Helmets - Are they worth it?

[Brettus]

Sorry if this has come up before (i did try a search but couldn't find much that covered this)

I'm looking for a new helmet to replace my damaged Nitro VX-1200, Personally I really like my Nitro, and the one before that, my questions are,

1. are £200+ helmets REALLY worth the price?
2. and are Nitro really that bad?

I do stress the question is asked with an open mind, if I need to spend £300 on a helmet that is much better then I will but I am struggling to find the worth in that extra £200ish over a decent Nitro

Personal choice hun, i personally wont wear anything other than shoei or arai-but then i have expensive taste!
I find the more you pay the better the fit/feel...imo.
never tried nitro so cant comment, but if thats what you like and are comfortable in then stick with them

my mate Ian, crashed in his Nitro TT helmet, it had a fist sized hole in it.............but the police tested it and said it was one of the strongest hekmets they had ever tested.....and that nitro should use it for marketing.....the crash he had meant he lost his left leg, broke 6 vertebra and 3 ribs, , and hit a fence head on with the helmet, , yet he had no head injuries whatsover.

theres a lot of snobbery re helmets and a lot of it i think is unfounded, , i for example have an arai astro that was a bargain sale at the nec at £209, ut retailed at £370, , would the arai have got a hole in it??, who can say without being able to do a direct comparison, ,
ive 2 nitro lids and they both seem pretty good, for me the arai fits better so thats a bigger factor in my choice, , i think the fit is very important, i f the nitro fits well then go for whatever you want, Ians helmet was £120 ltd edition of a £90 helmet and it did what it was supposed to do.

[jambo]

You want to be paying for the fit, and construction of the shell.

I bought an AGV TiTech, as it was dicounted by £100 because it was in last year's colours for instance. On some lids it's an extra £100 to have a flash paint job, I wouldn't pay that, I'm happy with whatever colours as long as it's not too daft.

Some manufacturers have multiple sizes of shell, some just use more padding if you happen to have a small head. The best lid is the best one you can afford, that fits you the best.

Arai's cheaper condor lids, Shoei's Raid2, a fair chunk of the HJC range and some of the better AGV lids can all be had for Around or below £250.

It's worth noting that some manufacturers like AGV have lots of similar looking lids, some for £110, some for £350. Now at least some of that cost will be down to construction, so make sure you're buying the best shell you can afford, with the best fit. Don't buy a flash looking cheaply built lid over a dull looking expensive one

I've had a few lids now. The best one I had all round was my cheap HJC one.

My latest Arai, well, I wont be buying another one just yet, esp not at £330. 2 years use and its ready for the skip soon. I won't be spending over £200 on my next lid.

Maybe if i was a weekend rider it would last a lot longer, but using the bike every day, well, its just not cut it really.

top of the range lids, can be bought from the net saving £100+ or there will be bargins at the NEC

i would try a load on and see which fit you the best.

i would stay away from the aldi/lidl type ones, but @ £30 i guess you knew that

[jambo]

As a side note on the finish, my HJC AC10 looked a lot better after 3 years hard work than my AGV TiTech does after 2, unfortunatly the AC10 just didn't fit well anymore and while a new lining was tempting I figured the lid itself was probably past it's best. The lining in the AGV's holding up well

have a nitro helmet myself{hopefully will never be tested}
only cost £70 and i am happy with it,from what i have heard if you drop a helmet you should replace it immedietly.
i,d rather do this with a 70 quidder than a 3/400 quid one.

Or maybe this is manufacturers after more of our cash

both my ground head butting experiences have been in HJC ac-11 helmets rrp £199 but can be had for £80 now being an old design, its a cheap good quality lid.

http://www.biker247.com/news/2251.asp