Help Choosing A Helmet

[Witterings]

I came off the other week and absolutely smashed my head into the ground and my helmet and my head was the only bit of me that impacted and came out totally unhurt .... I think was a £15 Tesco's jobbie the Mrs picked up for me from when I was more of just a leisure cyclist and she was trying to persuade me to wear a helmet at all .... thank goodness I listened in the end!!

Am now looking for a replacement and one side of me is saying if that did such a brilliant job why look at anything else / more expensive ... just get another the same or similar and I believe they're all manufactured to a certain safety standard anyway?????

I've recently heard about MIPS as well but don't really know anything about it and if it's just a marketing tool to sell something for more or if it does make a difference.

Before I take the plunge I thought I'd post and see what people's thoughts are on helmets and if expensive is better or just a label that carries a premium and also people's thoughts on "MIPS" along with any recommendations and things to look for and things to avoid??

[mjr]

Ah the good old self-advertising helmet. No evidence it improves outcomes in general, but they sure do smash up impressively.

As far as I know, there are basically three standards: Snell B95 which is basic, testing helmets from shops falling onto stones, kerbs and floors; B90 which is slightly weaker; and EN1078 which is slightly weaker again, doesn't test on a stone and tests helmets chosen by the maker, not what's actually in shops! IMO all current standards are too weak and it's better not to enlarge, weight and insulate my head with unrecyclable plastic. For more info, see the helmet forum.

No standard tests MIPS or most other claimed improvements. If you pay for those, you're trusting the makers even more.

[Brucey]

https://helmets.org/mips.htm

shows that depending on the test you use, you can show MIPS to be of benefit or not. If the experts in the field cannot agree about what constitutes a representative test, then I don't think we have much of a chance of doing any better.

If you are pro-helmet then anything (made to the current standards) is better than nothing, as per your recent experience. MIPS appears to have practically no downside and a probable upside. The manufacturers will charge a bit more for any development of course, but new brains come in somewhat pricier than helmets, so.....

cheers

[tim-b]

Hi
The single most important thing after meeting/exceeding the standard of your choice, is fit
Try a few different makes on and see what's comfortable, because if it isn't comfortable then a) you won't wear it and b) when you do wear it it might not protect you as well as it could
Cost is no indicator, and my current one is £14.99... it's a rounded shape, well-vented and three-way adjustable. I don't use the integral visor, preferring the extra ventilation from wearing sunglasses
Regards
tim-b

[Sweep]

+1 to tim's post.
Since you seem to be after something cheap (fair approach) i"d get whatever you like the look of/fits.
Planet X does lots of deals on helmets. For £10 and £15..
If you discover the secret of looking good in a helmet do get back to me.
I always wear one.
Current one is a wiggle dhb which cost £25 and I think it's better than my previous spesh one which cost about £80.

[roberts8]

I too smashed a helmet and suffered no problems so I paid 40 pounds in a sale for a new one which I thought was a fair price. I was staggered recently to see helmets in the hundred of pounds which surely must be fashion over function.

[Witterings]

Cheers for everyone's input ... rather than quoting people will just reply to comments made.

Totally agree with the fit ... a few weeks ago was out shopping and my daughter needs a new helmet and saw some muddy fox reduced from £40 to £15 so suggested she try it. She instantly took it off and said I'd never wear that it's uncomfortable so I tried it and totally agreed .... hard parts were against your head and I'd also question if it actually offered any protection as the shock wouldn't be absorbed by anything but just transferred directly to your skull .... shame on them!!

Price I'm not concerned about .... if I need to spend £200 to protect my head I will but if the £200 is no better that something that's in the £15 to £40 range I'd much rather spend the difference on other boys toys than waste it on a fashion accessory

Thanks again for everyone's help ... if anyone has any others suggestions for "good" budget helmet's though I'd be interested ... I was looking at this one
https://www.hargrovescycles.co.uk/8781/ ... gLe6vD_BwE

But noted the comments about an £80 Specialized one being less comfortable than a £25 Wiggle one

[slowster]

I came off the other week and absolutely smashed my head into the ground

Regardless of whether one thinks helmets are good or bad, given the serious sounding nature of the accident, it's probably far more important to consider:

1. Exactly what happened, i.e. not just that you came off and how you fell, but what were the root/underlying causes and contibutory factors? For example:
- poor road surface
- not paying enough attention to the road/traffic
- not having good control of the bike, e.g. it happened as you were moving hands to a different position on the bars/hoods
- dangerous behaviour by another road user or pedestrian.

