Thousand Helmets

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Doug H.

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Dec 13, 2021, 8:57:20 AM12/13/21
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This may be a taboo subject but I have looked in the past for a helmet on the Rivendell website to no avail. Yes, I read Just Ride and I know how Grant feels about helmets. Here is his take from the website:

Parting notes
These are the only helmets we’ve sold in our whole 27-year history, because they’re the only ones that made the tough cut. I/Grant remain as convinced as ever that
(1) Helmets are better at passing helmet tests than they are at protecting heads; and
(2) Because of that, they offer a false sense of security, which can lead to riding more riskily. If you simultaneously disagree with (2) and claim that you would never ride without a helmet, you need to see if you can fit those two things together, and good luck.


Now that there is a Riv endorsed helmet brand I wanted to ask...Has anyone tried Thousand Helmets? If so, do they fit pretty true to size? As with bicycles I'm in between sizes on most helmets and usually go with the larger size.
Doug

Mathieu Brown

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Dec 13, 2021, 9:44:00 AM12/13/21
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I'm a 7 7/8's and they looked killer in the store but they didn't fit me. 

Which doesn't mean that they won't fit you - just that they certainly don't run large. 

MATHIEU BROWN



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Laura

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Dec 13, 2021, 9:46:15 AM12/13/21
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I tried one. The fit seemed true front to back, but they were too round for my head.

I am in the middle on the helmet debate. I fell off my bike as a teenager and was found unconscious on the side of the road. I was not doing anything radical, just hit something uneven and slid off the pavement. I am sure a helmet would have prevented a trip to the emergency room and an afternoon of throwing up! But, I feel pressured to wear a helmet all the time these days. If I am not on pavement with traffic, taking off a helmet is liberating. I am not riskily, so #2 does not apply to me...;-)

I like to watch Velocipedium on uTube toddle around on his vintage bikes with a bare head. very soothing...

David Person

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Dec 13, 2021, 11:43:32 AM12/13/21
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My experience with the Thousand helmet was similar to me2gingko.  Wound up returning it to REI.

John Phillips

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Dec 13, 2021, 11:49:28 AM12/13/21
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  I haven't tried these one, but I always either try before I buy or order from places with a good return policy. You can never tell if a helmet is shaped for round or oval heads, or is suitably adjustable.

These Riv helmets look too hot for my head, but my head runs hot even if I'm asleep. I have a POC MIPS helmet which has ventilation which works ok for my head.

I understand where Grant is coming from regarding helmets, but he's confusing several different hypotheses about helmets into one confused hypothesis if one is contemplating whether to wear a helmet or not:
1) Does wearing a bike helmet reduce or increase incidence of serious injuries, and which kinds of injuries?
2) Does wearing a bike helmet cause or prevent serious injuries, and which kinds of injuries?
3) Which types/models of bike helmets are better or worse at causing or preventing serious injuries?
4) Which models of helmets are more durable?
4) Does wearing a bike helmet result in a reduction or increase in reckless cyclist behavior?
5) Etc,

One can always avoid becoming a reckless cyclist oneself once you place a helmet on your head. My wife has worked with people suffering from traumatic brain injury, and from what she's told me, wearing a helmet and riding cautiously is the way I want to ride.
John

Ben Mihovk

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Dec 13, 2021, 11:57:57 AM12/13/21
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I have the Chapter Helmet now and had the Heritage helmet (slow-speed fall and knocked my head...foam cracked). 

I love their helmets. I do wish I would have gone large instead of medium, though. My head measures 22.75" and with a RandiJo earflap wool cap on, it's a bit tight. It fits, but I wish I'd have sized up. 

I like most of what Grant says, but I'm not riding without a helmet. I don't ride aggressively, recklessly, or with bad intentions. Even with the most care and the best technique, we can all misjudge something ever so slightly and take a tumble.

Ben, who wears a helmet even if it's uncool. 

On Mon, Dec 13, 2021 at 7:57 AM Doug H. <dhansf...@gmail.com> wrote:
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lconley

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Dec 13, 2021, 12:33:09 PM12/13/21
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The Thousand Helmets are too small for me, as usual with most bike helmets (64cm circumference). When I was working in Everett, WA a few years (5+?) back, I drove down to Portland to find a bike helmet. I went to Universal Cycles and tried on twenty helmets or so, and a couple were OK, but the salesman refused to sell them too me, because he said that they did not fit correctly. He told me that I needed a Giro Bishop, and called around to his competitors and found one and sent me over to buy it - it fit perfectly. Of course, Giro no longer makes the Bishop.
When I started cycling, the pros in the TdF usually didn't wear helmets, I started wearing one when bike clubs required one to join the rides

Laing

Joe Bernard

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Dec 13, 2021, 2:32:59 PM12/13/21
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Not that we're having a "which helmet should I buy" discussion, but if the Riv one is too small my fat head is happy with the large Kasik Mojito. 

