I'm brand new here, so I apologize if I'm bringing up an old, talked-to-death topic. I am not trying to start an argument, just curious and looking for input. Thanks!

I ride horses, and since there are obvious parallels I was thinking of riding a bike too, for more exercise and to strengthen my legs. With horses, I wear my ASTM/SEI-approved equestrian helmet whenever I ride, and replace the thing every couple of years just in case. I was assuming I'd go out and buy a bike helmet (I realize you can't cross over with the horse/bike helmets) but when I began looking into it, I found the the federal agency charged with bike helmet standards to be unimpressive, and the available research skimpy - ie, I could find plenty of news articles referencing how 'research' proves that bike helmets reduce injuries in cycling accidents, but not the research itself or even where or who did it. In other words, lots of claims, not much pure information.

Am I just not looking in the right places? With horses, I was able to check out quite a lot of very interesting research into riding accidents and brain injuries; I don't seem to find that sort of thing with bicycles.