Best way to carry a fedora with you while cycling with a helmet on your head?

[Genuine Classic Gangster]

I would like to start using a bicycle for the summer months, but a problem will arise if I do. My head will have a conflict of interest because it wants a fedora to be on it, but for the sake of safety while cycling, a helmet would have to be on it instead.

Accordingly, I want to carry my fedoras (although only one at a time) with me while cycling, but in doing so, I do want want to subject my fedoras to becoming crushed/misshapen or whatnot. Ideally, I would like a way to cycle safely (I mean safe for both my own person, and for the hat) while carrying either a felt or a straw hat.

Have any of you found a good way to solve this problem in your own lives?

What can you recommend for me as the best solution to this problem?

 

[Brad Bowers]

I mounted a box to the rack over my rear tire with bungee cords, and that worked.

Brad

 

[milliedog]

I use flat caps and berets when going by bicycle, they pack easier. But on occasion I will use a hat with a stampede string or chin strap on it, the string around my neck and hat resting on my back while riding helmeted. You may need a more western or bush type fedora for this, mine is an Akubra Coober Pedy. Use it as an excuse for a new hat.

 

[Greyryder]

I mounted a box to the rack over my rear tire with bungee cords, and that worked.

Brad

This seems the best way to go, to me.

Or, you could just wear the fedora. Cycling has the same risk of head injury as walking, and bike helmets are only designed for low speed fall overs that usually result in wrist or shoulder injuries.

 

[TheDane]

Cycling has the same risk of head injury as walking, and bike helmets are only designed for low speed fall overs that usually result in wrist or shoulder injuries.

Where did you find those informations? They don't seem congruent with research done in countries, known for widespread bicycling.

 

[tommyK]

As someone who both rides bicycle and motorcycle, the difference in helmets is remarkable. I too wear a bicycle helmet but have little faith in it. I've coasted down some hills at well over 50 mph, can't see it doing much good if something went wrong there.

back to the subject, both Stetson and Borsalino make rollable hats. Not my favorites stylewise, but in a pinch. I wonder if any of the custom hatters on here make a rollable hat?

 

[Greyryder]

Where did you find those informations? They don't seem congruent with research done in countries, known for widespread bicycling.

I see them get posted up on various cycling sites from time to time, usually with links to one study or another. Though, a quick look at cyclehelmets.org looks like cyclists might be safer than pedestrians?

 

[milliedog]

I see them get posted up on various cycling sites from time to time, usually with links to one study or another. Though, a quick look at cyclehelmets.org looks like cyclists might be safer than pedestrians?

Cyclehelmets.org is a website dedicated to refuting and disparaging studies that clearly show the benefits of helmet use. You may want to have a look at helmets.org for a more reasonable interpertation of the statistics, IMO.

 

[TheDane]

Cyclehelmets.org is a website dedicated to refuting and disparaging studies that clearly show the benefits of helmet use. You may want to have a look at helmets.org for a more reasonable interpertation of the statistics, IMO.

"a website dedicated to refuting and disparaging studies that clearly show the benefits of helmet use" seems not really in tune with "a more reasonable interpertation of the statistics" ... think so?

I indeed know cyclehelmets.org - and exactly because of the refuting and disparaging character of the site, I'm extremely cautious and prefer to seek more reliable (read: neutral) sources. The people behind cyclehelmets.org are a bit too blinded by their own ideology to me. Fundamentalism is bad, no matter in what the direction it tries to drag you

 

[T Jones]

Cyclehelmets.org is a website dedicated to refuting and disparaging studies that clearly show the benefits of helmet use. You may want to have a look at helmets.org for a more reasonable interpertation of the statistics, IMO.

I have to agree here, (sorry Ole ol' buddy). I was an avid cyclist some years back and rode a Schwinn Paramount in several tours. I used to ride 48 miles a day, every day, in the Summer. I saw one rider take a pretty nasty spill when he swerved off the road and into the gravel on the side, (He wasn't going very fast either). It was a country road, he was wearing only a cloth cycling cap. No helmet. He was laying on the ground in and out of consciousness with a head injury. We thought he was dying. He was life flighted to a hospital. I never heard anymore about the guy until a year later when I saw him being interviewed on the local news about bicycle safety and wearing a helmet while riding. He was talking about his accident and the therapy he had to take afterward for recovery. He suggested that riders should wear helmets. But, that's up to the riders to decide whether or not they want to wear a helmet.

