Why are road bike helments different to MTB Helmets?

[grother]

Probably a simple answer but IDK. I have only ever done a bit of ambling on a MTB and used a £30 helmet bought from Halfords with a peak at the front. Bought probaby about 8 years ago.I have now taken up a bit of road biking and entered an event in August. I expect there may be a few giggles if I turn up with my Halfords Helmet? But why are road bike helmets differnt and how much should I expect to pay for a decent one, bearing in mind I wont be doing a huge amount of cycling on the roads.

[pjclinch]

Probably a simple answer but IDK. I have only ever done a bit of ambling on a MTB and used a £30 helmet bought from Halfords with a peak at the front. Bought probaby about 8 years ago.I have now taken up a bit of road biking and entered an event in August. I expect there may be a few giggles if I turn up with my Halfords Helmet? But why are road bike helmets differnt and how much should I expect to pay for a decent one, bearing in mind I wont be doing a huge amount of cycling on the roads.

The more prominent visors on some lids aimed at MTB tend to obscure the view in a more heads-down position on a road bike, but as long as you can see where you're going they're ultimately built to the same standard.

But perhaps more to the point an 8 year old lid is rather past it's use-by date. 4-5 years reckoned as a usual working life, and given PlanetX sell pretty decent ones for less than a tenner it won't hurt much to get a new one.

If you're going to use one a lot it's worth shopping around more for optimal comfort, but if it's just the odd thing then as long as it's not outrageously unlike your head's own shape then I'd suggest one of Planet X's (I'm not affiliated to them, but I took similar advice from a sports cycling coach when my previous one was looking a bit ratty, and as an occasional lid wearer I've been pleased with it).

Pete.

[cycle tramp]

I have now taken up a bit of road biking and entered an event in August. I expect there may be a few giggles if I turn up with my Halfords Helmet?

So.... ? f&%£ 'em. You're there for the event not their approval. Who needs the approval of people who laugh at someone who wears something different from them anyway? What are they.. twelve years old?

...so there's a test you take, to become a monk of cool... you get taken to this hollowed out mountain full of racks of clothes.. simply loads of outfits and shirts and stuff.. and you get asked this question 'what is the coolest outfit?' and you turn to the person asking that question and say 'which ever one I damn well chose'.. and you pass

[Pebble]

I have now taken up a bit of road biking and entered an event in August. I expect there may be a few giggles if I turn up with my Halfords Helmet?

So.... ? f&%£ 'em. You're there for the event not their approval. Who needs the approval of people who laugh at someone who wears something different from them anyway? What are they.. twelve years old?

I don't normally do cycling events, but I would quite like to turn up to this one on my 40 year old bike, wearing my lid that the silly plastic outer disintegrated and fell off years ago, - I would probably be asked to leave - I could chat to the snooty ones on a steep hill.

[Manc33]

My guess on why they differ is aerodynamics. Going down a mountain road on a road bike, every tiny bit of aerodynamics matters and this is synonymous with racing. With MTB often they are racing through forests on a singletrack, changing direction a lot, at way lower speeds. The aero doesn't play a part in MTB anywhere near as much as it does in road racing.

Helmet peak = bad. No peak = good.

Personally I ride MTB but use a road helmet, the Giro Aeon. It looks like ice cream or I have thick Brylcreem hair... but this is the way to go on road or MTB. If you don't want the sun in your eyes, a peak on the helmet isn't the way to go... sunglasses are, preferably photochromic cycling glasses like those ones RockBros make.

4.7 stars and over 1,000 sold.

I paid maybe £13+ for my RockBros the last time I got some, that went dark in the sun. Really useful... really comfy too... but I was wearing contact lenses back then and so I needed non-prescription cycling glasses that stopped the flies but went dark in the sun, the RockBros are really cheap but they do the job perfectly. Since then I swapped to prescription glasses that are photochromic (I like being able to peer over my glasses to read stuff close up which is not possible with contacts) but, if I step indoors on a sunny day it's dark as hell and they take 15 to 20 mins to go clear again. This is my AliExpress prescription glasses though, not cycling glasses. Get those RockBros, they are decent and makes me wonder why ones like Oakley or whatever else cost so much. This is where you're paying for a name maybe more than any other product.

[pjclinch]

Helmet peak = bad. No peak = good.

Personally I ride MTB but use a road helmet, the Giro Aeon. It looks like ice cream or I have thick Brylcreem hair... but this is the way to go on road or MTB. If you don't want the sun in your eyes, a peak on the helmet isn't the way to go... sunglasses are,

"it depends"
Riding along in the sun with your darkened photochromic lenses is all very well, but if a trail then drops into dense woodland for a technical bit then you can't see what you're at properly for as long as it takes them to clear...

As ever, context and preference rather than a binary good/bad tends to be the way of it.

Pete.

[Nearholmer]

Starting with a basic helmet design that is capable of passing all the defined standard tests, it seems to me that things depart in two different directions:

- full-on roadie helmets, where aerodynamics and ventilation are prioritised, along with light weight; and,

- MTB helmets where impact protection in places, and to degrees not specified in the standards are prioritised, things like peaks to ward-off small tree branches, more protection lower at the back, culminating in full-face helmets for the most aggressive sorts of MTB riding.

A third direction of departure from the basic, is I suppose, use of MIPS and competitor systems to deal with rotational forces tgat the standards serm not to deal well with,

Of course, there are also now “gravel” helmets, which are sort of halfway between road and MTB too.

Peaks are annoying on drop-bar bikes, in fact even when riding a flat/alt bar set to giving a forward-leaning position; you simply can’t see where you’re going without cricking your neck.

If I were you, I’d go to a shop and try a few, because different ones feel very different. I now use two that have the slightly greater protection at the rear, one with MIPS, and they are noticeably heavier, bulkier, and hotter in hot weather than the more “road” one I had before, and TBH I’m not totally convinced I made the right decision.

[rareposter]

But why are road bike helmets differnt and how much should I expect to pay for a decent one, bearing in mind I wont be doing a huge amount of cycling on the roads.

Road bike helmets are designed to be used in a more "head down" position so a peak generally just gets in the way and obscures the road ahead.

MTB helmets have a lot more coverage at the back of the head in particular and the integrated peak helps with keeping branches etc out of your face.

You can see the additional protection around the back of the head / base of the skull on this MTB lid:


Whereas this is lighter, more vented and more aero, designed for a lower riding position:


Ultimately, they all pass at least the same basic test - as you pay more it gets lighter, more vented, more adjustable, integrated safety features like MIPS. https://mipsprotection.com/
Also, wear whatever helmet you like the look of and that fits, it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks.

[Stevek76]

They are all designed to meet the same standard but the independent impact testing by a couple of places does show considerable variance in performance and not necessarily correlating with MTB vs road either.

Peaks are usually removable and sometimes have a bit of up/down adjustment.

[pjclinch]

They are all designed to meet the same standard but the independent impact testing by a couple of places does show considerable variance in performance and not necessarily correlating with MTB vs road either.

As well as the above point, some are designed to meet higher standards like Snell, in which case passing EN1078 shouldn't need much extra work.

Pete.