Test your helmet here!!

[yorkie_chris]

FYI I wear a £200 XR1000. I paid that much for the build quality and because I like it.

The £100 caberg V2 it replaced did fine when I accidentally headbutted the floor at 50mph.

Originally Posted by STRAMASHER

In my experience the cheapy brands do not last. Get loose in no time.

This is what you are paying for. Build quality is a perfectly reasonable thing to demand a premium price.

Originally Posted by GavinD

I'm paying 50 quid
Free
Free
Free
Free

So really I think my arai is worth the £50 quid more to me.

So it's not free, is it? You just think that £50 is a reasonable price premium to pay for good build quality and customer service. Which is, a perfectly reasonable premium for arai to demand, and a good decision to make on your part. But not a lot to do with safety.

[yorkie_chris]

Originally Posted by simesb

Don't get the argument here...

SHARP is a dangerous test because the helmet fit is a factor, but the ECE 22.05 test (where fit is surely a factor too) is okay?

How is helmet fit a factor in SHARP testing? It cannot be tested. The onus to buy a helmet which fits is on the rider.

[Bibio]

wooohooo, i'm a winner.. my Bell fits perfect and its got a sharp 5 star rating...

personally i would rather have a £50 helmet that fits properly than a £1000 helmet that fits badly.. it just so happens that Bell helmets have always fitted me well... and i bought my Bell before i new about the sharp rating..

[rictus01]

Originally Posted by Bibio

wooohooo, i'm a winner.. my Bell fits perfect and its got a sharp 5 star rating...

personally i would rather have a £50 helmet that fits properly than a £1000 helmet that fits badly.. it just so happens that Bell helmets have always fitted me well... and i bought my Bell before i new about the sharp rating..

I'm glad your happy and can draw whatever comfort the SHARP test appears to give you, personally I'd just have a helmet that fitted properly first and for most, beyond that finish, durability, after sales service. spares are what I'm interested in.

I'm afraid a galvanized bucket would beat any helmet tested the sharp way and until they make it real world it's pointless.

Cheers Mark.

Originally Posted by yorkie_chris

So it's not free, is it? You just think that £50 is a reasonable price premium to pay for good build quality and customer service. Which is, a perfectly reasonable premium for arai to demand, and a good decision to make on your part. But not a lot to do with safety.

I was saying it could be considered free, as when benchmarked against a £150 lid the extra £50 could be considered as having already been spent on more expensive material and better construction


Talking of fit, and not to keep harping on about Arai, but they will fettle with pads etc till you are happy with the fit. Alright you have to go through a fitting with an Arai specialist then send it back but the whole process only took 1 week. I've said before now I have a helemt that is specific to my head.


To throw in another question - does anyone else here have to go for XS size helemts and found the HUGE jumps between S and XS in most brands. I think arai, shoei and OGK were the only ones to do a half descent variation of sizes at the small end. Was just my experience when shopping with my small head!

Originally Posted by rictus01

I'm afraid a galvanized bucket would beat any helmet tested the sharp way and until they make it real world it's pointless.

Not quite as preposterous a statement as it first sounds. As I stated before, helmets are built to pass tests; the manufacturers could easily build a helmet that would pass all tests whether SNELL, ECE 22.05, or SHARP but they compromise on weight, size, vision, ventilation etc. A metal shell with a foot of padding inside would perform well but would be heavy and not sell well.

Critics of the SHARP test are the paper by Mills, some of the helmet manufacturers who have not preformed as expected, and some parts of the motorcycle press - notably the government hating MCN. And these criticisms are limited to the rotational tests.

Mills has a bee in his bonnet about rotational effects in a head injury. Work he has done on the same effects in push cycle accidents has been severely criticised for ignoring previous studies and for misunderstanding the mechanics of head injuries. (push cycle studies may not seem relevant to PTW, but a lot of his study is based upon the studies of rotational vs sliding in tennis balls).

Arais respose shows that they compromise one of the testing points for customer safety while performing well in the other areas. This is debatably at odds with the scientific studies of areas of inpact.

A well fitted helmet is going to protect you better then an ill-fitting one. The working life of a helmet is something like 0.01 of a second - it's the many, many hours you wear one for that demands the compromises in safety. It is not right to say that SHARP test have been universally dismissed, but some questions have been asked.

In summary, I wear an Arai Chaser and I am happy to but I still feel that SHARP has merits and shows that safety is not directly related to cost (not commenting upon fit, finish and aftersales). I think it would be great if the helmet manufacturers would agree on tests so that relative safety would be without such arguements, but I fear that certain manufacturers have too much to lose...