Seeing these photos does reinforce my fear with the Super 3R, which I use.
I’ve always assumed that the chin bar was designed to flex a fair bit upon impact (thus slowing down the deceleration of my head), but intuitively it doesn’t feel like there’s sufficient room between chin bar and my chin for this to happen without my face being part of the crumple zone.
But at something like You Yangs I just wear it as one or the other. Typically full face, but I started open face last time I went with a less skilled and less aggressive mate. Of course I then went OTB twice on my very first run, which was a good reminder you don’t actually know when you’re going to crash. Fortunately first crash was pretty innocuous, and the second I merely grazed the top of the helmet as I summersaulted, taking the brunt of the fall on my shoulder and kidney region. Granite is not forgiving, and so I was lucky to escape with a painful reminder to definitely wear a full face there from now on.
But even then I ride a lot down at Aireys Inlet. 25-minute gentle climb, 6-minute descent. For a while a few of us were egging each other on, especially on the descent but also the overall loop (so no stopping). Quite a few spots on a descent averaging 30kmh where you whizz past trees with very little margin for error a lot faster than that.
A mate clipped his shoulder on one six months ago, breaking his wrist and putting him out of action for a few months.
Fortunately I haven’t seriously crashed there once in 150-odd visits, but posts like this remind you it only has to happen once.
I’ve always assumed that the chin bar was designed to flex a fair bit upon impact (thus slowing down the deceleration of my head), but intuitively it doesn’t feel like there’s sufficient room between chin bar and my chin for this to happen without my face being part of the crumple zone.
I haven’t found it as convenient as I’d hoped. It has worked well for me on Epic at Mount Buller and at Falls Creek, where both the climbs and downhills are long (so I’d already be stopping for a drink and a chat at top and bottom anyway). Bright would probably be good too, but I shuttled Hero after the first run the only time I’ve ridden there.
But at something like You Yangs I just wear it as one or the other. Typically full face, but I started open face last time I went with a less skilled and less aggressive mate. Of course I then went OTB twice on my very first run, which was a good reminder you don’t actually know when you’re going to crash. Fortunately first crash was pretty innocuous, and the second I merely grazed the top of the helmet as I summersaulted, taking the brunt of the fall on my shoulder and kidney region. Granite is not forgiving, and so I was lucky to escape with a painful reminder to definitely wear a full face there from now on.
But even then I ride a lot down at Aireys Inlet. 25-minute gentle climb, 6-minute descent. For a while a few of us were egging each other on, especially on the descent but also the overall loop (so no stopping). Quite a few spots on a descent averaging 30kmh where you whizz past trees with very little margin for error a lot faster than that.
A mate clipped his shoulder on one six months ago, breaking his wrist and putting him out of action for a few months.
Fortunately I haven’t seriously crashed there once in 150-odd visits, but posts like this remind you it only has to happen once.
