Comments on Ask GGW: How do you prevent helmet hair? - Greater Greater Washington

Comment by Alexa

Thu, 30 Aug 2012 10:20:44 EDT

I may be a little late on commenting, but this product just came out. If you're willing to shell out $600, you'll be safe and preserve your hair style. I'm just resigned to flat hair!
http://vimeo.com/43038579

Comment by Payton

Wed, 25 Jul 2012 16:48:42 EDT

A friend suggests finding a hairstylist who's willing to work with you to craft a haircut that works for you and your bike helmet. In my case, it turns out that growing out my hair makes it lay flatter, so it's less prone to helmet-induced cowlicks. Switching from gel to a wax also helped.

I'll second Ms V's suggestion of a scarf or, in my case, a cycling cap underneath the helmet. It's a bit counterintuitive, but it also helps to keep my black hair from baking in the sun.

Also, keep any sort of hair accessories (pins, clips, beads) out from under the helmet; otherwise, they'll defeat the purpose of the helmet.

Comment by Clinton M

Wed, 25 Jul 2012 09:02:30 EDT

I just wear the helmet and get over it. It's not that I don't get that, hey, sometimes it looks bad - but the alternative is the risk of not having a helmet at all. I'd rather be known for having helmet hair than be known for being dead.

Comment by Jon M.

Tue, 24 Jul 2012 21:35:40 EDT

Original requester here: thanks for everyone's suggestions! I've passed them along and hopefully she'll find something that works for her.

Comment by brookland_rez

Tue, 24 Jul 2012 15:07:09 EDT

She could do what I do, shave her head.

Comment by EOzberk

Tue, 24 Jul 2012 11:45:07 EDT

Excellent TedX talk on bike helmet use:

http://video.tedxcopenhagen.dk/video/911034/mikael-colville-andersen

The speaker runs the blog Copenhagen Cycle Chic. Worth a gander.

Comment by Greenbelt

Tue, 24 Jul 2012 09:58:09 EDT

Last time I combed was in the 1990s I think.

Comment by Elisa P.

Tue, 24 Jul 2012 09:42:46 EDT

http://www.ehow.com/how_2321472_prevent-helmet-hair.html
It's a frequenlty asked question.

Comment by MLD

Tue, 24 Jul 2012 09:41:56 EDT

Seems to me that twisting your hair up on top of your head and just sticking a helmet on top of it, or having to buy a much bigger helmet to put all your hair in, would mean more of a risk of rotational (concussion and neck) injuries if you have a crash.

Personally I am unconvinced on helmets, I wear mine some of the time but not always. From my experience, drivers treat me with more deference when I am not wearing a helmet, and much more deference when I am on a slower bike like CaBi.

Comment by Elisa P.

Tue, 24 Jul 2012 09:26:50 EDT

Longer hair survives well if you twist it into a ball on top of your head and place the helmet over it. When you get to the office, untwist your hair and enjoy more body and smoothness from your helmet ttreatment. I will post a video demonstration of this in the coming weeks. And wear your helmet.

Comment by Lucre

Tue, 24 Jul 2012 09:26:12 EDT

@Tina

It was a tiny bit off topic, since the post was about helmet hair, which is not my wife's problem. Fitting everything inside a helmet is her problem. She's blessed with the ability to effortlessly tie a couple of knots in her dreads, tuck in a few loose ends, and instantly have a sophisticated look.
That's why I think @Brandt is describing a different problem to my wife's: one more closely related to the topic of the post.

Comment by Brandt

Tue, 24 Jul 2012 08:42:58 EDT

People with natural hair aren't alone in this. Even people with short, straight hair can face this problem. My hair ends up standing up through the helmet vents so when I get to work I often have a 2"-triple-rooster-cowlick until I wet my hair and comb it out.

The advice I'd offer is that different helmets will affect your hair differently and everyone has different hair and may even wear it differently from day to day, so you need to go out and look at as many helmets brands/styles as you can find and try them all on to find what works best for you. Be willing to consider that you may want more than one helmet and don't compromise by making your choice in one shop; there are a lot of different helmets out there.

While trying helmets on, wear your hair loose and pull it into different styles between fittings. A helmet that works for a low ponytail or natural hair or some kind of perm may not work as well with your other styles. The placement of interior padding and restraints and the number and placement of the vents will both affect how your hair is molded by the helmet. Climate may also affect your choice; it you're not in a hot, humid climate, you can buy a helmet with fewer vents and smoother, more continuous padding on the inside and that might help.

