Helmet Suggestions?

[DirtyRyan]

Hey ya'll,
So I'm still shopping around for a helmet. I was looking at the dual sport helmets, but I'm starting to reconsider. It's my first helmet purchase, so I'm sure there's plenty of room for input from ya'll.
Here's the things to consider:

Most riding is gonna be a mix of trails and the cities through streets. Nothing highway. I can't picture me trying to do anything over 55 on that thing at any time.

1. I'm in Austin, and man does it get HOT here. Airflow and a helet that will keep really cool is a must.

2. Visibility. I figure the purpose of a helmet is to help prevent injury in the event of a crash, not screw up your vision so bad that it causes a crash. So, visibility is a big must.

3. Crash protection. I don't think I even need to expand on this one. Has to at least be DOT approved.

4. Comfort/weight. If it doesn't feel good or feels like an elephant is sitting on your skull, you won't be compelled to where it, so it's gotta be comfy, and like goldilocks, it has to fit juuuuust right.

5. Style. I for one prefer less flashy designs. In fact if I can go straight white on the helmet, all the better. It'll bounce the sun back of the head and help keep things cool. I don't mind a bit of flash, but most helmet designs are overkill in my opinion.

6. Price. The less I'm paying for something the happier I am generally. In all honesty, if there's a good helmet out there that fits all the above criteria AND is around $200 or less, that'd be perfect.

Well, there's plenty of options out there and tons of reviews. So let's here it ya'll. If you were selecting a lid from the same criteria, what would ya'll get?

 

[reepicheep]

You are going to have to solve two problems with one helmet, which is going to be tricky.

A street helmet is made to be comfortable all day long, and to completely protect you from accidents and the elements. So it seals tight, and has some sort of fancy impact absorbing shell and liner, and is generally built to work well at 50 to 150 miles per hour.

A dirt helmet is made to massively ventilate. As opposed to a street helmet that seals out everything, a dirt helmet seals out anything smaller then a squirrel. It's made to be used with goggles (which I tried, and hate), and generally has a sun visor (which I tried, and really like, and wish I had on my street helmet).

A street helmet is a "use once and replace". If it falls off the seat of your bike, it is (in theory) toast. The materials it is made of (for example my Schuberth Concept's carbon fiber shell) are made to break up internally to absorb shock, so they can only do it once.

I don't know for sure, but I suspect a dirt helmet is "replace after any falls off 3 stories or more". Its certainly designed to withstand minor bonks on a regular basis and a lot rougher handling then a street helmet. Correspondingly, it won't protect you nearly as well in a high speed hard impact.

Seems unlikely that one helmet will scratch both itches... but if you try, a street helmet is probably a better choice. It may be more expensive, but you could end up less dead. ;)

 

[Krossipoiss]

http://www.fc-moto.de/WebRoot/FCMot...D5F/DE64/3E70/5055/C669/Uvex-Enduro-White.jpg
Mby something like this ?

 

[sr5bidder]

a full face mx helmet with both dot and snell have many vents and are availible in solid colors, when new they should push your cheeks in so that you have a hard time not biting them..and be able to shake your head without helmet moving around opposite your head.. the helmet will loosen a bit
i use a quick strap system for my goggles and wear sunglasses on the street it has great ventalation while not wearing the goggles

 

[Patman]

There is no way I'd consider a cheap helmet, this is especially true if I were riding the streets of Austin. My head is worth whatever it takes to get a good fitting lid with great protection. Perhaps expanding your budget a bit will help keep you from needing a larger budget for adult diapers and drool cups. Spend what you need to get the best you can get. TJ's usually has a reasonable selection and they tend to treat their customers better than any other shop I've dealt with in town. They have folks that will be able to help fit you properly and possibly meet the unique parameters you have for a bit more than what you are planning to spend.

 

[ronnie l]

Spend the $ and buy an Arai helmet. Your head is worth more than $50.00.
If you crack your coconut on a tree it will be money well spent.
Don't scrimp on your helmet or boots or you will regret it. :nod:

 

[Joburble]

I agree with 'reepicheep', road and dirt helmets are simply built to withstand different things.
Buy 2 new helmets if you can and don't skimp on dollars.
A very good friend of mine got serious brain damage some years ago coming off on the road, his helmet was Dot and Snell approved but the fit could have been better and it was starting to age. Once you have seen someone close to you go from one really nice functional guy to a drooling adult who wears daipers you will never want to compromise on any aspect of a helmet. Very sad. Consider the weight of the helmet too. Light is nice if poss, but pricey. I see that you cannot imagine going over 55 on the road but remember that the idiot coming the other way is also doing 55 now you have a 110mph. Hmmmm....

 

[DirtyRyan]

All good points. I was thinking of a traditional MX style helmet at first. Then I was thinking maybe a dualsport style helmet would be better. I'm guessing that the dual sports are typically built to withstand higher rate impacts? I'd like to avoid going the goggle route, in favor of a face shield. Again though, the riding style is gonna be about 50% road, 50% trails. Is the dualsport helmet a better way to go here you think?

