Help Helmet Shopping...

[Dave20046]

Right after trawling the net and ringing my local dealers I've come to the conclusion that my 2008 BMW sport integral pro race helmet has gone for good. After being in a head heavy accident which the bmw helmet did an amazingly good job I'm going to be really finickity about straying from what I know.

Sometime soon I'm going to go helmet shopping (don't think I trust getting them off the net incase they've been kicked around or dropped while shipped - am I wrong to?) firstly when's the best time to go? Is it now when they might be getting rid of last years models and before the season kicks in or are the prices stable through out the year? (I'm a cheapskate)

Secondly what brands will save my head? So far I have BMW, Schuberth (obviously) and arai (cheers lozzo ) . I'm aware it's a lot to do with fit and the BMW was an amazing fit but I've heard arai aren't a good fit for humans if that's the case and the others are too expensive or unnavailable who's worth considering?

I'm mainly going for safety then price/value. Oh and I preferably want a Dlink type lid (not the seatbelt things).

Thanks in advance

Arai tend to fit people with a more Oval shaped head in my experience , I have always worn Arai (well apart from a stint with a Simpson RX-8.) and won`t wear anything else . I have tried other lids from time to time and Shark were nice BUT noisy , Agv might be one to consider if you want D-Link and nice fit (not a fan of them myself but the Quality seems to be OK , somebody will come along and slag that off soon enough though ) . If you don`t have an Arai shaped head then Shoei might fit . Nolan are another brand widely available . It really is down to how they will fit you that decides which Brand will be your one of choice . After that it is down what spec of helmet you want , do you have a Hein Gericke nearby ? they have a nice range of lids to try on .

There is a multitude of choice out there

[Dave20046]

Originally Posted by xXBADGERXx

Arai tend to fit people with a more Oval shaped head in my experience , I have always worn Arai (well apart from a stint with a Simpson RX-8.) and won`t wear anything else . I have tried other lids from time to time and Shark were nice BUT noisy , Agv might be one to consider if you want D-Link and nice fit (not a fan of them myself but the Quality seems to be OK , somebody will come along and slag that off soon enough though ) . If you don`t have an Arai shaped head then Shoei might fit . Nolan are another brand widely available . It really is down to how they will fit you that decides which Brand will be your one of choice . After that it is down what spec of helmet you want , do you have a Hein Gericke nearby ? they have a nice range of lids to try on .

There is a multitude of choice out there

Yeah I think I'm going to go to HG, I get on with my local shops too well so it'd mean a case of me sifted through all his boxes of lids upstairs and him offering me ridiculous discounts so I walk off with an inferior brand. Cheers for your 2 penneth badge

No problem dude , it`s down to what you want from a lid and what fits the best . Years ago I had an Arai Giga and it was the best Helmet I have ever owned , Hardly any vents on it apart from the usual chin and brow vents , it got a tad warm in the Summer if stopped in traffic . The point here is that many helmets come with removeable/washable liners and lots of vents for cooling etc . I have rarely found the upside of all the vents on my lid even on a really hot day (then again I live in North Wales so Hot days are few) , the downside has been higher wind noise , I have an Arai Corsair by the way , it has a removeable liner which also lets a lot more noise creep in . I put up with this as the fit is by far the closest thing I have ever experienced to a custom fit . I rate fit a higher priority over the amount of vents , twiddlies , graphics , price tag even .

[Dave20046]

Originally Posted by xXBADGERXx

No problem dude , it`s down to what you want from a lid and what fits the best . Years ago I had an Arai Giga and it was the best Helmet I have ever owned , Hardly any vents on it apart from the usual chin and brow vents , it got a tad warm in the Summer if stopped in traffic . The point here is that many helmets come with removeable/washable liners and lots of vents for cooling etc . I have rarely found the upside of all the vents on my lid even on a really hot day (then again I live in North Wales so Hot days are few) , the downside has been higher wind noise , I have an Arai Corsair by the way , it has a removeable liner which also lets a lot more noise creep in . I put up with this as the fit is by far the closest thing I have ever experienced to a custom fit . I rate fit a higher priority over the amount of vents , twiddlies , graphics , price tag even .

