Mike Aitken Update

[oldschool rider]

Just seen on the SNAFU website that Mike Aitken walked himself out of hospital (How cool is that) he still has a major struggle ahead of him but he hopes to be riding again by the spring, He says his riding will be different coz he's gonna wear a helmet !!

I personally think that due to the level of riding nowadays that "REAL HELMETS" not PISSPOTS should be worn period, I also agree with the article when it says that if more of the pro riders wore full faced helmets that the kids would follow, so to all you pros out there set a good example and wear a real helmet.

[lazychubs]

thats great news glad hes on the mend

[muttley]

 

[Midlife!]

On the news. Scroll down a couple of inches.

http://www.mikeaitken.com/blog/?id=54&showEntry=1

[JT71]

good to see him on the mend.

what's the deal with pro riders and lids then?

are they compulsory in comps, like X-Games and Dew Tour? they always seem to wear them then, but when it comes to making videos
then lids seem to very often be missing.

is it the riders choice, vanity or pressure from the film makers/sponsors to look better or cooler?
I would be suprised if sponsors didn't want their riders to waer lids as it's one of the most visible areas for stickers. 

for me my helmet is as important as my bike, I gotta wear it, though I must admit I didn't wear one for the london cruise, which did make me nervous when we were in amongst the traffic.

[jedi]

makes me laugh to see riders putting knee/shin pads on but no lid!

[Midlife!]

It's not cool. But then neither is brain damage.

On bmx zone some kid came on and asked how to man up because he was scared of smashing his head in trying new tricks. Took a few replys before someone told the little prick to wear a lid!!!

The Aitken incident is at least getting them talking about wearing one. But if they do they say some of the other riders take the piss.

There needs to be more top line riders seen wearing them. If you make money from any sport then like it or not you are an influence and have a responsibility. I don't care how rad someone is, if they make a vid with no lid they are a d1ck head.

[jedi]

skaters get more cash for pics in mags if they wear no lid!

[SaMAlex]

Its a fact that if you do a trick, in shorts, no shirt, no pads, no lid .... it DOES look cooler.
Its wrong, but its a FACT, and at the end of the day most riders want to look as good as posible, esp if someone is paying them for it.

[jedi]

i have to disagree with ya there alex 
the trick is whats cool.the rider just thinks he/she is

[SaMAlex]

Thats fine Jedi, you dont have to agree. Cos it aint you and me who most companies are aiming their products at. Its kids, who dont know better.

It maybe that if everone rode in full face lids they would be cool (remember the 80s?), but its still always cooler to have a "dont give a f**k" attitude. And not just in BMX.

[JT71]

Thats fine Jedi, you dont have to agree. Cos it aint you and me who most companies are aiming their products at. Its kids, who dont know better.

It maybe that if everone rode in full face lids they would be cool (remember the 80s?), but its still always cooler to have a "dont give a f**k" attitude. And not just in BMX.

and if Alex always wore lids we wouldn't see them cool haircuts on old pics and vids.
 

[SaMAlex]

It worries me seeing old footage of me riding without a helmet.
Even if its just a piss pot, Im never without it now. 

[JT71]

It worries me seeing old footage of me riding without a helmet.
Even if its just a piss pot, Im never without it now. 

but you are right, pics old do look cool, would they be less cool with a lid? I dunno, but the facial expressions would be the same
especially in that 24" test.

 

[oldschool rider]

I just read that another kid fooked himself......Chris Childs (DK) was in his words "not doing anything very difficult" He was doing a busdriver when he slammed on to his face hard and now has a fractured eye socket and nose, he woke up 3 hrs later in hospital, would this of happened if he was wearing a real helmet ? maybe or maybe not but he wouldn't have knocked himself out for 3 hrs i don't think. However they show a pic of him riding before the accident and he is wearing head gear..........

























A FOOKIN WOOLY HAT and we all know how wool protects our heads.     

[pickle]

i just can't ride without a lid.........even being pants i still can't do it.  it's like being/driving a car without your seatbelt on....it just feels wrong

[TwoBobRob]

I can feel I'm in the minority here, but  I personally think its all relative.  I don't like pisspot helmets, I don't believe they offer very much protection at all.  I wear a full face motocross lid (an expensive one) when I ride vert.  Not just to look after my noggin, but because it helps with my confidence and the tunnel vision that you need for vert.  I'm not a very good vert rider at all, but I'd be hopeless without a lid.

But, in a public park or riding mini ramp where you look down a lot more than you think, I believe a fullface is a hindrance. In a public park you need all your periferal vision and your ears, if you're not going to run people over, especially skaters.  When riding mini  (again, I'm not that good - I'm not airing or pulling spine variations etc)  a fullface restricts your vision a little too much for my liking. That, and the attitude change makes for a lot of slams in my case - anyone who's ever seen me forced to wear my lid when riding mini will tell you how much time I spend on the floor...

Which leaves me with a dilemma.  I won't wear a pisspot because I don't agree with them, and fullfaces make me slam  (apart from vert).  I could wear a motorcycle openface lid like Dave Friemuth used to which would protect my skull, but the faceplant risk is just the same as a pisspot and the broken neck risk is higher.

So for now at least I'll be using my old tried and trusted technique of self preservation.

And we haven't even spoken about street rding.  Arguable THE most dangerous riding of all.  But if you think street riders are going to start wearing fullfaces, you're deluded 

[lodge]

Some good points Rob, but surely a pisspot lid offers more protection than no lid and you barely know you have them on.
You could easily crack the back of your head on the coping of a mini ramp and know i would rather have a pisspot on than nothing.

[TwoBobRob]

I know mate, it's a fair point.  Trouble is, I think that pisspots transmit more shock than they absorb.  I may well be wrong now, I know they're being developed all the time.

Actually, some ski/snowboard lids look ok.  They're designed to protect you specifically against ice and rocks. Bit like concrete I suppose?   Might look a bit gay in a skatepark though 

[lodge]

Yeah I have seen those snowboard lids they do look nice ,I wouldn't worry about the gay thing theres plenty of riders at the skatepark with there jeans down and there undies on full display.

[JT71]

Rob do you wear a lid when you snowboard?

I wear my Pro-tec snowboard p1ss pot with the ear pads taken out for riding bmx, i have noticed I'm the only perosn wearing a lid with a google retainer.

[TwoBobRob]

No, no lid when boarding.  I'm thinking of trying one this coming season.

[Zippy]

Totally agree with Rob on this one. For racing it's a full face all the way, wouldn't ride round a track without one.

However when I was at Rom many moons ago I was riding the little wooden mini ramp and I found it better to ride with no helmet. I think a pisspot would have been better but I had much better awareness than I did when I had my full face on.

[reay900tap]

ah'hum.. right prob gona get some stick now, got pulled up on this the other day at creation,

I don't wear a lid, not because it ain't cool, or people may take the pizz but because it puts me off and cause's me to fall, I find them very very irritating, infact so much so I avoid going to parks wear you have to have them.. most people I ride with give me sh*t for not wearing one, so I'm not to sure about it being 'not cool'.. I think lazyness comes into it more...

que the 'how stupid are you Ray replys'

[JT71]

YEAH RAY. how stupid are you?

 

but that funky little cap will hold your brains in. 

Corby today?