Comment by Arlington

Mon, 23 Jul 2012 22:14:54 EDT

I have fairly short straightish hair, and was surprised to find that my hair looks better after I wear a helmet than before.

My helmet helps style my hair for me. I found the whole helmet hair thing to be more of a myth than a reality, at least in my case.

Comment by Neil Flanagan

Mon, 23 Jul 2012 21:26:59 EDT

This is absolutely a real topic. First off, GGW is not limited in scope to intricate policy decisions. People have lives that exist outside of their relationship to school funding mechanisms.

Secondly. think about it: if you have a part of your body that is critical to your professional and social presentation, how you navigate the complexities of an emerging life choices is actually really important. We want to make available to different walks of life, and giving really basic advice is part of the advocacy that urbanist blogs are actually quite good at.

Comment by Jack Love

Mon, 23 Jul 2012 19:27:20 EDT

Um, ok. So back to real topics tomorrow then?

Comment by goDCgo

Mon, 23 Jul 2012 16:57:02 EDT

We covered this topic on our blog a few months ago. Here's the link for more tips on dealing with helmet hair: http://blog.godcgo.com/?p=1409

Comment by Weiwen

Mon, 23 Jul 2012 16:52:30 EDT

I'm of two minds. On one hand, having more cyclists on the road will indeed make the roads more safe for all cyclists: drivers will get used to looking out for us, states and cities will face pressure to make sure transport infrastructure accommodates cyclists safely, etc. If not mandating helmets helps get us there, then maybe it's worth considering.

However, there will always be accidents. Helmets are not a panacea but they will blunt the effects of most blows to the head. If you take a turn too aggressively and skid, you're quite likely to just come away with scrapes, but you might hit your head on the ground. If you get hit by a car at some speed, I think you're likely to hit your head on the ground. And a helmet can help you avoid a head injury, or maybe let you walk away with a concussion. Head injuries are debilitating. I was wearing a helmet when I had one, resulting in a mild head injury, and that still took a long time to recover from. More bikes on the road will reduce the accident rate versus cars, but then you need to start thinking about accident rate vs other bikes. That makes it worth thinking about mandating helmets for me.

Oboe - those helmets are professional racer-level helmets. The poster asking for helmet recommendations is likely a recreational rider, and I'd recommend going into any decent store and trying any helmet on. These days, you only need about $30-40 for a helmet that's reasonably light and cool. But they all fit differently, so you need to try one on.

If s/he is not, I hear the Prevail is pretty good, but it is a $230 helmet and if you are actually racing at a level where you might want to consider a top of the line helmet, you are probably looking at replacing it every 2-3 years (or the moment you crash). So, really unnecessary for most.

Comment by Tom Veil

Mon, 23 Jul 2012 16:20:14 EDT

I clip my hair down to 1/4 inch. Problem solved. My wife solves the problem in the other direction: her hair is so long, wavy, and thick (naturally) that it can it can withstand the pressure of the helmet and bounces right back to shape. Wavy-haired people have all the luck: even if her helmet does press unusually hard, to anyone but her it just looks like her hair grew another wave.

@Lucre: try a motorcycle shop. They tend to keep more XL helmet sizes in stock. Or if you happen to live close to a ski shop, that's another good option: lots of snowboarder helmets have a removable pad that's just for warmth, not safety, so if you pull it out you have a bigger helmet.

Comment by Michael Perkins

Mon, 23 Jul 2012 16:18:45 EDT

I cut my hair to a #4 on top and a #2 on the sides, just like in ROTC. Then I don't worry about it.

This doesn't work for everyone.

Comment by Elle

Mon, 23 Jul 2012 15:43:57 EDT

I wind my hair up (without any clips, though bobby pins would probably work for folks with shorter hair) on top of my head in a top-knot. It fits under my helmet well and actually looks pretty good when I take it down at the office -- since it was pulled up it has volume and nice body. If sweat is a problem (usually isn't for me, but my ride is short), some dry shampoo works wonders -- particularly around the forehead.

Comment by oboe

Mon, 23 Jul 2012 15:20:05 EDT

Derail: Anyone have any recommendations for helmets? Mine's pretty worn, and starting to rattle around.

