Friz said:
JollyRoger said:
Cheaper helmets may meet the same safety standards, which as you mentioned makes no difference whether it is a 100$ helmet or a 600$ one. As far as I'm concerned what pushes the price of helmets up are this:
- Brand name
- More features (better vents, air flow or features like a sun visor built in)
- Lighter
- More aerodynamic
- Less wind noise
- Better fitting (more custom fit to your head than generic fit)
- Better anti-fog visor
A good website I always recommend for comparing helmets is this one:
http://sharp.direct.gov.uk/
Also what its made out of and how likely it is your head will come out in one piece in a crash.
I'd like to think it has a lot less to do with the brand name than it does to be honest...
Bingo. It has to do with the materials (what it's made out of), the construction (how it is made), and the amount of research and development that went into it. A $35 half shell helmet passes basic standards (supposedly*), so what does that tell you about the bottom line standards? Just food for thought.
Shoei, for example, not only uses a kevlar/carbon/fiberglass composite shell; they also use a variety of difference density foams on the inside of the helmet, based on hours of research about impact and brain trauma. Different densities in different parts of the helmet's foam liner mean different parts of your head get the protection they need. I've seen a Shoei helmet that was involved in a crash where the rider hit an I-beam head on. The helmet has a deep, v-shaped impact point. if it had been a cheaper polycarbonate (aka, "plastic") mold shell, like most HJCs, it would have cracked in half and the rider would have died.
And it's not just about passing the standards. The manufacturer can pass the basic requirements of a standard, or they can go above and beyond and really look at the safety and reliability of their helmet as a whole, apart from (and above) the standard.
Furthermore, you are also paying for aerodynamics and other design features.
*In the US, to be DOT approved, all a manufacturer has to do is fill out some paperwork stating that their helmet has passed and send that paperwork in to the Dept. of Transportation. Then they get to put the DOT stickers on their helmets. It's like taxes; there's a LOT of cheating the system that goes on with this. The DOT does audit many, many helmets each year, but there is no consumer warning or recall required if the manufacturer fails the actual testing (the manufacturer may voluntarily have a recall, but they are not required to do so and almost NEVER do). What's more disturbing is that each year more and more DOT-only helmets fail the audit. The company straight up lied on the testing paperwork they sent in. Last year, for example, 61 out of 100 helmets tested failed.
It's not that DOT-only is all that bad, it's that there's no real accountability for it. I would STRONGLY recommend going with ECE or SNELL helmets, and not just by that rating either, but by the manufacturer's reputation in the field and the amount of effort and research (and the types of materials) that go into their helmets. With ECE and SNELL, the manufacturer has paid a third-party testing company to submit their helmets to their testing standards on their own testing equipment. They will not be granted the ECE or SNELL approval unless they pass those tests. So, at least you know the helmet you are wearing has actually been tested and has actually passed a standard.
