Thought I'd sing a little praise for the Synthe - battle damage

[Dead Man]

So there we were, headed out to meet the bros for Sauvie Shootout, riding along Going street through NE Portland with my friend/attorney (need a real estate law/transaction attorney in Portland?)/teammate Astrov, as he's known here... we're amped up and caffeinated and chatty and stoked and in the midst of an intense and vitally important conversation about our new team socks.. I was sitting up, hands off the bar, kind of leaning to my right a little pointing at the cuff of my sock, mid-sentence like "yo mo'f'k, these sox is so FLY, yo I'm gonna git me ALL them hunnies!" Next thing I know I'm doing an involuntary dismount to my left... hip and elbow hit first, spinning me around onto my back and POW my head whips into the asphalt, skateboard crash style. We were doing right about 20mph, according to strava, and my hands never found the brakes

The moment my head hit the road, I thought WOAH! I hit HARD, and it didn't even hurt! Fack, now I gotta buy a new helmet.. or something like that

I was really impressed, man. That was a lot of energy going into the Synthe - helmetless, I probably would have been concussed. I've hit the back of my head just like that I couple times in my life and it seems to be my "soft spot." Last similar concussion I was vomiting/dry heaving for a couple days after... sucked ass. But that crack up the back of the helmet took all of it. Didn't even have a headache.

I never had any notion that this over-priced chinsey-feeling 240g piece of foam would offer much protection in a legit hard crash, but I guess the extra dough was worth it. These things might be better engineered than I gave them credit. I'm not usually big on helmets - generally only wear 'em for large and/or hard group rides and racing.. but this was just JRA, kinda not paying attention to where I was going, and took MYSELF out on an unseen depression in the road. Probably will be inclined to wear 'em more often.

---

As an aside - what an expensive crash! The frameset and group survived unscathed, but I taco'd my rear wheel somehow, tore open my brand new bibs, ripped up a team jersey (my only "clean" one, too - the others been CX'd in PDX mud), scuffed up my new shoes, broke my helmet, and just to keep piling it on - I've already burned up about $25 worth of tegaderm film. $995 worth of damage, retail for everything. Not including the shoes, which are still OK and will hopefully look fine after a good scrub and buff with some mink oil. Full grain leather FTW.

Definitely my most expensive crash to date.

---

Anybody done a crash replacement with Giro and have any deets on that?

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I'd post a pic, but ... photobucket.

---

Anyway.... Synthe. I'll definitely be getting another. :beer:

[weiwentg]

My hands-off-the-bar-and-too-smart-for-my-own-good moment was: I was on the Minneapolis greenway, a nice, clear, smooth cycle path, in low traffic. I unscrewed my bottle cap to get the last bit of nuun out of my bottle. I dropped the cap. Couldn't find the bottle.

Don't get too smart for your own good, in other words :no:

More seriously, glad you are OK!

And, was that a MIPS or non-MIPS Synthe?

[jghall]

Glad you are ok. Anytime you hit your head on the pavement, could have been serious.

Also curious which version.

[eBAUMANN]

Went flying off a little jump/rise thing mtb'ing one time, landed off-line, ate sh*t, whacked head on tree in the process, was wearing synthe. took the hit, didnt crack, then i wore it for another few months after that (never crashed it again) until i made was cooking something in the toaster over with the synthe sitting on top...melted a nice flat spot into it. :rolleyes:

great helmet though, RIP.

glad yours did its job!

[Dead Man]

non-mips... I'm sort of interested in that system, but the MIPS versions fit different, requiring me to go up to a medium size - and I hate the way the medium shell mushroom-heads me. The non-mips small fits perfect and is a little narrower shell.

[mtechnica]

Helmets are totally cool! I hit my head on a rock so hard I cracked my atmos all the way through and I'm pretty sure I didn't get brain damage or even anything beyond a very mild concussion.

[weiwentg]

non-mips... I'm sort of interested in that system, but the MIPS versions fit different, requiring me to go up to a medium size - and I hate the way the medium shell mushroom-heads me. The non-mips small fits perfect and is a little narrower shell.

OK. I just bought a non-MIPS on closeout. I would definitely get a MIPS helmet next time, it's just that it was too good a deal.

