Buying an expensive helmet (hopefully) should be a waste of money

[dasilvarsa]

Have a Good Look at Bicycle Helmets 

I've Taken a few old ones apart and cut Them in  Half etc.

They all made of Similar Black Polystyrene with a thin Plastic Capping on Top.

Probably all made in the same Factory or 3 like Chains and Saddles.

[Headshot]

5 hours ago, Bub Marley said:

Buying an expensive helmet doesn’t actually make you safer. You’re paying more money for performance benefit i.e weight and aerodynamics. From a safety perspective though, there isn’t any difference as all helmets have to pass certain safety tests. 

 

That crash replacement policy is great though. I made use of it with Oakley and got a nice discount on a new helmet.

Not quite. They do have to pass to a standard, but some do much better and on independent testing are superior to the cheaper siblings, in most but not all cases. This is very educational  - https://www.helmet.beam.vt.edu/

[Headshot]

2 hours ago, Shebeen said:

there is a lot of marketing bollocks with helmets, especially once they cost more than R2.5k, but this probably the best safety for $$$ option out there

https://freewheel.co.za/products/align-ii-mips

challenge anyone to find a better alternative

I'd go for the R2300 #endurobro lid. No peak sucks when you riding into a setting or rising sun and it looks kewl 🙂 Good prices from Spesh!

[Shebeen]

2 hours ago, dasilvarsa said:

Have a Good Look at Bicycle Helmets 

I've Taken a few old ones apart and cut Them in  Half etc.

They all made of Similar Black Polystyrene with a thin Plastic Capping on Top.

Probably all made in the same Factory or 3 like Chains and Saddles.

CE approved. 

 

https://rapidsport.co.za/product/rocky-cycling-helmet/

[Eugene]

Years back, was hit by a car. The back of my head hitting the tarmac. The helmet saved my skull and probably my life. 

Left the broken helmet on the garage floor and our puppy chewed it. 

Unfortunately, they didn't honour the crash replacement. I guess they thought I was pulling a fast one. 

 

 

[dasilvarsa]

6 hours ago, Shebeen said:

CE approved. 

 

https://rapidsport.co.za/product/rocky-cycling-helmet/

They are ALL Ce Approved.

All the ones from Major Bike Shops, LBS  Anyway.

[sirmoun10goat]

Sometimes the more expensive the helmet, the less protection offered, but for a different reason. They tend to offer more ventilation, which just means more openings for sharp (or blunt) objects to penetrate.

There are no tests to my knowledge that look at this. I guess the Bontrager Wavecell may help in these instances 

[LBKloppers]

16 hours ago, dave303e said:

it is not just about fitness and going fast... 

Take a 25kmh side impact where you hit with your shoulder and your head whips sideways. You now have an extra 70grams which at 25kmh- now your neck is stopping and extra 500grams momentum. It is quite a difference.

Also your neck has 70grams less to support when you are hammering corrugations or gnarly trails all day, less fatigue while riding

Do not discount speed. Generally, people do not realise how close the relation between speed and momentum is and momentum converts into force.  Just do a simple calculation of momentum at speed if you weigh 60kg and move at 60km/h. Your answer should be 1 metric ton. Now you refer to fatigue and you are right, that sideways whipping will hurt, but what is the likelihood of such an event? The more realistic scenario is when you come down with falling. Have a look at some YT videos of people falling. In most cases, the head goes down fast. Where is the impact going to be? Mostly on the road, pavement, rocks or something standing proud close to the road. Again you may argue that the extra weight will contribute to the velocity, but what about the sudden stopping bit?

The thing is, one can argue the whole day but it boils down to the single thing that we want to protect our noggin. Your head contains what makes you who you are. Damage that and it can not be repaired. Damage it enough and it's bye-bye. I think about two things when I buy a helmet. Safety is the no1 priority, but comfort comes a close 2nd otherwise the burden of discomfort becomes an excuse NOT to wear the helmet even on a short trip to the cafe. 

For the record, I came down in the port of Cape Town with my head on the edge of a railway line. My helmet saved my life that day because without a helmet my noggin would have cracked open like an egg. The physical signs of the broken helmet indicated the rail hit my head diagonally right through the middle. I am not taking a chance with my head, finish en klaar!

You go and get a helmet with MIPS as a minimum. As mentioned, this site is indeed a valuable gauge. https://www.helmet.beam.vt.edu/bicycle-helmet-ratings.html#! 

[dave303e]

1 hour ago, LBKloppers said:

Do not discount speed. Generally, people do not realise how close the relation between speed and momentum is and momentum converts into force.  Just do a simple calculation of momentum at speed if you weigh 60kg and move at 60km/h. Your answer should be 1 metric ton. Now you refer to fatigue and you are right, that sideways whipping will hurt, but what is the likelihood of such an event? The more realistic scenario is when you come down with falling. Have a look at some YT videos of people falling. In most cases, the head goes down fast. Where is the impact going to be? Mostly on the road, pavement, rocks or something standing proud close to the road. Again you may argue that the extra weight will contribute to the velocity, but what about the sudden stopping bit?

