Aaah, the 80's! A time of wisdom and modernity. When all lessons were wise and men's running shorts left little to the imagination. I can't help but wonder if this is part of why people stopped riding.
Is it just me, or do those old helmets look a lot like the training potties you use for toddlers?
Found via Imagine No Cars (when are you coming back?)
Bumbo's are the new helmets:
ReplyDeletehttp://tsaleh.blogspot.com/2009/03/and-put-your-helmeton.html
Wow. I think this is the first time I haven't been able to make it all the way through a bike-related video. If that guy in the pink shirt followed me everywhere on a bike I'd probably stop riding just to get him to leave me alone.
ReplyDeleteIt ain't just you, I didn't make it through either. Talk about obnoxious.
ReplyDeleteOh my gosh, I couldn't finish it either!
ReplyDeleteI remember my first helmet. It was a Bell white "mushroom cap" thing; hard plastic skin on the outside and Styrofoam on the inside. My mom bought it in 1982 for $40 as a birthday present. Though dorky looking, it was very durable. In 1995 I was able to give it to a bike commuter who could not afford to buy a helmet.
My eyes! My eyes!
ReplyDeleteIf I remember correctly, those old helmets conformed to higher standards than those we have now.
ReplyDeleteI bought a Bell around 1985, which I then traded for a "Skidlid" (I thought it looked cooler). I later read that I had given up a relatively good helmet for one that was worse that wearing nothing at all.
I hope you all made it to the part where he forced the kids to walk their bikes across every intersection! I remember being told that when I was a kid and never being able to figure out why that was a good thing to do (especially as SF has 10 blocks to the mile!!)
ReplyDelete@es- those helmets were DOT approved and much better for protection the things they make now are. Nevertheless, they were just soooooooooo damn dorky!
The only reason we can't watch the whole thing is that it's over 8 mns and we all have ADD at this point. It's hilarious. A time capsule of los 80s. Love it.
ReplyDeleteKristin, I watch philosophy, history and science videos hours long; and then hit replay.
ReplyDeleteI've been known to do the same with a Tarkovsky movie.
I only made it to 5 minutes because philosophy doesn't make my brain hurt, but this video did.
The helmets in this video were made after the degradation in construction had already set in. They're better in some ways than much of what has come since, but not as good as what had come before.
I have found one picture on the web of a helmet that has clearly worked the way it says on the tin; it's a Bell Biker.
Wow. 4 minutes. That's all I could take. I would have picked up a skateboard If I was forced to watch this train-wreck as a kid. The producers of this video clearly had their hearts in the right place, and should be commended for that...but the end result is just baaaad. We've come a long way.
ReplyDelete