I always wear a helmet while riding. Thankfully, I received a new Troxel Sierra last Christmas and was wearing my new helmet when my saddle slipped while mounting on Sept 11, 2010. I fell backward hitting my head on a tree root, resulting in a concussion. I was knocked unconcious, and had limited recall of the following 30 minutes; without my helmet I would have been more seriously injured. Thank you for such a well made product, I know that my old helmet would not have protected me as well.