I’ve been developing criteria for carbon-dating cyclists lately. There several clues that are sure tip offs as to the history and habits of your cyclist on the street. Let's look at helmets.
Skid-lid
Probably antediluvian. The cyclist who wears this flies in the face of fashion. This is a peculiar combination since this is the most notoriously unsafe helmet since the leather hairnet (sorry, Patty). Skidlid has been deemed unsafe at any speed ages ago by the cycling cognoscenti, so you skid lid wearer is a bicycling rebel, paying lipservice to safety.
Original Bell Biker
These are easy to spot, your basic white helmet with minimal ventilation and a chin strap that consists of two D-rings and webbing. This is your basic salt of the earth bicyclist whose been doing it long enough to know better, and does it anyway. This helmet seems to be popular with commuters, since it satisfies the basic need of putting something firmer than a baseball cap between you and the pavement. The owner of this helmet was probably doing something nasty in the sixties (drugs, sex, rock and roll, or all of the above).
Windjammer
This was without a doubt the heaviest, most uncomfortable helmet that Bell has ever made. Their chief redeeming feature was that they were cheap (yes, I own one). They are also pretty substantial and could fare well in an encounter with the pavement. The chief danger here is neck strain from trying to hold your head up with this massive chapeau. Windjammer wearers are often seen cruising for returnable cans.
Nouveau Bell Biker (V-1 Pro)
This is the next generation, still comes in white, but if you're cool you get a black one. It does have some rakish slots for ventilation, reminiscent of the hood scoops on a GTO. It has a nifty buckle that can be unfastened with one hand!
I have one of these mostly since my original equipment (Bell Biker I) met an untimely end. (Biographical note: I was not doing anything nasty in the sixties. That came later).
Your NBB wearer may date from the seventies to eighties depending on just how ratty the thing is (if it still has any of its original padding, we're talking late eighties). V-1 Pro Wearers used to be cool, before foam helmets were invented. Cyclists who wear these helmets are in the retroguard as far as helmet technology.
Foam Helmets
Your foam helmet wearer was caught in the Great Helmet Scam. First, they invented the foam helmet, and convinced everyone how great they are. They sold oodles of them. Then, someone discovered that maybe if you actually ever used it for its intended purpose, it might spot weld itself to the pavement, creating a pivot point round about the vicinity of your neck. Next they invented the hard shell soft shell, leaving the legions of foam helmet wearers wondering if their helmets are really any safer than a big mac box. Your foam helmet wearer dates from at least the late eighties, and is not a slavish follower of fashion (or is too cheap to buy another helmet until their present one has cracked like an eggshell).
Hard Shell Soft Shell
It might seem like the helmet industry just repackaged an old idea, but the new thin shell helmets are really much nicer than the old hard shells. Consequently, everyone that's bought a helmet in the last ten years owns one, and there's not much differentiation here, except for the Darth Vader aero variety. These are the ones with the tail that ensures a flush fit of your head with your back. No danger of neck sunburn with these.
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