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It'll look like you've got a pretty sizeable melon to require a hat that large!

Interesting idea, though!

It's cute but still gives you helmet hair.

just wear a normal helmet people...they're much less noticable. seriously hideous!

What an interesting concept! I have to say, the ugly and bulky helmets are a big reason why I do not wear one when I bike. (oops, dangerous much?)

Though this begins to tackle the fashion part, I do wonder, is it as safe as a regular helmet (not I seem to worry about my own safety...), and does it look bulky on a person?

Somehow those models seem to pull it off alright, but it still looks like it fits more like a helmet than a hat.

These make your head look huge! Its a cute idea gone wrong.

this could either look brilliant, or seriously stupid.

cute! A good way to get people to wear helmets who don't like the look.

I think they're cute!

I kinda like them, though they look like they would get pretty hot...

to those of you who don't wear helmets, please please please do (says the person who fractured her skull by not wearing one...)

Ha, maybe! But I think it would be pretty obvious to anyone that sees you are on a bike, Lily C, that there's a helmet in there somewhere.


I totally dreamed this up in my head when I got a bike because I couldn't reconcile the safety needs of a helmet with the need for protection from the sun and to feel somewhat attractive.

I think they should give me a cut of the profits since I obviously thought of it first.

I second the "please wear a helmet" warning; my cousin was killed by not wearing one.

Maybe okay for low-speed bicycling, but probably not the best choice for moderate to high-speed cycling, for which a bike helmet's outermost surface should be smooth, or if ridged, then the outermost ridge surfaces should be smooth.

For high-speed falls, a helmet's surface is meant to slide along the road, rather than catch the asphalt, which can jerk the head violently and subject the neck to sudden rotational forces.

Really? I would think a good excuse for wearing a helmet would be that you're indeed riding a bike. Sporting equipment that looks normal. These hats are not fashion. Maybe you don't like the look of a proper helmet, but I can't see the appeal here, they're not more chic just by virtue of looking more like a hat. Ask yourself, if it were just a hat, would you think it looks cool or not, don't just compare it to how you feel about a proper helmet. And the question of vanity vs. bike safety: just don't ride a bike if you're going to be that shallow.

There was no "reason or excuse to ride commando" before. Now there's just another way to waste money.

I can pretty much guarantee you it won't look as good on me as it does on hot blond Danish models.

also, I love how for so many people it takes getting in an accident to get them to start wearing a helmet . . . we're not 16 anymore people, why are we caring about how we look to others?

this is a joke, right?

i'm with everyone else, just wear a damn helmet. does no one here wear a seat belt either? c'mon.

This is really dumb. It's obviously a helmet made worse by trying to NOT look like a helmet.

I didn't find prices for these, but they are probably expensive and you could buy a good looking helmet for the same money, I'm sure.

This will go great with my bicycle, which I paper-machéd to look like a polo pony.

I think they're adorable! They're not supposed to look like it's "just" a hat. They're just a different look - just like the post says you've got the "cool bike, the designey basket, the wooden bell", this is a part of that package. It's not for racing around Prospect Park for a workout. And if it's just a piece of cloth meant to slip over a smooth helmet, I'm sure it would easily slide off if, god forbid, you ended up in an accident. I want one!

Not for me... I think other people would be saying: "Why is her (unflattering) hat sitting way up on the top of her head? She should really be wearing a helmet instead of that funny looking hat." That's what I would be saying. I don't get it.

This will go great with my bicycle, which I paper-machéd to look like a polo pony.....posted by superflyguy

Hee hee hee hee!

i think the base helmet looks pretty good on it's own...

I think they're kind of cute.

Daft.

Why don't they offer a helmet with a wig covering it? that way you could just look like you have a super huge 'fro.

OMG! running home to invent fro-ment sooooo much better

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This will go great with my bicycle, which I paper-machéd to look like a polo pony. ---posted by superflyguy
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I gut laughed when I read that - thanks.

I just use my snowboarding helmet.

Okay, admit it cycling folks. Sometimes its about the look—the right bike and the matching bike shorts and jersey ... and regular helmets match that. Sporty-sporty-sporty.

So, if someone is riding their comfort bike with sandals and cargo pants rolled up, I'd rather see them wearing this helmet than nothing. It seems like it would match better than say, a TT helmet.

Waaay cuter on the girl than the guy though. Do NOT wear this if you are a guy.

Hm...I dunno. I tend not to care if I look dorky when I'm actually riding my bike. Afterwards, at work, I do care about the helmet hair, but I have the kind of workplace where I can wear a newsboy cap, so I just toss that in my bag.

I think it's cute, and I think it's a good way to make helmet wearing more accessible, I suppose.
But I guess since this helmet isn't mid-century modern or from Design Within Reach, most AT readers will hate it. (HEAVY SIGH)

If it makes more the clueless wear helmet then I'm all for it. Unless you have separete bike path like in The Netherlands I can't understand why people don't wear helmets. I'd rather have poor hair than brain damage.

are we supposed to be concerned with how they will look in our apartments?

I'd have to try it on (I have a really big head!) but I think it's cute.

I admittedly, don't own a bike helmet, and know I should, and am fully aware that when I fracture my skull it will be my own damn fault, and I need to purchase one, and I would consider this.

oh gaaawd!

Get a real helmet.

My former boss wiped out and was knocked out with accompanying short-term memory loss WITH a helmet. I can only imagine what would have happened without one.

Americans aren't used to bikers on the road, especially stylish ones. Consider that the Dutch,English, Chinese, Japanese and Italian cultures have an older, more establish bike culture than the US. They have denser cities than we do and they don't have bike helmet issues that we do here.

There is a whole site devoted to stylish biking.

Here is an excerpt from copenhagenize.com
"It all started innocently enough. Through this blog and the other one I've become more acquainted with bike culture in other countries than I ever have been before. Bike helmets don't interest me really. They're not a big part of life in cities and countries with high levels of bike usage around the world."

Traveling in Japan, I was astounded by how many bikes were just parked, unlocked, in a bicycle parking lot the size of a football field. Here is an example if you don't believe me.This is where we need to be, not bickering about helmet usage and cycle stylishness.

P.S.
A comment from a Danish blog: Why does the bike helmet issue only exist in those countries in the world with the highest rates of obesity and not anywhere else? Why is it most vocal in America? Is it the litigation culture that has created this safety culture? What's more important; getting people wearing helmets or getting people to ride their bikes?