Joe Bernard

Screenshot_20211213-113027_Chrome.jpg

David Person

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Dec 13, 2021, 5:40:48 PM12/13/21
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The Kask Mojito 3 is what I would up with.  Fits the shape of my head very well, when I choose to wear a helmet. Most days, I'm wearing one of these when I go out for a ride.

Joe Bernard

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Dec 13, 2021, 6:06:23 PM12/13/21
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Oh, it's Kask, not Kasik. I have no idea what my helmet is called 😂

Garth

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Dec 13, 2021, 6:19:35 PM12/13/21
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The "white elephant in the room" that few manufacturers address is the shape of your head. So while someone may fit within a certain range of inches, if the shape is wrong, like an oval or narrow head shape in a round shaped helmet, it won't fit right. The plastic fit systems are supposed to compensate for that can only do so much if the shape isn't right. I only wore a helmet for a brief time and researched the best ones for my head shape and found one easily that way.

I found this review from Outdoor Gear Lab of helmets including Thousand. If I did wear a helmet I wouldn't wear that brand as it would be entirely too hot for my noggin.

Peter Adler

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Dec 13, 2021, 10:43:59 PM12/13/21
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I had a similar sync-up with the Giro Pneumo. It fit great; Giro discontinued it; the replacement model (whose name I've forgotten) didn't fit at all. Giro rebooted the Pneumo in a MIPS version several years later, which also didn't fit.

The Giro Bishop fits; I've worn one daily for about four years. I suppose I should start trying on helmets again, to be prepared for the next time I need a replacement.

As long as the helmet's passed the certifications, I suspect all helmets provide equivalent protection. The key thing is whether it fits, which can only be established by trying it on. And whether you wear it properly.

As for Grant's helmet grudges: Grant's just this guy, you know? I'm sure we've all got our own fixations; there's no need to accept Grant's fixations as determinative for yourself, if you didn't already embrace them on your own. I feel fully entitled to disregard Grant's preferences when they contradict my own, such as his distaste for high-waisted bike pants. I have a pair of MUSA pants that I practically never wear, because I hate the way they pull down and expose my buttcrack - cold on the kidneys, and an unpleasant view for whoever's behind me. But I am an in-duh-vidual; I don't have to embrace Grant's preferences if I don't wanna.

Peter Adler
who's been in enough scary crashes and around enough careless/reckless drivers to be an always-helmeted rider, and who has turned around and ridden home three miles to retrieve his helmet after thoughtlessly riding off without one in
Berkeley, CA/USA

spencer robinson

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Dec 15, 2021, 10:32:36 AM12/15/21
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if anyone is curious, and wants to try a Thousand helmet in Stealth black, size Med, (57-59cm) I have one, I tried it on, put a "Sheldon eagle" sticker on it but never rode it. send me a pm and we can arrive at a reasonable price.

Spencer

ascpgh

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Dec 16, 2021, 6:32:42 AM12/16/21
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The Gear Lab article had nothing about "fit" of the helmets in their content outline. Incidental in the text of reviews, but I think I speak for many who puzzle in the market for a helmet that fits the shape of their heads instead of feeling as though any choice is only going to accommodate their head with extra pads and ratchets. My own head seems to be more oblique than round, one circumference for the rear and a smaller one forward of my ears. Like this one: 
Screen Shot 2021-12-16 at 6.21.31 AM.png 

Foot wear and the last they are built on is a similar bugaboo to me. Popular shoes don't always fit the shape of my feet when viewed from above and not in cross-sectional volume. Once I find a brand (or model within a brand) that fits, I stick with it. I wonder why helmet makers don't bother with better fitting products? Team kit mavens must snap up enough top end models worn by their heroes, real fit or not, so they just don't want or need to do better. 

Tried and didn't like (1979 version): Subdural hematoma from mirror of passing truck while cycling, unconscious in field by the road  for who knows how long, craniotomy avoided by opting for reabsorption of extravascular blood over painful summer months of bedrest, deconditioned to point of relearning to walk again in time for school in the fall. 

Andy Cheatham
Pittsburgh

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