Aeroscreen without helmet

[sdio]

So far have only had my car with standard windscreen and i wonder is it OK if i fit an aeroscreen and only use a pair of glasses to drive the car on the road or is a full face helmet a must have.
Performance aside I dont see the point of replacing the windscreen with an aeroscreen if one wears a full face helmet.
You loose the sounds, the smells and the wind baffering and all your connections to the elements in general.

I found so far a windscreen and half doors are most comfortable while allowing you to have 100% of the sensations a caterham can offer.
So i think adding up an aeroscreen will only increase the thrills and most probably create a more streamline airflow to your face than the windscreen, then a good set of glasses will protect your eyes from all the road debries, stones, mosquittos, etc.

What is your opinion and experiences?

[mharris]

Yeah no problem at all with that. I often wear just sunglasses and a beanie hat.

You will want ear plugs though if you're not already wearing them.

[neil-935ql]

Defo not for me thanks , I get enough insects when I am out on my bike , that said they do look cool , what about a brook lands screen ? They may give you best of both worlds

[Equus]

I've done many thousands of miles with aeroscreen and no helmet

You get the occasional bumblebee or bit of gravel that smarts a bit. Bigger problem is that your hearing takes a bit of a battering (literally), so expect long term hearing damage if you do as much mileage as I have, without earplugs, but then windscreen and no sidescreens isn't much better.

Someone will be along shortly to tell you that lorries throw up half bricks like confetti and you'll be dead within minutes.

[Eugene7]

I've been Aero for many, many years, and have driven near 300,000 miles...
I just use sunglasses (with clear lenses at night), and a beanie and buff when cold.
Am also usually plugged into the SatNav, so that helps protect the ears.

No issues!

[sdio]

neil-935ql said:

Defo not for me thanks , I get enough insects when I am out on my bike , that said they do look cool , what about a brook lands screen ? They may give you best of both worlds

I do like the brookland but what are the advantages over the aeroscreen?
I was thinking of something like the meteor aeroscreen (transparent) so i can see through rather than not see ahead due to my height (5.6) and having fitted lowered floors.

[tankplanker]

Can't say I'd be keen to do many miles without a lid on as the wind alone isn't fun on bare skin at decent speeds for extended drives. I normally wear the same full face lid I'd wear on track, but you could go with a rally or period style lid?

[neil-935ql]

sdio said:

I do like the brookland but what are the advantages over the aeroscreen?
I was thinking of something like the meteor aeroscreen (transparent) so i can see through rather than not see ahead due to my height (5.6) and having fitted lowered floors.

Not to sure there are advantages of the brook lands screen , other than it looks cool , maybe it deflects more wind ? I am happy sat behind my full screen . I saw a caterham the other day with one fitted it did suit the car ,imo, mind you it was a well modified car with quite a few cosmetic changes over a standard car

[jimhcat]

Each to their own I guess but I certainly wouldn't use my aeroscreen on the road without a helmet.
I enjoy it on track days but for the road I prefer the security of a screen and the ability to fit the half hood.

[Rolo7]

I have been Aero for 3 years now and unfortunately for me (even with ear protection / both -35Db plugs and moulded plugs (F1 style) the wind buffering on the outer (right ear) has suffered with the result that I now have permanent tinitus in this ear. I do however also contend with a tuned engine and Jenveys roaring on full chat...but its the wind that I feel has taken its toll.

Would I go aero ...as they say once you go aero there is no going back..!

I felt like I was in my birthday suit the first time out without a helmet but after a couple of blats it becomes addictive. Yes it does hurt when you get grit and insects hitting in the face (dont follow a fellow 7 owner too closely), but the sheer grin factor makes you forget soon enough. I would recommend some ballistic glasses (Wylie / Dixon / Bolle etc) as I have had some direct hits to the eye, which depending on what hits you may take your eye out, or at best do some damage, and for the price of £35 - £60 quid is a small price to pay for your sight.

I do wear a helmet sometimes for motorway, more so as I had a few close calls with birds (ducking ...no pun intended) to miss a seagull 2 years ago which caught my roll bar and not me.

As others have said glasses and beanie and you also get the benefit of losing the air brake (it does make a difference).

Happy Blatting!

[Order66]

Having had an old bit of spring (I can only assume) smash a helmet visor once I wouldn't recommend aeroscreen without it. Sure you will probably fine, but on that odd occasion where something flies into you its a fairly big risk.

I've used paintball/ATV style masks in the past as they give a good alternative to a full lid while giving face protection.

[coppice]

It's entirely a personal thing. Not for me - having been hit by various birds and animals over the years (dog , deer, , pheasants galore, partridge , carrion crow , hare and rabbits ) , and hit by random metal chunks falling off lorries I'm happy to view the carnage through a laminated screen. But at least if I did wear a helmet nobody would realise how tragically old I am to be driving a Seven .....

[Equus]

coppice said:

Not for me - having been hit by various birds and animals over the years (dog , deer, , pheasants galore, partridge , carrion crow , hare and rabbits ) ...