Interesting to hear about how it changes the fit. I am 5'5", but I actually wear a medium Giro. My head is too big to fit into a small Giro. However, I have to cut my straps on a medium, or else they flap around like Laurent Fignon's ponytail, and probably negate the aero gain from the entire helmet.

[colker]

I cracked open a helmet once, in the back, in a similar stupid manner.
I was mad at my gears not engaging, chain slipping. I was cursing the bike and looking at the gears in the back when.. BAM! I hit a car. A parked car. I hit it and went backwards, head on the ground. Unlike you, i felt dizzy for days. Seems i had a mild brain inflamation.

Never again: now i swap chain and cassettes regularly.

[djg21]

So there we were, headed out to meet the bros for Sauvie Shootout, riding along Going street through NE Portland with my friend/attorney (need a real estate law/transaction attorney in Portland?)/teammate Astrov, as he's known here... we're amped up and caffeinated and chatty and stoked and in the midst of an intense and vitally important conversation about our new team socks.. I was sitting up, hands off the bar, kind of leaning to my right a little pointing at the cuff of my sock, mid-sentence like "yo mo'f'k, these sox is so FLY, yo I'm gonna git me ALL them hunnies!" Next thing I know I'm doing an involuntary dismount to my left... hip and elbow hit first, spinning me around onto my back and POW my head whips into the asphalt, skateboard crash style. We were doing right about 20mph, according to strava, and my hands never found the brakes

The moment my head hit the road, I thought WOAH! I hit HARD, and it didn't even hurt! Fack, now I gotta buy a new helmet.. or something like that

I was really impressed, man. That was a lot of energy going into the Synthe - helmetless, I probably would have been concussed. I've hit the back of my head just like that I couple times in my life and it seems to be my "soft spot." Last similar concussion I was vomiting/dry heaving for a couple days after... sucked ass. But that crack up the back of the helmet took all of it. Didn't even have a headache.

I never had any notion that this over-priced chinsey-feeling 240g piece of foam would offer much protection in a legit hard crash, but I guess the extra dough was worth it. These things might be better engineered than I gave them credit. I'm not usually big on helmets - generally only wear 'em for large and/or hard group rides and racing.. but this was just JRA, kinda not paying attention to where I was going, and took MYSELF out on an unseen depression in the road. Probably will be inclined to wear 'em more often.

---

As an aside - what an expensive crash! The frameset and group survived unscathed, but I taco'd my rear wheel somehow, tore open my brand new bibs, ripped up a team jersey (my only "clean" one, too - the others been CX'd in PDX mud), scuffed up my new shoes, broke my helmet, and just to keep piling it on - I've already burned up about $25 worth of tegaderm film. $995 worth of damage, retail for everything. Not including the shoes, which are still OK and will hopefully look fine after a good scrub and buff with some mink oil. Full grain leather FTW.

Definitely my most expensive crash to date.

---

Anybody done a crash replacement with Giro and have any deets on that?

---

I'd post a pic, but ... photobucket.

---

Anyway.... Synthe. I'll definitely be getting another. :beer:

I’ve gotten a crash replacement before. Giro was easy to deal with. I called it’s customer service.

[Seramount]

my personal sentiments...

both hands off the bars, not a good idea...

no helmet, regardless of ride conditions, not a good idea...

recently hit the deck hard enough to crack my Giro Aeon into 3 pieces, sustained a concussion resulting in the loss of memory for 3 hours.

don't really want to imagine the damage that could have been done to my head without it...

[regularguy412]

I did a Giro replacement many, many years ago (around 1994) when they were replacing them for free... as long as you sent along a description of the crash. It was a Giro ProLight -- the one with the lycra cover. They sent me a new one that I still have. Only been used a few times by my daughter ... who doesn't ride anymore. Ever since then, I've just chosen to buy new. They're definitely worth the money.

No idea what the req's are now for crash replacements,, or even if Giro is still doing them.

