Does anyone know why helmets vary in price so much?

[PaulB]

I bought a helmet from Decathlon. It was part of an order that did not qualify for free postage because I hadn't spent enough. I saw the helmet for just over £5 so added it to the order which gave me free postage. Subtracting the postage from the £5 meant my helmet cost about £3! I've worn it a couple of times and it seems fine. I no longer wear helmets as cycling is about freedom and is safe.

[The utility cyclist]

Same with bibshorts £9.99 in Aldi, £150 for a pair of Assos in LBS.

£150 is a mid range pair for Assos, the top of the range campionissimo s7 line are £300, admittedly I wear my Assos shorts whenever I can.

helmets though are another matter, primarily they are supposed to be a 'safety' device, yet some of this is forgone to appease on looks and other fashion or 'advantage' from an aerodynamic or performance POV. f
I think the price ranges are what manufacturers can get away with, a lot of it stems from what the pros wear because clearly that extra 1% improvement in aerodynamics and looks is worth £200 despite the helmet not improving your safety at all if not having a negative effect on such.

Personally glad i don't flush a penny of my money down the gurgler on such nonsense.

[Cunobelin]

It can be used to your advantage!

Each year the companies produce a newer "better" helmet for the professionals and big races, which is then sold at a premium.

2 years later this is now massively reduced in price to clear stocks

[hufty]

I bought a helmet from Decathlon. It was part of an order that did not qualify for free postage because I hadn't spent enough. I saw the helmet for just over £5 so added it to the order which gave me free postage. Subtracting the postage from the £5 meant my helmet cost about £3! I've worn it a couple of times and it seems fine. I no longer wear helmets as cycling is about freedom and is safe.

Couldn't you have just bought a couple of inner tubes? Seems wasteful to buy something you're not going to use.
Hoping this isn't too contentious, but if so mods please move it to the Inner Tube section of the forum

[Cunobelin]

Same with bibshorts £9.99 in Aldi, £150 for a pair of Assos in LBS.

£150 is a mid range pair for Assos, the top of the range campionissimo s7 line are £300, admittedly I wear my Assos shorts whenever I can.

helmets though are another matter, primarily they are supposed to be a 'safety' device, yet some of this is forgone to appease on looks and other fashion or 'advantage' from an aerodynamic or performance POV. f
I think the price ranges are what manufacturers can get away with, a lot of it stems from what the pros wear because clearly that extra 1% improvement in aerodynamics and looks is worth £200 despite the helmet not improving your safety at all if not having a negative effect on such.

Personally glad i don't flush a penny of my money down the gurgler on such nonsense.

Arguably this step to fashion, ventilation and aerodynamics i.e. detrimental to the claimed safety advantages
Bigger vents mean less absorbent material in the helmet to mitigate an impact
To maintain the structure that remains the material needs to be denser and stronger again reducing the ability to absorb the energy of an impact

The original big polystyrene helmets were in fact far "safer" and far better in absorbing energy than any of the modern designs


Then there is the issue of the sharp angles and vents on present helmets that can snag and cause increased energy to the accident and rotational injuries

[The utility cyclist]

Quite, but the vast majority don't care that newer/modern helmets are less safe and only just scrape under the ridiculously high 250g Euro limit. Even a modern 'Giro' helmet from a couple of years ago was tested on rogue traders (or some such due to fakes being sold) and it came in at 187g!