The thing is, one can argue the whole day but it boils down to the single thing that we want to protect our noggin. Your head contains what makes you who you are. Damage that and it can not be repaired. Damage it enough and it's bye-bye. I think about two things when I buy a helmet. Safety is the no1 priority, but comfort comes a close 2nd otherwise the burden of discomfort becomes an excuse NOT to wear the helmet even on a short trip to the cafe. 

For the record, I came down in the port of Cape Town with my head on the edge of a railway line. My helmet saved my life that day because without a helmet my noggin would have cracked open like an egg. The physical signs of the broken helmet indicated the rail hit my head diagonally right through the middle. I am not taking a chance with my head, finish en klaar!

You go and get a helmet with MIPS as a minimum. As mentioned, this site is indeed a valuable gauge. https://www.helmet.beam.vt.edu/bicycle-helmet-ratings.html#! 

you also have to understand that mtb helmets are also inherently flawed, but you would not buy one if it wasn't flawed. Air vents, you wouldn't buy a solid helmet like a motocross helmet for XC/Marathon. To this day you ride past fences with droppers or race route markers on a dropper in the ground. A dropper through the air vent means you could take the full impact on a 1cm diameter area. Makes you think how safe you feel because you have a fancy helmet on...

[DieselnDust]

Bicycle helmets rarely have to prevent penetrative impacts.. By far the majority of impacts are blunt force to the side or back of the head. 

In MTB races where route markers are placed using metal stakes we have a risk that no one seems to give a fark about till someone does get hurt. I pointed this many years ago and for my sins spent time on the PPA EXCO trying to get this changed but alas and alack a day whoe....

MTB helmet do offer design optimisations that make penetrative impact less likely. Thicker shells and vents that do not face the incoming airstream are among such design subtleties that work in favour of these helmets. But for XCO racing or faster riders in general cooling is an important factor and cannot be dismissed.

Thanks to Headshot for posting that helmet review site. It is very insightful in terms of helmet performance. There are brands that stand out as consistent top performers and I was surprised to see Leatt not even feature in the top 100, just as I was surprised to see as many Giro helmets In the top 100 despite their very good cooling characteristics (Still 5 STAR rated too).

I think when buying a helmet one has to consider the environment its going to be used. A Road helmet is probably good enough for a well trained experienced athlete in anything from Road to MTB XCO racing but may still want to consider a dedicated MTB helmet for anything that requires more risk.

For kids penetration resistance is important because their skulls are softer and more vulnerable to this type of injury

[DieselnDust]

11 hours ago, dasilvarsa said:

They are ALL Ce Approved.

All the ones from Major Bike Shops, LBS  Anyway.

I'm always a bit sceptical when I see this. Does the helmet carry the CE EN 1078 mark?

Can the manufacturer produce a certificate of conformity?

 

I remember a certain bicycle light vendor once claiming SABS accreditation but when I checked with SABS the product had never been tested because they lacked the ability to test...

[Shebeen]

38 minutes ago, DieselnDust said:

I'm always a bit sceptical when I see this. Does the helmet carry the CE EN 1078 mark?

Can the manufacturer produce a certificate of conformity?

 

I remember a certain bicycle light vendor once claiming SABS accreditation but when I checked with SABS the product had never been tested because they lacked the ability to test...

the only thing about helmets I know for sure is safety and price are not proportional. 

[dasilvarsa]

44 minutes ago, DieselnDust said:

I'm always a bit sceptical when I see this. Does the helmet carry the CE EN 1078 mark?

Can the manufacturer produce a certificate of conformity?

 

I remember a certain bicycle light vendor once claiming SABS accreditation but when I checked with SABS the product had never been tested because they lacked the ability to test...

There Should be a Sticker on the Helmet 

 

[The Ouzo]

2 hours ago, DieselnDust said:

For kids penetration resistance is important because their skulls are softer and more vulnerable to this type of injury

This is something that got to me when we were buying my eldest daughter her first helmet 10 or so years back. There was hardly any choice when looking for kids helmets, you had the cheapies that looked like they offered zero protection, but anything from a recognised manufacturer was almost impossible to find.

The situation seemed to have improved a bit 5 years later when we bought my youngest her first helmet, but not by much.

[DieselnDust]

1 hour ago, Shebeen said:

the only thing about helmets I know for sure is safety and price are not proportional. 

there is no coupling between two. Price is a function of marketing

[ChrisF]

2 hours ago, DieselnDust said:

I'm always a bit sceptical when I see this. Does the helmet carry the CE EN 1078 mark?

Can the manufacturer produce a certificate of conformity?

 

I remember a certain bicycle light vendor once claiming SABS accreditation but when I checked with SABS the product had never been tested because they lacked the ability to test...

 

Just spent hours tracing the certification of a specific product punted in the built engineering environment. 

 

ONE "certificate" dating back to 2019 ... much rather a "test report", noting various critical fields as "Data not available".  Yet the insurance industry is happily using this product as it seems to deliver a service widely known not to exist .....  Now waiting for feedback from the Regulating Authority on this product, and claimed area of use.

 

These "certificates" needs to be checked carefully, to ensure the value chain to the end user.

 

Seldom done properly in the retail environment.....

 

Safer to rather stay with "known brands".  Not fool proof, but safer ....