Folks, I hurt my neck a while back and I need to be very careful not to hyper-extend my neck (again!). Is there any reason it wouldnt work or be a good idea to wear a MotoX style helmet and neck brace on a trials bike. As I mentioned on another post I'm new to trials (and bikes if I'm honest!) and my goal would be to get to the point of competing in a novice trial. This is the type of neck brace im referring to: Ian
Yes if you are going to wear your mx helmet. But you are protecting yourself from having the wrong gear. A nice light trials helmet would probably help the neck rather than hurt it. I can understand the concerns. (I injured my neck hopping on a damn bicycle and people wonder why I hate them!) I had problems for years. The problem riding trials is you have to look up! Just the weight was enough to make riding not fun. I would try the right helmet. We are talking about different types of crashing. Fast uncontrolable crunch. To a slow arms out stop, and roll at the worst. And yes I`ve had my rear tire pass my front in a desert race while flat out and completely destroy a trials helmet in first gear!
I wear a motocross helmet (Shoei VFX-R) or did, I should say until I left it at the trail head this past weekend... it's no problem at all. Just hot as compared to an open-face, and you do give up some peripheral vision. I think the neck brace would drive you crazy though. Unless you've got a really long neck.
Having had various helmets for different activitys... There is no substute for a proper trials helmet. The Hebo that fits my head is so comfortable it is crazy. I can really wear it all day and never even think about taking it off. There have been times I rode all morning, stopped for lunch and while eating I realized the helmet was still on. I forgot it was there. While riding, you get your stretching in for the day. You will twist and turn in all directions. Even in the novice class I am in. As for crashing (especially in the entery classes) it is nothing more then falling down. I had worse crashes as a kid on a bicycle. The brace and MX helmet will probably cause you to crash more due to limited visibilty and limited mobility.
Thanks all for the feedback. Between sections what kind of speed are folks riding at? Given the sections are ridden at low speed maybe the neck brace is overkill there Ian
I have had a GPS in my pocket and find the max speed in the 20 MPH range most of the time. I tend to fly a bit fast on the loop as well. My personal record is 45MPH. That was stupid fast considering how the steering on a trials bike is not set up to do anything close to that. The owners manual published a top speed rating of 99 kmh or 61 MPH, which I don't see any way anyone could actually pull that off. I have friends who ride mountain bikes faster then I cruise the loop over similer terrain. Realisticly loop speeds are in the 10-15 MPH range unless there is something that begs to be ridden faster.
