAR gauntlet (a trip from GEAR Charlotte to GEAR Up,
500 miles in 5 days) drop ole Joe Bike a line. This is an SBL (Southern
Bicycle - or is that Beer - League) event but you're welcome to give it
a go.
Joe Bike
Charlottesville Virginia
USENET: ...uvacs!jnw CSNET: jnw@uvacs ARPANET: jnw.uvacs@csnet-relay
r...@brl-vgr.uucp
on your head first. They are designed to avoid transferring the shock
to your head, not the lip of the helmet which is what is supporting it
if it is just sitting on the work bench when you hit it.
-Ron
Jeff Houston
Follow Joe Bob's advice on helmets - he knows whats up. As for my $0.02 -
Its up to you - if you want some peace of mind where your helmet.
> Mister Jeff Houston (article dual.476) thinks he can outdo good 'ole Joe
> Bike in the track stand department. He's got another thing comin'. I
> haven't told y'all about my commutin' bike, cause that's a whole nother
> article, but let it be known that Joe Bike commutes with a fixed gear and
> can trackstand the tits off a boar hog. We're talkin no-hands, we're
> talkin track stands on freewheel bikes, we're talkin track stands on water,
> wellll, maybe IN water. I'll track stand Mister Jeff Houston at GEAR
> Charlotte or GEAR Up if he wants, but go too much nearer the land of Fruits
> and Nuts (California) -- I don't know. I think the man is just too chicken
> to confront Joe Bike on his home turf.
Come on, Joe Bike, Ive never seen a boar hog on a bicycle. Or is the SBL
(Southern Bicycle - if it really is Beer I'm gonna join up - League) really
into that kind of wild riding? I'll have to root thru my bike collection to
find my fixed gear wheel so we can have at it - you had better have lots of
free time ready, I've been praticing my no-hand trackstand on the Golden
Gate Bridge in 80 MPH winds on the suspension wires (as an easy workout)!!!
I'll send of an Email query to you about GEARS. I'm having trouble typing
on this keyboard while trackstanding <whew>.
Nigel-Incubator Jones (deceased)
3rd Place, Upper-Class Twit of the Year Contest
a.k.a. Jeff Houston
Dual Systems Corp., Berkeley, CA
{ucbvax,ihnp4,cbosgd,amd70,zehntel,fortune,decwrl}!dual!jeff
Dick Dunn
>The Joe Bike helmet usefulness test is this:
>
> Take a piece of your helmet material. Hit it with a big hammer.
> See how far the hammer bounces. The less the better. If you
> can't figure out why, you don't need to wear a helmet.
This is a decent test - unfortunately, it's what we call "destructive
testing". That means that after you try the test and find that the helmet
passes, you should go out and buy another helmet to use. Yes, even if you
don't SEE any damage.
Repeating something I already said in another posting: Helmets absorb
impact by deforming and maybe even cracking. These little critters give
their lives that you may live on. Once you've taken a fall that scrapes
or smacks the helmet hard, you may have done enough damage that a second
fall will cause it to fail prematurely. Don't expect it to survive a
second impact (even if you did the first one with a hammer).
--
...A friend of the devil is a friend of mine. Dick Dunn
{hao,ucbvax,allegra}!nbires!rcd (303) 444-5710 x3086