Watch your melon...

[Paul]

A couple things about helmets...

All helmets are supposed to pass the DOT testing (Department of Transportation). The ones that are SNELL certified mean that the manufacturer paid out of pocket to have that helmet inspected / tested / and certified by the SNELL organization. That is a more stringent test and I personally will buy a helmet with DOT / SNELL before I buy one that is only DOT.
 
NOW... cost. The higher the price only buys you lighter meterials, better ventilation, snazzier paint schemes. NOT more safety. You can find a good $99 Fulmer that is DOT / SNELL 2000 and it will protect your squash just as well as that Troy Lee helmet for $550. Now will it have the same ventilation? I don't know. Will it be the same weight? No idea but you know what I'm talking about.

For more information on SNELL and what / how they test your bucket, look here.

[teamgreen500]

Excellent point!

You can, often, pull the liner out of a helmet and see if there are any design features that would really help create additional venting.

Ask your friends how they like their helmets and wether or not they do what they're suppose to do.

If you feel that you don't know a whole lot about helmets, find someone who does. Have them help you check the "fit" of the helmet. If it doesn't fit your melon...it ain't much help!

Great Post!

Manny

[rhinogrrrl]

You know what's really strange...Ever look into kid's helmets? One of our customer's kids race at the local desert races. They of course have a tech station where everyone has to have approved bikes, helmet, etc..etc...

Well, they told him that his kid needs a helmet that was both SNELL and DOT approved. Funny thing is, when we went to order him one, no child size helmet was both SNELL and DOT approved...only DOT certified. Very strange...  One would think that a child's melon is just as important as an adult's melon...

[Paul]

Now that IS strange...

[Rick]

Yup, kinda hard to get a head transplant   .

I agree, but opt for the lighter helmets only to save strain on my neck.  Since a lot of our rides/races are multi day affairs, ranging from 4 to 10 hours a day, and since I stand about 90% of the time, my neck gets a real workout.  The lighter helmet simply reduces fatigue.

As a note, I opted out of the fancy paint jobs years ago, after my first custom painted helmet.  I was soooo worried about damaging my helmet, I forgot how to ride, and yup, landed on my head.  Took a big chip right out of my new cool looking helmet.  The solution:  I went to the local hobby shop and purchase three colors of model paint, black, bright red, and flat brown.  Painted a big bandaid over the big chip, added black dots on the bandaid for the official bandaid look, and filled in below with bright red blood drips.  Reminded me to keep my head on riding, not on the cool looking helmet.  I finally retired the helmet to a display in the garage, and now only use standard paint schemes.  Nothing too cool...

Rick

[teamgreen500]

OTS.

Off The Shelf. Works for me!

Manny

[bajarider]

how do i know my size, i'm lookin at one industries, but i don't want to order online for fear of not getting the right fit. how do i measure my big melon?

[Platypus]

When I buy a helmet there are two things that are important to me.  It has be snell approved and it has to be comfortable.  I usually look online at helmets then I go try them on at a store.  The last helmet I bought was a little more than I would have liked to have spent but the cheaper ones were not comfortable.  It is your head!  You can't put a price on it.  If the only comfortable snell approved helmet was 500 bucks I would buy it.

[c-152]

Not to spark a debate (who says that unless they intend on sparking a debate?) but I did a lot of research when purchasing a new road bike helmet and came across an interesting article stating that the Snell impact test was an invalid test and did not accurately represent a motorcycle accident.  The article based the information on the fact that because the impact is so hard (actually it?s a double impact), the foam to resist such an impact had to be hard thus transferring more g forces to the skull.  Snell representatives stated that the increased g forces were acceptable but not everyone agrees, included a former rep from Snell (could be sour grapes - imo).  Anyway there are also other standards for Europe and the dot standard is by far the easiest to pass.  In my knowledge there has yet to be a real study that proves wearing a DOT helmet opposed to a DOT/SNELL has any benefit.  There are tons of studies that show they are better than not wearing a helmet (DUH).  After researching all of this I still came to the conclusion that I was going with a SNELL helmet anyways because that to me seemed the safest. Just because their wasn?t a study saying they aren?t better doesn't mean they aren?t and I am okay with wasting my money if it is for my noggin.  I included a link too a great discussion on helmets. DOT also publishes their test results and I believe it?s available online.
http://www.motorcyclistonline.com/gearbox/motorcycle_helmet_review/