When it comes to bicycle helmets, you’ve got Australia, where they’re mandatory for everybody and donning one is patriotic act:
Then you’ve got the Netherlands, where people just ride around pregnant while juggling a bunch of shit and would sooner think to put on a chicken suit than a helmet:
So what accounts for this stark cultural difference? Is it simply a function of the different physics in the southern hemisphere, where summer is winter, toilets flush backwards, and the sun rises not in the east but in the crotch?
Or is there something about anglophones in general that compels them to wear helmets regardless of where they live in relation to the equator? After all, London does have the highest rate of helmet use in all of Europe:
Whatever the reason, the Netherlands’s days as the world’s most helmetless (or least helmeted, depending on whether you’re a glass-half-empty or glass-half-full type) society on Earth may be numbered:
Why? Well, for the same reason everything’s going to shit everywhere, which is e-bikes:
So basically by putting motors on bikes we’ve made them more dangerous and more expensive, all while making the bike infrastructure suckier for people who ride regular bikes and causing no measurable reduction in motor vehicle traffic or ownership.
But other than that they’re fantastic.
Meanwhile, here in New York City things are getting so bad that even the cars are wearing helmets:
So I spent this past weekend riding away from it on old-fashioned pedal bicycles:
The re-Rolfed LeMond has a spring in its step once again:
I don’t know if that’s due to the overall low weight of the wheels, whatever aero benefits may come from having fewer spokes, or simply the fact that these are nicer tires than what I had on the other wheels, but whatever the reason I’m not even going to speculate until the chickens finish analyzing the data:
I’m pretty sure they’ve got a wind tunnel in that research hutch.
Speaking of performance gains, the Tour de France is getting faster, so how much of that is due to the equipment?
Having thoroughly skimmed the article, it sounds to me like it’s mostly better nutrition, more sophisticated training techniques, and shorter overall distances. Sure, the aerodynamic improvements also help:
But it wouldn’t surprise me if those are offset by the helmets:
Then again the aerodynamic benefits of Pantani’s bald head were probably offset by his ears, so it all balances out the end.
By the way, the bike Pantani is riding in that photo sold in 2020 for 66,000 European Party Coupons. That’s a little high for me, but this one’s in the ballpark:
It’s tempting for the parts alone, because the bike is a rolling vintage component repository, right down to the headset bearing protector. And what component has more retro-Fred cred than a Mavic derailleur?
Ebay sellers ask more for those than this seller is asking for the entire bike:
That’s what you call an investment opportunity.
