Helmet
Even mentioning helmets can start a flame war on social media. Really, nothing creates more controversy in cycling. Rather than discussing whether or not to use a helmet, let’s discuss what helmet you should wear if you are going to wear one.
Like e-bikes, there is a lot of hype and price gouging happening. Most of the major name brands are just lower end, “white label” versions of major helmet mfg.’s like Giro, POC, Abus and Bell. It is not like there is a factory somewhere spitting out super secret technology for every bicycle mfg or even helmet label. I sell Retrospec brand helmets. It is safe to say that not one of their products is not, “white labeled.”
White labeled products are not necessarily inferior. Still, they should be the same or near the same price as the comparable product directly from the original mfg. Marking them up, especially at the rates we are seeing, is price gouging. This is a serious problem with helmets, lights and e-bikes…but I digress.
The Consumer Product Safery Commission is the modern standard for bicycle helmets. It supercedes ANSI and a couple others. Snell is the ultimate in accepted and peer reviewed research standards. Most of the scientific hype you read from helmet mfg.’s is from researchers paid by the mfg and is often disputed. The technology that protects a pro football player may have no correlation to a pudgy e-biker doing 10mph, hitting pavement vs a body or turf. You aren’t hitting as often either. At least I hope you aren’t, if so, let’s get together and talk trikes!
All require the helmet to pass a lab test where it is placed on an instrumented headform, turned upside down and dropped for a measured distance onto an anvil. The anvil can be flat, round (hemispheric) or another shape like a curbstone, a skate blade or a horse’s hoof. Drop distances vary but are generally between one and two meters (3.3 to 6.6 feet). For the helmet to pass, the accelerometer inside the headform must register less than 300 g’s during the impact, or in some cases less than 250 or even 200 g’s.
The standard specifies the coverage required by calling out a test line, with the impacts aimed on or above it. There is always a strap and buckle strength requirement, and sometimes a positional stability or “rolloff” test to see if the helmet will stay on the headform when yanked fore or aft. Basically, that is it whether you buy a $200 helmet or something from Walmart.
If you are interested in reading a standard, the two Snell standards referenced above are clearly written, and are worth a look if you want to know how helmets are tested. You can find more Snell information on the Snell Foundation web page, including a current list of helmets certified to each of their standards. Basically it is The CPSC, with more follow-up testing.
I am not saying there can’t be better helmets for bicycles. I am saying that for most you are paying too much.
There is some benefit in paying a bit more to be comfortable. My friend Danny, for instance, has a noggin way too large for any standard helmet. He will always have to pay more and if my $20 helmet is $60 less comfortable, you should spend the extra money. I’m betting the average person can’t notice a difference (I’ll put the weight of The Retrospec helmet against anything).
The fact is, most of us never ride in high speed traffic. Even on our e-bikes we rarely get much above 17mph. Most of the world does not wear helmets on low speed bicycle paths (MUP, Lane and Rail Trail limits are 15mph). The odds of serious head injury are less than that of sustaining the same in the shower. No one is calling for helmets in figure skating where speeds can reach 30mph, the landing surface is hard and from a much greater distance on lifts.
Is it really worth $50-$200 to buy something that is good only for one fall? That’s right, once your helmet has sustained a dent, that separates any part of the shell from the foam, it is no longer a safe helmet. In fact, once that foam dries out it becomes too dense to protect your head. If your helmet is over five years old, you should replace it. How does that make you feel about spending two to ten times as much?
Don’t get me wrong. I believe in wearing a helmet almost any time I am on a bike. Around town I mix with traffic and make stops off the local MUP’s. In the country, I am riding a bit faster and a momentary lapse in focus might send me sprawling. If I were to ride at a pace my wife and I enjoy together and only on rural trails, I probably would not bother with a helmet.
There needs to be a gov’t sanctioned, peer reviewed standard that proves newer technology makes a significant difference. Until then, at the speeds we ride, you may want to think about how much you are spending on your bicycle helmet.