In a message dated 5/27/05 6:11:51 AM Pacific Daylight Time,
classicrendezvous-request@bikelist.org writes:
> <<Skidlid >>
I rode across the US part way with Kevin Montgomery in 1976. His Dad invented the Skid Lid and he and his two girlfriends wore them. We used to kid him about it but he just made fun of the guys whose Bell Bikers were serving as sleeping bag protectors because they were too hot to wear. Fast forward to 1977 when my friend Barbara crashed in her Skid Lid and sustained a concussion. They really were about as useless as a leather hairnet, and lasted way too long on the market. We used to say, they are fine if all you are going to do is skid, but if you are going to crash, you need a real helmet.
I think it was the Bailen Bike Bucket that was the original Sweat Bucket. It had no holes at all. You could actually carry water in it. The Bell Biker actually wasn't that bad. I had one when they first came out, serial no. 1176. Rode it all the way across the US and then for a few more years.
And the MSR helmet cannot be put in the same lot as the Biker. Although it came out about the same time, it had a nylon strap suspension inside, and no foam at all at first. That only came a few years later. It was good for deflecting small rocks that fell on you when you were climbing, but would not do much for a 25-lb head being propelled into the pavement by a 175-lb body at 35 mph.
Bob Freeman Seattle
"Those who don't wear a bike helmet have nothing to protect"