What to look for in a good helmet

[Chris James]

Venting for me too. I have a Giro Atmos, as with older cheaper helmets I have always felt like I was in a sauna if i went up a hill or on warm days.

To be fair the Atmos works well. On the other hand it costs a small fortune.

Funnily enough, no-one thus far seeems to have mentioned safety performance as a criterion. Perhaps this is because it is so difficult to know if any of them are safer than the others. I believe all Specialized helmets are Snell approved and in that case they are tested to a higher level than other helmets (although this doesn't necessarily mean they are better). Intuitively the lighter the helet with the larger venting area then the less use it will be in a crash - in which case my Atmos will be useless!

 

[Bollo]

Funnily enough, no-one thus far seeems to have mentioned safety performance as a criterion. Perhaps this is because it is so difficult to know if any of them are safer than the others.

Without turning this reasonable question into a nasty helmet debate (where no one will change their mind) - this is an interesting point. Helmets are sold on price, ventilation, fit, novelty and image (i.e "the ones the pro's use"). You never see them sold as "the safest helmet you can buy".

A friend of mine who I ride with regularly works for 'Which' magazine and is a tester for everything from golf clubs to toasters. I asked him recently about a test for cycle helmets and he said it was a minefield - establishing a meaningful test that's going to get past the lawyers, both from the public liability and commercial perspectives just isn't worth the pain.

 

[Bollo]

Ooops! Also forgot to mention that helmet testing gets very expensive, as you can't test a helmet without breaking it. Independent testers can turn round to the helmet manufacturers and say "give us a helmet", but its more difficult to ask them for 50 helmets, just so you can potentially show that they're not as safe as the opposition.

 

[Chris James]

I have had a bit of a background in testing and to be honest, often all a test will tell you is if the helmet is good at passing a test! For example I seem to recall the (now banned for environmental reasons) gold standard of red lead paint used to fail a salt spray test despite being demonstrably superb at protecting steels in normal atmospheres.

Certainly my mountaineering helmet (Edeldrid Ultralight) failed a test and the manufacturer inserted a small bit of foam between the cradle and the shell. It now passed the test. In real life this foam would make absolutely no difference whatoever (and iin any case lot of people stick their sandwiches etc into this gap!). Having said that, if I were pinballing down a rocky slope I would prefer to be wearing this helmet than some of the foam ones that performed better in single impact tests.

I believe that Snell ask for a few cents for their testing and approval and many manufacturers just won't pay it as they dont feel they will get any advantage from having that sticker. It doesn't necessarily mean that the helmets are less safe.

 

[Chris James]

Make sure it fits, a few times I've seen people wear helmets that have slid over towards the back of thier head leaving the front exposed should they nut the road.

That's true, not only should the helmet fit, but you should fit it properly. Lots of people perch it on the back of their crown, the loose retaining straps flapping in the breeze.

 

[Dave5N]

I've got this one http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/Cycle/7/Giro_Indicator_Helmet/5360032496/
I paid £30 for it, so looks a bargain at the new price.

That looks a good deal. How heavy is it?

 

[CeeDee51]

It feels really light to me, but I have nothing to compare it too, as I only gave in and bought one recently. It's surprisingly comfortable though and doesn't look to daft!

 

[Kizibu]

.....Funnily enough, no-one thus far seeems to have mentioned safety performance as a criterion. Perhaps this is because it is so difficult to know if any of them are safer than the others. I believe all Specialized helmets are Snell approved and in that case they are tested to a higher level than other helmets (although this doesn't necessarily mean they are better). Intuitively the lighter the helet with the larger venting area then the less use it will be in a crash ...

Thanks Chris. When I asked what to look for in a good helmet I suppose I meant by "good helmet" one that performed the function it was intended for - protecting my head (though obviously it would be good if it could do that without boiling my brains or making me look daft so venting and style also relevent). In all the variious adverts and sales spiel the performance hardly gets a mention - beyond saying it meets the minimum EU standard...the existence of which seems to let manufacturers off the hook of making a safer lid. From what I read, it seems modern helmets may even provide less protection than those built 10-20years ago.

Has the endless debate about whether you should or shouldn't wear a helmet diverted the debate (and consumer demand) away from better helmets?

 

[Haitch]

Apart from the thing fitting comfortably, the thing to look for in a good helmet is a good cyclist.

 

[mumbo jumbo]

Apart from the thing fitting comfortably, the thing to look for in a good helmet is a good cyclist.

Best comment yet

I had a nasty accident a couple of years ago and during the weeks I had to have off work I had plenty of time to ponder what had happened and look into what new helmet to get. I scoured the forums, looked at loads of info on helmet safety generally, checked out Snell's site, emailed various people, talked to Mrs MJ and my consultant and ended up concluding that I really couldn't be sure if my helmet had saved me from much worse injury or actually caused the neck injury which (among others) was keeping me out of the office!

I became completely agnostic about helmet wearing (having previously been fairly evangelical about it) but Mrs MJ was keen that I should have another helmet. As matrimonial harmony was at stake, I took the view that if I was going to have a helmet it had to be fit for purpose. That made it quite simple really - it had to be Snell certified - and I got a Spesh Aurora, about £55 at the time. I still wear it (most of the time).

mj

 

[nilling]

Make sure it fits, a few times I've seen people wear helmets that have slid over towards the back of thier head leaving the front exposed should they nut the road.

I though people wore it this way to prevent helmet hair

Alas, being bald now so not really an issue anymore lol but venting is! Probably as I have no hair to soak up the sweat.

 

[Iainj837]

I always wear a helmet, because it saved me from smashing my face open i did have a a broken nose and a few grazes to my face, but my head was intact.
I use a trek helmet