Mike in AR:beer:

[vqdriver]

it only takes one crash.

cliche, but eeeeevery once in a while, right when we start to take em for granted, we get a nice reminder as to what they're there for. i haven't busted a helmet in years, but i don't need any more reminders. where i'm at, i'm just as likely to land on asphalt as i am a concrete curb.

i'm glad to hear that it worked for you.

[CaptStash]

I called Giro after my crash. They told me to take a photo of the helmet and to send them photos of the serial number (if I could find it) and the model, then they would send me a coupon towards a replacement.

It's on my to do list, but I still haven't gotten around to it.

CaptStash....

[John H.]

Glad to had a helmet on.
For some reason I thought you were not a helmet wearer.

Like Phil Gaiman said "Being too cool for a helmet makes you just cool enough for a traumatic brain injury".

[Dead Man]

Glad to had a helmet on.
For some reason I thought you were not a helmet wearer.

Like Phil Gaiman said "Being too cool for a helmet makes you just cool enough for a traumatic brain injury".

Word - I am not, generally, for casual riding.. but I do for events like the Shootout or when we're rolling deep and I feel like there's better odds of someone taking my wheel out from under me.

But this.... like I said..... just JRA. Nobody did it to me - just my own dumb ass. And the critical difference is the performance of the helmet - never thought it would work that well. I've always said if I thought the helmet was actually likely to do me any good, I'd wear one......... so I'm assimilating this new experience. I'd say odds are good I'll start wearing one more often.

I'm not ANTI-helmet. I just don't like to... it's uncomfortable, looks stupid, for what I really thought was little benefit.

[TunaAndBikes]

The moment my head hit the road, I thought WOAH! I hit HARD, and it didn't even hurt! Fack, now I gotta buy a new helmet.. or something like that


That's funny when I crashed yesterday i though the same exact thing. I laughed out loud when I read this!
But yeah, concussions do suck

[uber]

I'm glad you are ok. Just a heads up; you don't need to have a loss of consciousness to have a concussion, and the symptoms might not appear for up to ten days after the injury. Stay safe.

[chiasticon]

Anybody done a crash replacement with Giro and have any deets on that?

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I'd post a pic, but ... photobucket.tinypic is usually pretty good.

giro helmet replacement policy is solid. contact them. you'll have to buy direct but you'll get like half off or something. fortunately, I've never used it, but I have a friend who has a few times.

my dumb crash story where a helmet saved me: some woods near our local cx practice park have trails that aren't technically FOR bikes, but they don't have signs disallowing them. and they're not well-kept. translation: you should watch out for sticks and leaves and such (foreshadowing). so... I was feeling awesome on them one day after riding a ton of singletrack on cx bikes the day before with friends and was like "I'ma rip those trails apart!" and riding through with way too much steam and not paying enough attention. BAM! stick into the front spokes, me on the ground, bike up in the air (a Moots!), and down it comes onto me and my head. laying there, wondering dub-tee-eff just happened, I hear from across the woods, a hiker call out "hey buddy! you alright? that looked pretty gnarly!" embarrassed as f*ck I reply "yep! ten out of ten on the landing, right?" to the sound of laughter.

anyway, just a minor dent in the helmet, I wore it for months after.

[kevinvc]

So there we were, headed out to meet the bros for Sauvie Shootout, riding along Going street through NE Portland...

You out-of-towners should learn that most of the dedicated neighborhood greenways in Portland tend to have some of the worst pavement. Going Street is my daily commute and there are sections where it's barely safe to ride with one hand off the bars, much less two. :no:

Hit me up if you're in the area again. I still want to get the rest of your mountain climbing story. Plus, I owe you a beer or coffee for slowing you down so much on our ride last year.

[Dead Man]

You out-of-towners should learn that most of the dedicated neighborhood greenways in Portland tend to have some of the worst pavement. Going Street is my daily commute and there are sections where it's barely safe to ride with one hand off the bars, much less two. :no:

Hit me up if you're in the area again. I still want to get the rest of your mountain climbing story. Plus, I owe you a beer or coffee for slowing you down so much on our ride last year.

Dude.... I live in Parkrose now. I'm all up in yo hood.

I don't remember what neighborhood you live in, tho... Belmont?

And I've been trying to get a good stack of riding partners for early AM weekday rides. You down for some 5am buttefests?