I don’t usually wear a bike helmet. Does that make me an idiot?

This is the video I didn’t want to make. For a long time, I’ve chosen not to wear a bike helmet on my daily bike commute because I didn’t feel I needed one. But people ask me about it so often that I started to doubt myself. So I decided to take a deep dive into that decision. And to do so, I enlisted some help to explore the big questions around bike safety and helmets. This is our conversation. Big thanks to Cailynn Klingbeil for exploring this issue with me. You can find her on Twitter at 0:00 Introduction 2:42 How helmets became so ingrained — the roots of helmet fundamentalism 12:14 How effective are bike helmets anyway? 16:13 What do we miss when we focus only on helmets? 21:51 How do we properly assess the risks of riding a bike? 25:49 How can I make a better decision about wearing a helmet? 30:27 My personal re-assessment: Am I an idiot or not? If you’re looking for some of the sources that Cailynn cited in this video, here are some links: #cycling #bike #commuting Buy my book Frostbike: The Joy, Pain and Numbness of Winter Cycling: I don’t really do proper product reviews, but here are some products that I’ve tried on this channel that I like. (Of course you don’t need anything fancy to ride a bike, other than a bike, but these are Amazon affiliate links, and I get paid a small commission if you buy them 😉) • Here’s the winter bike I’m riding these days: • Cliq Smart Bike Light (nice rear brake light): • RedShift Acrlight Smart LED Pedals (clever lights for your pedals): • Aftershokz Titanium bone-conducting headphones (if you want to listen while you ride): • JBL CLip 4 Waterproof Bluetooth Speaker (for your party-pace group rides): • Crane Bicycle Bell (the ding is sublime): • Ibex Merino Wool clothing (good for summer and winter): • Bicycle Cargo Net (why did it take so long for me to buy one of these?): • Vaude Cover II Rain Poncho (for higher-end, try Cleverhood or People’s Poncho): • Kryptonite U-Lock (your bike is going to get stolen eventually, sigh, but at least make it hard): • Peak Design phone case (the one I use, paired with the Peak Design phone mount): Follow me! Twitter: TikTok: @tom_babin Instagram: