Bluetooth and helmets

[charlie b]

I have to try on helmets, and wear them for at least a few hours to make sure they are right. Listed sizes suck. Shoei RF-1000 that fits me is a L. HJC helmet that fits me is a 2XL. I could not get a big enough BILT to fit my head. Nolan was too narrow. etc.

Even after that I usually "fine tune" them. Scrape a bit of foam away from a hot spot. Cut down cheek pads. That kind of stuff.

I used to insist on Snell certification, but, these days I look for European certification or Snell. DOT is a joke since the mfg does their own certification.

Cost does not mean a great helmet.

 

[Warren]

I have an ARAI (3 actually), I scoffed once at the higher priced helmets, but a fellow rider and friend asked me how much money my head was worth……nuff said, you get what you pay for in this life. I typically go for the higher end stuff that way I cry once, not every time I use it.

In general I agree with your statement but selling price can have as much to do with marketing and branding as it does with quality. The most expensive helmets do not necessarily protect your head better than a mid priced helmet. In fact if you look at some of the tests you would see for some helmets its the opposite. It pays to do your homework.

 

[elizilla]

I would consider all helmets that meet a given safety standard to be equivalent, safety-wise. I can't judge this aspect and neither can people writing for websites and magazines so there's no point in fussing about it. That's why we have safety standards, so we don't all have to be our own Snell Foundation.

But that doesn't mean all helmets are equal. I can judge the way a helmet fits my specific head, the ventilation, visor optics, cosmetics, style, whatever. I want a helmet that meets the safety standards, for that one impact that with luck I will never even have. But the rest of the helmet's qualities will matter every time I wear it, and I will wear it a lot. Some of those things are worth something to me. How much are they worth to you?

 

[Phil Tarman]

After I bought my Schuberth C-3 for $699, I heard about the SHARP ratings. SHARP is a British helmet rating system. The Schuberth wasn't quite as good as my previous Nolan N-103. Seems the flip-up chin bar latches only worked 97% of the time.

As far as DOT ratings go, I'm willing to trust the name manufacturers. Most of them are not trying to slide by on safety, because over the long haul, you can't get away with that. And there's some empirical evidence that the original Snell standard was actually dangerous. It emphasized penatration and 2nd strike survivability over minimizing g forces transmitted to the brain. It seems (and this is amazing to me) that the brain can stand 300 g impacts. Snell's original standard caused 4-500 g impacts. At that time, cheaper helmets that only passed DOT requirements probably caused less brain trauma than the more expensive helmets.

 

[charlie b]

And that's why I'd like to try a Schubert one day. Just because I have heard how quiet they are.

And a helmet that is quiet on one bike may be noisy on another. The Shoei RF1000 I have is quieter on a naked bike than behind the screen of the NT. Just the way the wind hits it makes more noise than if the whole helmet is in the wind.

 

[RedLdr1]

The Shoei RF1000 I have is quieter on a naked bike than behind the screen of the NT.

I had the same experience. A RF-1100 works better on the NT for me....

 

[Phil Tarman]

The Schuberth is significantly quieter than my Nolan N-103. I'm grateful to Greg (vc_slim on the Forum) for turning me on to it when we rode together in the Texas Hill Country last June.