SHARP Results are out!

Jesus! You'd think some of you would be grateful that someone was going to the effort!

Originally Posted by fizzwheel

Specific info on the tests is here, doesnt say how they worked the scores out though...

http://dft-1-sharp.eduserv.org.uk/ab...est-protocols/

Cheers, yeah that's the thing I wanted to know - e.g. you can hit every helmet with a hammer, at a certain angle with a certain speed, but how are you measuring how well it performed? What constitutes '5-star' damage and what constitutes '1-star' damage? Shame it doesn't say...would definitely like to see that as that's the more interesting part.

Originally Posted by Durbs

Means your head is goin' to pop like a grape, get a proper lid. Us 4 star'ers f@rt in your general direction.

And you just wait...5-star lid for me next then

I think its funny al the idiots claiming their 500 quid helmets are the bees knees get beaten by 80 quid ones, Nitro (have one as a spare ) most get 4 stars for sub 100 lids!!!

I have read Arai and Shoei are not happy, hmm maybe cos these tests expose them as the liars they are claiming their expensive helmets out perform.

I have a HJC FG14 and it is as good as the Shoies, for 200 less, Next ill be geting the FG-15. Decided that before these results came out as it fits great and looks good. But it has got 4 stars, all for 140 notes winner!! shove that where the sun dont shine mr Shoei!!

Raid II, 4 stars by sharp and number one helmet in Rides last helmet comparison, it'll do me for £180!

Originally Posted by Durbs

Perhaps all the Arai owners should have saved the £200 premium they paid for the cleaning kit and poncy marketing, wadded it up and used the notes to pad out a cheaper lid. Woulda probably passed the test then!

never read such cr*p in my life , arai are one the THE best helmets out there-various racers have come away from MAJOR crashes without any head damage thanks to their arai, guy on mcn ninjas was saved on a nasty trackday smash-thanks to his arai, and a girl who used to come into hg was saved when she was involved in car accident and was literally run over (inc her head) by her arai.
Arais are hand made hence the cost, like i said-i'll waer what i feel safe in-not what some stupid test SAYS is safe.

Originally Posted by Paws

never read such cr*p in my life , arai are one the THE best helmets out there-various racers have come away from MAJOR crashes without any head damage thanks to their arai, guy on mcn ninjas was saved on a nasty trackday smash-thanks to his arai, and a girl who used to come into hg was saved when she was involved in car accident and was literally run over (inc her head) by her arai.
Arais are hand made hence the cost, like i said-i'll waer what i feel safe in-not what some stupid test SAYS is safe.

and you have what evidence to back that up with?? did they then go and crash in a Nitro or AGV or roof?? Nope!!

most racers wear what they are sponsered to wear.

Personally i think the tests are good and show up the bigger manufacturers a bit. They have been living on their ' reputation' for far too long, read bigger marketing budget and more sponser deals!!

[fizzwheel]

Originally Posted by neio79

I think its funny al the idiots claiming their 500 quid helmets are the bees knees get beaten by 80 quid ones, Nitro (have one as a spare ) most get 4 stars for sub 100 lids!!!

Trouble is I aint got an £80 head, yes I bought my Arai because I wanted the quailty and prestige of the brand, yes I paid a bit for the label, but I also paid a bit of the Arai customer service which from Northwinds examples is 2nd to none IMHO.

Also when GP riders start wearing Nitro and Takachi lids then maybe, I think there might be a reason why they dont though and its probably not because of sponsorship either.

I personally have doubts on any test that says stuff like this in its blurb :

tests will be carried out using a size J head form only, with the results being applied for all helmet sizes

So they use the same size and weight head form for all different size lids, erh.. our heads arent a uniform shape and different size heads weigh different amounts so how is it a fair or scientific test ?

Also

Should an unusual or standard geometric feature or fitting be within the impact site and be deemed likely to influence the result, then the site may be redefined to a suitable area

See this seems rubbish to me as well, OK a vent or something gets in the way so they test a different part of the lid that part they test might not be designed to take the force they are applying to it. Again it doesnt seem very scientific to me either.

Thing is this doesnt look to be an independant test, its government backed, which means some person in a suit that maybe has never ridden a bike, has thought it up, so no I'll stick with Arai or a Shoei. I wont put my head in anything else and nothing I've read on the sharp test website is going to convince me otherwise.

Its not just IMHO about number of stars, a 5 star lid that doesnt fit, isnt going to give 5 star protection. Its about fit and comfort, the more expensive lids are lighter and have better visability. Liz had a caberg that was f*cked after 9 months of everyday use, I wouldnt buy one if it had 5 stars or not.

Originally Posted by fizzwheel

Trouble is I aint got an £80 head, yes I bought my Arai because I wanted the quailty and prestige of the brand, yes I paid a bit for the label, but I also paid a bit of the Arai customer service which from Northwinds examples is 2nd to none IMHO.

Also when GP riders start wearing Nitro and Takachi lids then maybe, I think there might be a reason why they dont though and its probably not because of sponsorship either.

.

that old chestnut again, my head is worth more than 80 notes!!

even after these test peeps still cling to that to justify being slightly ripped off.

Dont get me wrong i can afford to go out and get a 5oo pound lid, i dont cos i dont believe they are worth the extra money.

Funny isnt it how its the peeps who have the expensive lids bleeting on about oh the tests dont mean anything when before they might have been, oh yeah cant wait to see how my latest replica faired in the tests. I wonder, if they had all got 5 stars would you now be saying, look i was vindicated it is worth the extra, yes of course you would have!!

These tests are independant and that is why the big 2 dont like them as they are shown up by suposidly inferior kit!!

and yes Fizz i do think a big reason to why racers wear them are because of the sponser money. they have bigger budgets for it so make us believe their hype . they have through good marketing effectivly put up a barrior to entry to the market rof the other less able companies to get a foot in racing sponsership. I think you will find that is why so many use Arai and Shoei!!

Originally Posted by Paws

never read such cr*p in my life , arai are one the THE best helmets out there-various racers have come away from MAJOR crashes without any head damage thanks to their arai, guy on mcn ninjas was saved on a nasty trackday smash-thanks to his arai, and a girl who used to come into hg was saved when she was involved in car accident and was literally run over (inc her head) by her arai.
Arais are hand made hence the cost, like i said-i'll waer what i feel safe in-not what some stupid test SAYS is safe.

Think you've taken my post in the wrong spirit there but although it was intended tongue in cheek, i DO kinda half believe it.

I bought a lid recently and went out fully intending to get an Arai or Shoei because thats what you've 'got' to get. Ended up trying loads and instead buying a cheaper AGV for 260 rather than the 350-400 the Arai's were going for. No doubt they are great lids but these results highlight that the great price divide does not reflect a great performance divide. The premium you pay is buying into the brand not the vast increase in manufacturing quality that the price would suggest.

As for the top racers wearing 'em, course they do, money buys all sorts of friends, doesnt mean they'd be any better off in a crash than if they were wearing a Caberg.

As for built by hand - If i were landing hard on my noggin, dunno about you, but i'd rather be wearing a piece of kit put together by something that can calculate pi to a million decimal places than a minimum wage sweat shop urchin.

But anyhow, not knocking Arai etc, i would have bought into it myself if i could have found one i liked but its interesting to see those results and even more interesting to see the stam, stamp, pout, pout response of a few Arai owners enraged that their 400 doesnt automatically buy 5 stars.

[fizzwheel]

I'll stick with my overpriced Arai that I got ripped off buying I can afford it and it was money I was happy to spend.

At the end of the day its still down for me to Fit, Comfort and personal choice.

SHARP tests or not.