2. Are the factors that resulted in the accident and contributed to its severity normal or commonly occurring? To what extent was it genuinely a freak set of circumstances vs. something which might easily occur again?

3. What could you do to a) reduce the likelihood of it occurring again (defensive riding practices), and b) to reduce the likely severity if it did occur again, e.g. descending more slowly?

Personal Protective Equipment, like helmets, is always a last resort/the last line of defence, but many people - possibly including you - put too much emphasis on the helmet and not enough on things that have a greater effect. That is not surprising because helmets are tangible and also provide an opportunity for many of us to further indulge our consumerism, and this is a purchase which we can justify to ourselves as a safety essential (unlike most of our purchases of shiny new stuff). In contrast modifying our behaviour to be a safer rider is a lot less appealing - it potentially requires more concentration and is not a quick fix like buying a helmet, but it's likely to make a bigger difference to your safety.

By way of analogy, if you had a major car accident which wrote off your car, which of the following would most increase your safety in future:

- buying a replacement car with a higher ENCAP rating

- taking advanced driving lessons and passing the advanced driving test?

[100%JR]

Ah the good old self-advertising helmet. No evidence it improves outcomes in general, but they sure do smash up impressively.

Ah the good old "everyone who wears a helmet is being conned by the manufacturers/fallen for marketing" moderated.Typical non-wearers moderated.
Your post would have been much more helpful had you not bothered with the first line

There is evidence from both sides of the coin...it all depends on what you choose to believe

RE Mips I personally don't get on with it,or at least the ones I've tried.Fit is the most important feature for me.I've had £100+ helmets and I've had sub £25 helmets.I'm currently wearing a £60 Kask Rapide which is THE most comfortable helmet I've ever used.I used Giro helmets before they went to MIPS and tried the Kask as I didn't like the MIPS system on the Giro of choice.My mate has a Kask Protone that cost £195.Is it better than my £60 Kask?Possibly.

For future reference it might be worth noting that some manufacturers offer a crash replacement discount on certain helmets.Read into that what you will.

[geomannie]

If you want to go off piste, so to speak, on helmets why not consider a soft helmet? The manufacturer claims that they suffer no significant degradation even after multiple impacts, they are comfortable and they fold for packing, at least to a limited extent.

https://www.hedkayse.com/

This is s new product that has been promised for a number of years and is always just about to be delivered (I know, I ordered one about 3 years ago when the crowd funding was announced). All the same, the concept intrigues me and they are currently delivering first orders of the black version.

[RickH]

Ah the good old self-advertising helmet. No evidence it improves outcomes in general, but they sure do smash up impressively.

I smashed mine up once in an incident.

I didn't get any injuries as it was hanging from the handlebars as my bike was parked against a fence while I was supervising a small child, who I had picked up from school, in a playground. One of the other children around accidentally nudged the bike & it fell over, breaking a chunk off the attached helmet in the process!

The bike was undamaged so the helmet probably saved its life!

[Oldjohnw]

Trying on and purchasing online appear to be contradictory unless you want to go to the hassle of returns. Unless - and not for the first time - I am missing something glaringly obvious to everyone else.

[Sweep]

But noted the comments about an £80 Specialized one being less comfortable than a £25 Wiggle one

Personal things like saddles of course but I think this is my wiggle one.
For some reason when I bought mine this red/black one was cheaper than the other colours.
https://www.wiggle.co.uk/dhb-r20-road-helmet/

[Mike Sales]

Why is this thread not in the isolation ward?
The pros and cons of helmets have been mentioned.

[Sweep]

Why is this thread not in the isolation ward?
The pros and cons of helmets have been mentioned.

Don't understand.
It's someone asking for advice on buying one.