 

[jlee562]

Call Bencraft hats in Brooklyn, ask for one of their plastic hat cans. For some reason, they don't advertise them on the internet, but they make a nice travel hat can which can accommodate most fedoras.

 

[Greyryder]

Cyclehelmets.org is a website dedicated to refuting and disparaging studies that clearly show the benefits of helmet use. You may want to have a look at helmets.org for a more reasonable interpertation of the statistics, IMO.

Funny, I've always found helmets.org to be a pro-helmet propaganda site.

EDIT: Yeah. They're still showing the long debunked Thompson Rivara study. And, there doesn't seem to be any obvious mention on their page about helmet laws about the reduced cycling rates that follow such laws.

 

[TheDane]

I have to agree here, (sorry Ole ol' buddy).

We have a couple of professional riders, who suffered severe head injury - some of them more than once. They warmly promote the use of helmets.

In Tour de France and several other major events, helmets are now compulsory. In the aftermath of Fabio Casartellis' death in TdF in 1995 - and Andrey Kivilev's 2003 - UCI finally succeeded in making helmets mandatory. The rule has been bend and enforced to various degrees, but in 2014 helmets are mandatory all the way.

Cofidi's doctor Jean-Jacques Menuet claimed, that a helmet probably would have saved Andrey Kivilev's life, had he worn one. As I understand it, most (if not all) doctors in TdF are very much pro-helmets.

PS: Just to be clear: I'm not promoting civil helmet laws, but I absolutely think, using a helmet is wise

 

[tommyK]

Call Bencraft hats in Brooklyn, ask for one of their plastic hat cans. For some reason, they don't advertise them on the internet, but they make a nice travel hat can which can accommodate most fedoras.

I've got one. could be strapped down easily I think. As ussual Bencraft has a good price on these too. Around $20 or so, if i recall correctly.

 

[TheDane]

I've got one. could be strapped down easily I think. As ussual Bencraft has a good price on these too. Around $20 or so, if i recall correctly.

That looks awesome! How wide a brim does it take?

 

[tommyK]

That looks awesome! How wide a brim does it take?

The crown part is 6 inches deep and the brim part will go up to a 3 inch brim

 

[Stanley Doble]

For summer wear have you considered a Panama? A good one will roll up into a roll about 1" in diameter and spring back to shape as good as new.

 

[TheDane]

The crown part is 6 inches deep and the brim part will go up to a 3 inch brim

Sounds to be close to perfection! And I would definitely also use it for my panamas

 

[Fed in a Fedora]

I would like to start using a bicycle for the summer months, but a problem will arise if I do. My head will have a conflict of interest because it wants a fedora to be on it, but for the sake of safety while cycling, a helmet would have to be on it instead.

Accordingly, I want to carry my fedoras (although only one at a time) with me while cycling, but in doing so, I do want want to subject my fedoras to becoming crushed/misshapen or whatnot. Ideally, I would like a way to cycle safely (I mean safe for both my own person, and for the hat) while carrying either a felt or a straw hat.

Have any of you found a good way to solve this problem in your own lives?

What can you recommend for me as the best solution to this problem?

I ride a recumbent with a rear luggage rack. My plan is to mount a http://hammerplastics.com/newStore/classic-western-hat-carrier to one side and a pannier to the other for other items. I am not a weight weenie, so the size and encumbrance are of little concern to me.

My fedora is a CampDraft which has a wide brim. I see that there is a dress hat option which might work for smaller brims at: http://hammerplastics.com/newStore/hat-care/carriers/dress/dress-hat-and-dressage-helmet-carrier but I have no experience with this model.

Do you have a bike already? You might consider a recumbent. I removed all the pain from riding by setting aside the wedgie frame bike for a recumbent and then bought a tadpole trike. If the traditional bike is your need, I do have a Felt F-85 in long diamond frame available...

RT

 

[T Jones]

PS: Just to be clear: I'm not promoting civil helmet laws, but I absolutely think, using a helmet is wise

Definitely agree...