I have a hard time writing about serious things on Fridays. I have a tendency to spend too much time thinking about upcoming rides and the beer that comes after them. In this spirit, I thought I’d start a weekly review of the dumbest products on the market right now.
Now, I don’t want to limit this to just bike related stuff because frankly, there are just way too many dumb things being made right now to pass them up. For example, I’ve already alluded to the electronic toilet seat and the electric baby wipe warmer. These products deserve to be singled out as silly indicators of the decline of Western civilization.
Having said that, the electric rotating ice cream cone (which comes in not 1, but 2 colors) I was going to award this week’s prize to got bumped when BikeSnobNYC brought this product to my attention.
The Yakkay Bicycle Helmet
Yes, what you are seeing is a bicycle helmet with a hat on top. Now, as a dutiful helmet wearer, I am aware that bike helmets do greatly increase your chances of having your lunch money taken from you on the playground. We should not accentuate this any further. This product creates a disturbing trend (only matched by the cog set arms race) in bicycle accessories that can only end in this:
AustinBikeBlog Don King Yakkay Helmet
Enjoy your weekend, and get out and ride your bike.
on Aug 23rd, 2008 at 11:46 am
I agree, I think the helmet hat idea is pretty lame. But, I think you should submit your idea and photo of the Don King Yakkay Helmet to the manufacture. Too funny!
on Aug 25th, 2008 at 6:16 pm
Actually it might be a good idea motorists will not see you as such a serious cyclist and give you a wider berth, according to this:
http://www.bath.ac.uk/news/articles/archive/overtaking110906.html
on Aug 26th, 2008 at 11:27 am
TT, I actually discussed this report you mentioned in an earlier post “If you want to be safe on a bike, ditch your helmet and wear a skirt”. I still wear a helmet anyway because while I don’t think it will save me from a 2 ton speeding piece of metal, I think it will do a pretty good job of protecting my skull if I fall or wipe out. As for this product, I still think its pretty dumb.
on Sep 2nd, 2008 at 7:47 pm
Not to mention how fabric grips pavement. Helmets are smooth so your head slides along with your body and your neck doesn’t snap.
on Nov 25th, 2008 at 8:53 am
GREAT site. Only thing – is it just me, or are the pictures stretched vertically to fit a square space? Distracting…
on Nov 25th, 2008 at 1:31 pm
I think it’s just your imagination. Our blog software does not stretch images and I’ve not applied that effect to any of the uploaded picture.
on Jan 28th, 2009 at 12:02 am
[...] innovations. A couple of the ideas are pretty good. Unfortunately, two of them are also on our Dumbest Product of the Week [...]
on Jan 29th, 2009 at 12:26 pm
[...] poked fun at Yakkay, at Cordarounds, and at DryHigh, pointed to the silly in Ditka, Ferrari, and vests [...]
on Jan 29th, 2009 at 12:35 pm
[...] Last week, I started a series I hope to bring you each week highlighting the silly, useless things being brought to you, the American consumer, in a fleeting chance that we might all think about what we are doing before we buy one more thing. If I don’t accomplish that, at the least this is a fun way to kick off the weekend. [...]
on Apr 7th, 2009 at 8:39 am
I like the idea, only because I can put my Army Beret on it and bike to work in (not) style!
on Jul 21st, 2011 at 12:50 pm
I think it’s a great idea for the fashionable & functional set, not for those who focus solely on function.
on Jul 21st, 2011 at 12:54 pm
Meg,
I think the biggest potential problem is that they could be more dangerous than a regular helmet or no helmet at all. There is a lot of material on there that can get caught on something in a fall which greatly increases the chance of head injury.
on Sep 20th, 2011 at 7:56 am
I wanted to get one of these for a (somewhat silly) cycling costume, so I flew to Copenhagen in October 2009, went through a half dozen bike shops, and finally found one to try on. It was the absolutely dumbest-looking headgear imaginable. Even for a silly costume, it was too awful. Luckily, there was also a big cycling event with a mass ride through the city, a day touring old Viking ships, a fun cargo-bike rental, and an opportunity to trade some unavailable-in-Europe gear for some unavailable-in-the-US gear, so the trip wasn’t totally wasted.