I think you'll find that you hit the wildlife, not the other way around. The native fauna of the UK is not known for attacking cars or suffering from suicidal thoughts.

The fact that in a 35 year driving career, much of it spent living in rural areas (currently West Norfolk, were you can't spit without hitting a deer or game bird), the sum total of my roadkill has been one blackbird tells me that you're driving without sufficient care and attention. You might wish to muse on the consequences of it being a cyclist or horse rider, next time.

[coppice]

What a patronising arse ; tell me how you'd avoid the following -

1 Deer jumping over a hedge five yards in front of me

2 Carrion crow on hard shoulder of motorway making a very unusual mistake and taking off over road instead of flying off towards the fields

3 Pheasants - slow down to near walking pace , at last second daft thing bolts under wheels . A trick rabbits usually employ

4 Making progress in Seven near Cadwell- two partrdges come flying low and fast out of fields feet in front of me

5 At night , driving home and without warning a stray dog runs out in front of me - it is moving right , I brake hard and stay hard to left - at last second dog changes its mind and bolts back to my side.

Please tell me where you buy your x ray specs eh ?

[Equus]

coppice said:

What a patronising arse...
Please tell me where you buy your x ray specs eh ?

Well, all I can say is that either you're the unluckiest driver alive, or your driving is at fault: either way, you're better off not driving something with the performance of a Caterham, and possibly better off removed from public roads altogether.

The deer, pheasant and partridge are mainly about having an awareness of the habitat you're driving through and the behaviour of the creatures that live there. Yes, pheasants are monumentally stupid, but once you realise that, there should be no excuse for ever hitting one. Ditto deer: they don't put up the warning signs for nothing, and once you know deer, you can fairly easily recognise the sort of territory where there's a possibility that one can come leaping out of a hedge at you. Maybe it's a sixth sense... maybe it's just common sense.

Where I live, we get heartily sick of fkwits on motorcyles or in high performance cars who think that the country lanes are their playground.

It's always the other guy's (or deer's, or birds, or horse's, or dog's) fault, isn't it?

[Eugene7]

All I can say is to reiterate that with near 300K Aero (Brooklands) miles I've never had a serious issue...
And I'm more worried that unlike a bike using a bash hat on the road decreases you awareness of the world around you.
(On a bike you can actually look around far easier than when sat in a car.)

Le BOG Club has a very high percentage of Aero drivers, and none have had any issues in all the thousands of miles we have driven all over Europe.
Our latest outing is a large loop of France for some 12 of the group - a high proportion Aero: http://www.7-dna.com/forums/index.php?action=vthre...

[renmure]

The day before I planned to remove my windscreen and go aeroscreen and sunnies in my R300 I had a pheasant crash through my windscreen and without the screen it would have been my bonce and it would have been ouchy. That changed my mind.

Previously I had a Westfield Megablade and that only has an aeroscreen so I always wore a helmet. Being honest, the helmet sort of added to the fun in the bike engined car but each to their own.

[BertBert]

I just didn't really like it. My eyes water a lot and I wear glasses. I could never see where I was going with aeroscreen and no helmet. That's one of the reasons I went back to a screened caterham. It does feel a bit dangerous when you see what a stone does to a screen. But obviously Eugene and his aero-brigade are much hardier than me!

Bert

[coppice]

Equus said:

Well, all I can say is that either you're the unluckiest driver alive, or your driving is at fault: either way, you're better off not driving something with the performance of a Caterham, and possibly better off removed from public roads altogether.

The deer, pheasant and partridge are mainly about having an awareness of the habitat you're driving through and the behaviour of the creatures that live there. Yes, pheasants are monumentally stupid, but once you realise that, there should be no excuse for ever hitting one. Ditto deer: they don't put up the warning signs for nothing, and once you know deer, you can fairly easily recognise the sort of territory where there's a possibility that one can come leaping out of a hedge at you. Maybe it's a sixth sense... maybe it's just common sense.

Where I live, we get heartily sick of fkwits on motorcyles or in high performance cars who think that the country lanes are their playground.

It's always the other guy's (or deer's, or birds, or horse's, or dog's) fault, isn't it?

Having lived all my life in countryside a little wilder than Norfolk I certainly don't need lectures from you , thanks. I can indeed recognise deer habitat .,, I am surrounded by it. But sometimes even a driver of your god like gifts cannot do anything about a deer literally leaping in front of you from a high roadside bank .Unless you drive at 8 mph anyway

I at least agree with you on one thing - I too get sick of idiots using narrow country roads as poundland trackdays , not something I do , or commend .Warning signs for deer btw - if only the bloody deer read them and stayed in their proximity . Maybe they do in Norfolk?

[Equus]

coppice said:

Having lived all my life in countryside a little wilder than Norfolk I certainly don't need lectures from you , thanks.

Clearly, from your list of roadkill, you do.

coppice said:

I too get sick of idiots using narrow country roads as poundland trackdays, not something I do, or commend

on the thread right next to this one coppice said:

Threading a Seven briskly down a B road at vaguely legal speeds is huge fun...

Sounds awfully like a commendation to me?