These are both pretty effective and stylish:

http://www.specialized.com/us/en/ftr/helmets/roadhelmets/s-worksprevail
http://www.bellsports.com/cycling/helmets/pavement/gage-5732

(A little more expensive, but what's your brain worth?)

Comment by David C

Mon, 23 Jul 2012 15:10:10 EDT

riding without a helmet is NOT an option, that's just common sense!

Actually, statistically speaking, the health benefits of riding a bike far outweigh the loss in safety - with or without a helmet. So if your choices are:

a) bike without a helmet
b) drive/sit on the couch;

and living long is important to you than a) is the better choice.

Of course wearing a helmet probably increases your survivability if you are in a crash, but if you really think wearing a helmet is required on every bike ride, then you should probably wear one anytime you walk across a parking lot. Fatalities per mile, it may be the most dangerous trip you take.

Comment by David C

Mon, 23 Jul 2012 15:01:39 EDT

I find that if I wear tight enough pants, no one looks at my hair.

Also, I have been strategically allowing my hair to fall out for decades.

Comment by CJ

Mon, 23 Jul 2012 14:43:05 EDT

For guys (or women) with short to very short hair - Use a paste, or wax, product instead of a gel or other holding material that "sets." Paste and wax both give your hair texture and make it pliable, but they don't set up, and can be continuously reshaped. Several varieties, and almost all the waxes, are water resistant, so you wont sweat them out.

I'm about as fussy as a gay guy can get about my hair, but I ride several times a week, and this approach works for me.

I haven't had long hair in years, but I don't think these products are useful for longer hair, I imagine you'd get stringy looking results with the ones I've used.

Comment by egk

Mon, 23 Jul 2012 14:29:13 EDT

@Chris Read: http://www.streetsblog.org/2012/06/06/a-compulsory-helmet-law-wont-make-nyc-cyclists-safer/

The takeaway: Wear a helmet when you can. If you don't want to wear a helmet some days, just don't (but ride slowly). Don't give up riding just because of the helmet - that makes riding more dangerous for everyone. (Fewer cyclists with more helmets is a MUCH more dangerous situation for all then more cyclists and fewer helmets.)

Comment by Laura

Mon, 23 Jul 2012 13:49:12 EDT

@Jenny - I have short, curly hair and find that the bike helmet does wonders for mine as well. It keeps it in control while it's drying, so I don't get any weird flyaways.

For those without naturally curly hair, I unfortunately don't have any good suggestions. I always those with straight hair were lucky because they could just run a brush through it when they got where they were going (something you can't do with curly hair), but this conversation has enlightened me to the fact that that is not the case.

Comment by Ciderbarrel

Mon, 23 Jul 2012 13:42:38 EDT

I had waist length hair at one time and I never wore a helmet for my bicycle riding, but on my motorcycle riding I used two bands on my hair in a pony tail. One at the base and one near the tips. Nothing sucks more than having to untangle a few feet of hair. Learned that the hard way after a 5 hour ride.

Comment by Andrew Schmadel

Mon, 23 Jul 2012 13:35:15 EDT

Derail: Anyone have any recommendations for helmets? Mine's pretty worn, and starting to rattle around.

Comment by oboe

Mon, 23 Jul 2012 13:28:07 EDT

You should ALWAYS wear your helmet when riding a bike. If it is critically important that you don't get 'helmet hair', then I suggest you don't ride your bike.

Super helpful stuff there.

Comment by Jenny

Mon, 23 Jul 2012 13:24:09 EDT

For my curly hair, I pile my wet or damp hair on the top of my head and put a bandanna or scarf on top, followed by the helmet. When I get to work I shake out my hair. I actually get better defined/less frizzy curls on the days that I bike to work. Once I met a friend after work using this method-- she told me that my hair was the cutest she had ever seen it.

Comment by Kate

Mon, 23 Jul 2012 13:14:54 EDT

I've found this article to be helpful: http://www.refinery29.com/helmet-hairstyles

I have curly hair, so I just pile it damp into the helmet and hope for the best. Sometimes it works out well and I wear it down, other times I pull together an updo in the bathroom at work. Just give yourself an extra five minutes, and no one will be the wiser!

Comment by Tina

Mon, 23 Jul 2012 13:03:45 EDT

@Lucre - A little off topic, but the difficulty of finding a helmet that accommodates black women's natural hair can be even more challenging.

Not off topic at all. That is the topic. Hair and bike helmets.