Yeah fit's my priority, as long as it's a wellmade, safe lid. I don't like too many vents either too much to grap onto the tarmac in a crash and also the wind noise aspect. I can't get over how well the bmw lid fitted me compared to previous helmets (infact I put it on yesterday to remind myself) it's unmovable. I face planted a car straight on at about 40mph, first thing to impact and it didn't even budge.

I've got an Arai Condor, tried on loads of helmets from nearly all brands and it fit like a glove, no roll or sliding at all.

Originally Posted by sauluk

I've got an Arai Condor, tried on loads of helmets from nearly all brands and it fit like a glove, no roll or sliding at all.

I tried one on recently as I liked it due to lack of vents and cackola on it , apparently Arai are dropping it from their range soon (or might be the Chaser) in a cut-back type of thing , these may be discounted and as far as I am concerned they are one of the best lids in the £200 or less category .

[Dave20046]

Should we be bothered at all what SHARP say? It does make me wonder a bit...
What exactly did sharp test that arai did so poorly on. Schuberth did well...

I've got an Arai Condor and it's fabulous. Padding never seems to lose shape, and it fits perfectly. Of course, it may not suit you so you'd need to try them on.

Originally Posted by Dave20046

Should we be bothered at all what SHARP say? It does make me wonder a bit...
What exactly did sharp test that arai did so poorly on. Schuberth did well...

Don`t take the Sharp tests as any benchmark on the performance of any Helmets ability to protect you . IIRC Sharp tested a part of an Arai that very very rarely touches the ground . Arai (and in fact many makers) response was that they put the protection where it matters and where it is most likely to be needed , if they armoured these things so much we wouldn`t be able to sustain the weights with our floppy necks . I have many friends that have crashed in all manner of Expensive/Cheap lids and they have all pretty much come out the same . Please don`t take this as any form of generalisation though , it is your own mind that needs to be made up . And let`s face facts , Arai didn`t get a great rating , it hasn`t swayed me or half the World`s GP/Superbike riders from wearing them .

What gets me is that a lot of these tests impact on the Shell of the helmet , forgive me if I am wrong and Ill-informing people but to me the inside of the Helmet is what is first in contact with our heads . So the softer lining will dent if you like , the Shell is there to take the main hit and Dissipate the initial impact , sheer momentum though will make our rather Heavy heads carry on travelling and dent the softer internals of the Helmet . Some of these tests will pierce a helmet , hit it with large blunt objects , smack them into pillars in various parts and all manner of beardy type tests . At the end of the day you can find fault with absolutely every single lid on the market but the standard of protection is very good even in some of the Cheaper helmets .

In this day and age the modern world still cannot agree on a worldwide standard , we have British Standards , the Americans (and maybe more) use SNELL , we don`t like using SNELL standard lids over here but I have heard it exceeds our standards (yet look at Simpson lids , mainly Illegal on our streets due to small eyeports , yet SNELL standard) ..... a mind boggling mine field when it all boils down to it . I know that racers use many brands of lid and that they don`t have as many hard or pointy edged risks that us "normals" have and I suppose that is what these tests tend to concentrate on and my take on it is this . No matter what lid you have , you can still be fatally injured at a slow speed , it`s just the luck of the draw in which manner the accident happens in . Look at racers , almost doing 200 mph and they come off , slide on their rears for a few hundred yards and take a bow , lid hardly touches the floor . Some other racer highsides , smacks his bonce hard on the deck and breaks a leg in the process as well . I lost a good friend years ago who was doing 30mph , shan`t go into details on here as somebody may have lost someone in a similar manner . Just the way the Cookie Crumbles sometimes , what you need to do is make your mind up for what suits you and makes you happiest and to enjoy your riding experience in a safer manner