{"id":196998,"date":"2025-09-03T14:10:13","date_gmt":"2025-09-03T14:10:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/196998\/"},"modified":"2025-09-03T14:10:13","modified_gmt":"2025-09-03T14:10:13","slug":"stylish-thousand-bike-helmets-save-over-1200-riders-boyle-heights-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/196998\/","title":{"rendered":"Stylish Thousand bike helmets save over 1,200 riders | Boyle Heights News"},"content":{"rendered":"

Boyle Heights<\/strong>\u00a0\u2014 Gloria Hwang says she didn\u2019t always used to wear a helmet\u00a0when bicycling. She knew the dangers, but complained that the choices were bulky, futuristic-looking, and annoying to lug around.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe options were for hardcore road racers,\u201d she said. \u201cNot something for the everyday rider.\u201d<\/p>\n

So when she launched the\u00a0Thousand<\/a> bicycle helmet company a decade ago, she aimed to offer more appealing choices. Today, the business on East 12th Street employs 13 people and manufactures\u00a0an uncluttered design referencing styles from the 1950s and 1960s. Think simple domes, small front bills, and ample but unobtrusive vents.<\/p>\n


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The result, Hwang said, is, \u201cwhat it would it look like if you found an old motorcycle helmet in your grandparents\u2019 basement.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Gloria Hwang with a helmet from her company, Thousand.<\/p>\n

Photo courtesy Thousand<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not just looks, but utility. Under the helmet logo is a hole big enough to fit a U-Lock or chain. This means helmets can be locked to the bikes, and riders don\u2019t have to carry them everywhere.<\/p>\n


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Thousand\u2019s helmets retail for\u00a0$74 for the\u00a0Heritage 2.0<\/a> line, and\u00a0$101-$175 for the\u00a0Chapter<\/a> line, with\u00a0Thousand Jr. Kids Helmets<\/a>\u00a0going for $44.<\/p>\n

Hwang is unsure how many she has sold, but has met a goal outlined in the very name of her company: she has helped save 1,000 lives, or at least prevented or mitigated 1,000 head injuries.<\/p>\n

The business counts helmets that have been damaged and returned under a\u00a0free accident replacement policy<\/a>. Thousand reached the 1,000 mark about 18 months ago, Hwang said. The number has now passed 1,200, according to\u00a0the company website<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A thousand is approximately the number of bicyclist fatalities in the United States each year. In fact, it was the death of a friend of Hwang\u2019s on a bike in New York City more than a decade ago that prompted her to start the company.<\/p>\n

\u201cI knew exactly why he wasn\u2019t wearing a helmet,\u201d she said. \u201cIn your everyday community, there\u2019s a joy of riding. Safety is not conducive to that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hwang lives and works in Boyle Heights, and the Sixth Street Viaduct is one of her favorite bike rides on the Eastside. Her next goal for the company? The 2,000th damaged helmet.<\/p>\n

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Even a small monthly contribution will create a more stable source of revenue, giving us confidence to expand staff and provide you with more of the community news you can\u2019t find anywhere else.<\/p>\n

\u2014Jes\u00fas Sanchez, Publisher<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Boyle Heights\u00a0\u2014 Gloria Hwang says she didn\u2019t always used to wear a helmet\u00a0when bicycling. She knew the dangers,…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":196999,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5123],"tags":[1582,276,109448,2961,224,5337,109447],"class_list":{"0":"post-196998","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-california","10":"tag-gloria-hwang","11":"tag-la","12":"tag-los-angeles","13":"tag-losangeles","14":"tag-thousand-bike-helmets"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115140770380457921","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/196998","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=196998"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/196998\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/196999"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=196998"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=196998"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=196998"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}