Finally! A Bike Helmet for the Vain & Fashionable

Have you ever looked at your bicycle helmet and thought to yourself, "Meh. I'll risk cracking my head open to spare today's expertly-coiffed hair?" If you answered yes, then you're not alone. According to statistics compiled by the US Consumer Product Safety Commission, more than half of all US bike riders routinely forgo a helmet, despite the fact that doing so puts them at significantly higher risk for head injury and death. While most surveyed claim that they simply forget, or assume it's not necessary given the distance of the ride, it goes without saying that vanity likely plays a role in the decision--consciously or not.

Well, now, for a mere $450, you can look fly and save your big fat melon from traumatic brain injury. The Hövding (Swedish for "chieftain") looks like your typical hipster cowl, but actually houses sensors that signal an internal airbag to fill and deploy upon impact. Though we're not entirely sold on the idea of an airbag for our head, the test video below has sold us on the need to overcome our own conceit and wear a damn old school helmet all the time, every time because this video is scarier than a teabagger at a Glenn Beck rally. Yes, that scary.

Bike Porn!

Small road bikes suitable for short women are rarer than a smiling Olsen in a buffet line, so when we found the c. 1984 Fuji 450 SE pictured above on a popular online auction site last year, we knew we had to have it. Like the pricey Terry brand of 'bikes for women,' the Fuji 450 SE featured a slightly smaller front tire that somehow--through the same laws of physics and illusion at work at the Santa Cruz Mystery Spot--make the bike easy for wee women like us to straddle without incident. Despite the fact that we paid a song for the bike, it actually came to us in near perfect stock condition (huzzah!). Naturally, though, our aging hipster aesthetic sensibilities compelled us to swap out both the stock saddle and drop handlebars for Brooks components and mustache bars (which, even to our surprise, are more comfortable than drops and straight bars).

With another car-free Fall approaching, we're thinking seriously about investing in some sexy woodgrain fenders and bike spats to keep our petite bums and ankles dry on the road this year. We're also really enamored with the CETMA flatbed racks, which we feel might usefully permit us to carry less on our ailing backs. And although we totally don't need woodgrain rims, we think they're an essential part in making our bike ultimately look like a rolling log jammer ride (i.e., awesome!).

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