Lime launches first ever ‘Helmet Hair Salon’ as 10 million UK adults choose style over safety

Lime – the world’s largest provider of shared electric bikes and scooters – has opened the first ever ‘Helmet Hair Salon’ today, to help the 10 million* UK adults – or one in five (19%) bike or scooter riders – who say that how they look after wearing a helmet is the reason they choose not to wear one.

The new research from Lime has revealed fear of a bad hair day is causing people to neglect their safety, and in some cases, how they look is stopping them from taking an alternative, more sustainable transportation option altogether.

To combat this and empower more people to ride both safely and sustainably, Lime has launched the pop up ‘Helmet Hair Salon’ in partnership with Blue Tit, dedicated to offering tips and a free dry styling session to people suffering from helmet hair of all lengths and textures. Lime will also be giving away free helmets to encourage Londoners to stay safe while riding its e-bikes and e-scooters.

The street side salon opens on Wednesday June 15th at London’s King’s Cross Station, and will continue with free appointments available at Blue Tit’s Portobello Road salon throughout June and July with other locations to be confirmed, catering to the needs of the quarter (27%) of all UK adults that believe a fear of helmet hair is a barrier to riding e-scooters or bikes safely.

The research from Lime further revealed that more than three quarters (79%) of bike and scooter riders have ridden without a helmet. This revelation comes despite four in five UK riders (82%) stating that they know wearing helmets when riding a bike or scooter will help prevent injury in the event of an accident.

Despite all generations facing the worry of helmet hair anxiety, it’s the young people who are particularly impacted, with two in five 18-34 year old riders (42%) admitting to having taken an alternative, less sustainable transportation such as a car or taxi or bus purely because of helmet hair.

One in five (21%) of riders in this age group also say they would not wear a helmet if cycling or scooting to a first date to protect their hair, but one in three (32%) would be more likely to cycle or scoot if they knew how to style helmet hair.

Alan Clarke, Senior Director, Public Policy, Northern & Eastern Europe at Lime commented: “Our data confirms that people often avoid wearing helmets, despite feeling safer when using one. At Lime we want to get these people out of cars and onto more active and sustainable transport, while making sure they feel as confident, safe and in control as possible. Wearing a helmet is one of the easiest ways to achieve this. No one should sacrifice their safety to look good, nor should it be a barrier to people choosing to cycle or scoot somewhere, whether it’s heading to work, or meeting friends for dinner. The Helmet Hair Salon is our answer to this problem. As we look to a positive future of e-bike and e-scooter riding, with Londoners having already completed 1m Lime e-scooter and 6m e-bike rides to date, we want to empower more safe and sustainable riding throughout the summer and beyond. You can book an appointment and our partners at Blue Tit will show you how to refresh your helmet hair style, or create a style that looks great and won’t get ruined when wearing one.”

Matt Gebbie, Director at Blue Tit commented “We love that LIME offers us a different and more sustainable way to travel and commute in London, and it doesn’t have to cost you your perfect hair-do. We’re working with Lime to offer free styling appointments, and we’ve created loads of helpful tips that will help people prevent and solve helmet hair for good too, which you’ll be able to find on Lime’s Instagram very soon. Whether you have short, long or textured hair, there are simple and quick fixes anyone can do to keep it looking luscious, volumised and salon fresh, while you travel.”

Following pop-up launch, there are further free appointments available for advance booking on June 22nd, June 29th and July 6th at Blue Tit’s luxury hair salon on Portobello Road, courtesy of Lime, for those that need help with their helmet hair.