Bits to buy

[Dave321]

Hello everyone.

I was looking for some advice regarding bike helmets. I have been debating and researching this issue on the internet for the past couple of days with myself and i feel, have been overwhelmed with information.

To put it short i recently purchased myself a bike and i'm looking for the right gear.

What i was told aviod any second hand helmets and those without an approval sticker i have taken this into account and thought it would be simple untill i found (acu) (snell) (bpi) (dot) and i think ece2250.

The more i read about how the testing is done the worse it gets I'm overwhelmed.

How could i go about a new helmet i know you get what you pay for but which have the best standards in terms or keeping you safe at first i was quite attracted to the ece but that was P****D all over and made into a joke.

Dave321

[grotbag]

Greetings Dave and welcome to the forum!



There are a few threads about already where members have given their views etc, have a read of them, here's the links :

Helmets Again

Helmets and glasses

Which Lid

[jonnywombat]

Originally Posted by Dave321

Hello everyone.

I was looking for some advice regarding bike helmets. I have been debating and researching this issue on the internet for the past couple of days with myself and i feel, have been overwhelmed with information.

To put it short i recently purchased myself a bike and i'm looking for the right gear.

What i was told aviod any second hand helmets and those without an approval sticker i have taken this into account and thought it would be simple untill i found (acu) (snell) (bpi) (dot) and i think ece2250.

The more i read about how the testing is done the worse it gets I'm overwhelmed.

How could i go about a new helmet i know you get what you pay for but which have the best standards in terms or keeping you safe at first i was quite attracted to the ece but that was P****D all over and made into a joke.

Dave321

The advice to avoid second hand is spot on... never on any account do this.

After that go for an ACU gold approved lid...

Whilst some will undoubtedly disagree, price is no predictor of how effective a helmet will be, and neither are many tests What IMHO is most important is fit.. if it don't fit right then it ain't much cop... a correctly fitting £50 helmet will be better than an ill fitting £500.

Some of the test you will read about are pretty meaningless too, as they are not particularly real world, in fact one recent study was based on a test in which a metal spike was dropped onto the helmet at 20mph.. whilst there results were accurate about which offered the best protection, it kind of ignored the fact you neck would be broken anyway

So to recap.. ACU GOLD and a Good fit... there is loads of info HERE

[skodaphil]

the recent arguement between the biking press about the new sharp test is all a bit of a,, how do say? label war!
apparently arai and shoei and other helmet manufacturers were told (obviously really) what the new tests would involve, and to be honest their more worried about image being beaten by a cheap lid.

best fit is best! find somewhere local where you can try on a lot of different makes to find what suits you best, they are all different inside!

[Spree]

As above Dave, if its a reputable manufacturer and it fits properly and has all the right approvals then thats the lid for you. There are loads of nice helmets in the budget category - the main difference (to me anyhow) is the quality of finish. In saying that, I have a Shoei now but used a HJC that I paid £40 for at the BMF and this did a great job for a few years until the padding compressed too much and made it a loose fit .

[Dave321]

Thanks for the advice soon i will nip out and look around a few shops and try to speak to the sales people too.

[grotbag]

Sounds like a plan Dave!!

When your talking to the sales people, it's good to bear in mind that they want you to buy so bear in mind 'vested' interests.