IN 1990 Victoria broke new ground by forcing cyclists to wear crash helmets.

Today at Federation Square, a small band of cyclists will use Melbourne's troubled shared bike scheme to rail against those laws.

Cycling activist Stephen Bricknell. Credit:Angela Wylie

Among them will be Stephen Bricknell, a Melbourne man who thinks compulsory helmet rules are simply ''bad law''. Police have been told of the protest, and Mr Bricknell is expecting a $153 fine. ''It's discouraged cycling,'' he says, of the volatile debate surrounding Australia's mandatory helmet laws.

He argues that the laws have led to an exaggeration of the dangers of cycling, and deprived people of their right to choose.