Comment by Veronica O. Davis (Ms V)

Mon, 23 Jul 2012 12:57:13 EDT

Lucre - I have natural hair and my Nutcase helmet fits my big head and most of my hairstyles. A satin scarf is a boon to any hair texture for the reasons I stated!

Comment by HTinWDC

Mon, 23 Jul 2012 12:46:39 EDT

I have shoulder length hair and just pull it into a ponytail high up on my head. After my ride, I take the helmet off, pull the ponytail out and lean over to shake out my hair (if in the office, a quick blast at the roots - head upside down - with a hair dryer for a few seconds works too), and it looks fine (enough).

Comment by Lucre

Mon, 23 Jul 2012 12:46:14 EDT

A little off topic, but the difficulty of finding a helmet that accommodates black women's natural hair can be even more challenging. It's not a matter of fashion wariness in my wife's case: it's simply the case that helmets big enough to hold her head - dreadlocks and all - are extraordinarily hard to find. She did eventually manage to special-order a triple-extra-large helmet at Daily Rider that does the trick, but she has to wear her hair down to ride and tie it back up after parking if she wants to do any kind of a fancy look.

Veronica Davis recommends using a scarf to tie hair up under a helmet; that might be a boon to any hair texture, with a big enough helmet to accommodate the tied up hair. I imagine it's important then to make sure your hair is tied up in a way that it braces an oversized helmet well.

Comment by Matt Johnson

Mon, 23 Jul 2012 12:44:12 EDT

I've only recently started growing my hair out (it's almost shoulder-length now). I've discovered that at this length, my hair actually behaves better with a helmet than it did when it was shorter.

I generally bike to Metro and then spend 25 minutes on the train, so my hair has some time to rebound before I get to the office.

I keep a comb and some hairspray in my desk, so in case there are any problems, I can generally work them out.

I've found that one key element is making sure my hair is dry before I put on the helmet. As long as it's dry when I put the helmet on, it generally keeps its shape. But if it's wet, all bets are off.

Comment by Chris

Mon, 23 Jul 2012 12:39:06 EDT

You should ALWAYS wear your helmet when riding a bike. If it is critically important that you don't get 'helmet hair', then I suggest you don't ride your bike.

I ride 10 miles to work everyday and to minimize my helmet hair, I wear a baseball cap for an hour or so after I get to work. I will check back to see if anyone has any better suggestions.

But I want to say again, riding without a helmet is NOT an option, that's just common sense!

Comment by Veronica O. Davis (Ms V)

Mon, 23 Jul 2012 12:28:14 EDT

I have shoulder length hair. I style as normal, then tie my hair down with a satin scarf, and put helmet on top of the scarf. The satin scarf will help absorb sweat, prevent helmet hair, and help preserve your style.

Comment by Tina

Mon, 23 Jul 2012 12:22:44 EDT

try this-http://phys.org/news/2010-10-invisible-helmet-hair-consious-cyclists-video.html

Otherwise, accept flat hair. Long hair pulled into a chignon (post ride) is a classic style that is professional and easy. See the hair-do of the model in the link for the helmet air-bag. With that hair-do a regular helmet is not a conflict. This isn't Texas. You don't need big hair to be stylish.

Its much more stylish to have a lean muscle toned body from riding regularly and extra money in your pocket from the cost savings from not going by car/bus/train than it is to have non-flat hair. if you're lean and toned people are going to notice and admire your trim waist no matter what your hair looks like. And your doctor will admire the reduction in your cholesterol from riding regularly.

Comment by Kolchitongi

Mon, 23 Jul 2012 12:22:35 EDT

Leave a can of dry shampoo + a straightening iron at the office. That way you can put your hair in a ponytail while you ride, and fix it when you get to work.

Wish I had better advice... that's the only thing that's worked for me though. (I also have a pretty long ride, 4+ miles, so my hairstyle never survives the commute regardless of weather.)

Comment by Miriam

Mon, 23 Jul 2012 12:20:08 EDT

I remind myself that a skull fracture would make my hair look a lot funnier and be a lot more uncomfortable. That gets me to wear my helmet, but it doesn't stop my hair from looking funny, alas.

Comment by Jasper

Mon, 23 Jul 2012 12:07:39 EDT

I don't wear a helmet, but I do wear a cap to get my short hair to stick up. No gel needed.

Comment by Person

Mon, 23 Jul 2012 12:04:26 EDT

I prevent helmet hair by not wearing a helmet.