 

[sr5bidder]

I never knew they existed but they look cool the convertable one especially but I must warn you check on the price of replacment face shields as they will get scratched up and I peaked at the replacment price of one units face shield at $89 and there is no good way to ride on the road take it off and store it safely when you hit the dirt/mud. I sometimes use safety glasses when its not real dusty ithey help keep me cool and refreshed with lots of availible air movment
and I would think the refraction of light on the face shield would be much more distraction than with goggles

 

[reepicheep]

I used an old street helmet when I started trail riding. It was light, but the "unsolvable" problem was the visor. Down, it just got too hot and foggy because you are working too hard and going too slow. Up, it failed to give any protection, and you are taking branches across the bridge of the nose at the worst possible moments. You could put the visor up and put on safety glasses, but then it falls down, again typically at the worst possible moment when you are perched precariously on the edge of some muddy ravine...

I use a cheap dirt helmet and the big safety glasses now... the ones designed to go over normal glasses. You can get them cheap at Wal Mart, and a google search turned up this link:

http://www.dickblick.com/products/blick-safety-goggles/

They look like this:

I hate the real goggles. The safety glasses works well for trail riding, but would not work for MX racing where the roost from the guy in front of you requires tear offs of some kind...

 

[mudpack]

I'm guessing that the dual sports are typically built to withstand higher rate impacts?

Nope.

Let's see;
You want light weight and full ventilation.
You also want max protection, for which you'll have to give up some of the light weight and ventilation.

A DOT-approved $100 Fulmer gives just as much protection as a DOT-approved $200 Arai. Snell requirements are more stringent.

If I were you, I'd get an MX-style helmet. Good protection (how much is enough?) and light weight. It'll be good up to 55mph, for certain.

 

[porterdog]

A DOT-approved $100 Fulmer gives just as much protection as a DOT-approved $200 Arai. Snell requirements are more stringent.

Must respectfully disagree. Everyone here should read this:

click here for Interesting Link

OP: here's your helmet; bottom left.

click here for Bell Closeouts

 

[JTS016]

I just bought a brand new '08 FOX V3 that was a leftover from last season for $150, normally close to $400. I know it's a MX helmet, but it's fox's top of the line, made of kevlar and carbon. Very comfortable and vents awesome. The cheek pads were a bit too snug, so fox sent me new ones for free... Just a suggestion.

 

[JTS016]

Forgot to mention I live in Louisiana and it gets nasty humid hot here and this thing did great in the heat, wicked the sweat away really good. As far as riding at speed with the v3, I've really only tried it once, the first day I got my KDX220 I had it pinned down an old road with my friend on his harly following behind me to monitor the speed. Got to b/w 65-70. It of course did buffer at this speed, but if you're not going to be doing highway, you'll be ok.

 

[SS109]

Must respectfully disagree. Everyone here should read this:

click here for Interesting Link

OP: here's your helmet; bottom left.

click here for Bell Closeouts

Very interesting article there. Thanks for posting it up.

 

[ronnie l]

Most top riders wear Arai or Shoei helmets. I would not trust my head in some Chinese made helmet. :yikes: I have looked at those other helmets you can actually squeeze the helmet and it flexes.

Most are made by two major manufacturers and they OEM to almost everyone.

Buy cheap get cheap. I trust the Japanese a lot more than the crap the Chinese sell us.

Would you buy a Motorcycle made in China? Would you buy a car made in China? Do you like to eat food that come from China?
I bet most would answer no...so why would you trust your head to helmet made by them? :clue:

 

[SS109]

Not meaning to play devil's advocate here but the Chinese can, and do, make some high quality stuff. It is up to the company that contracts with them to ensure that they set a certain quality standard and hold them to it. Most things are made in China now and a good portion of it is good quality stuff. TV's, PC's, phones, OEM Japanese and American car electronics, etc., etc.

Curious, did you read the article linked above? If you haven't, please do. It is a very enlightening article and well worth the read.

 

[DirtyRyan]

Haven't read it yet. Been stupid busy with some other projects lately. I will get on it tonite probably though.

 

[ronnie l]

Not meaning to play devil's advocate here but the Chinese can, and do, make some high quality stuff. It is up to the company that contracts with them to ensure that they set a certain quality standard and hold them to it. Most things are made in China now and a good portion of it is good quality stuff. TV's, PC's, phones, OEM Japanese and American car electronics, etc., etc.

Curious, did you read the article linked above? If you haven't, please do. It is a very enlightening article and well worth the read.

yes you are correct if it is simple contract manufacturing, such as what you have mentioned ie : inserting a diode into a PC board. Simple fairly brainless type of manufacturing. If the Japanese/American oversees them they can do an OK job of making some items. The company I work for is Japanese and I have been to our plant in China.

As for the article I have read it, but magazines also have a built in bias towards advertisers. All I can say is if your put an Arai or a Shoei next to some of these other helmets you can see a big difference. people need to look past the paint and graphics and look at the helmet.

 

[SS109]

As for the article I have read it, but magazines also have a built in bias towards advertisers.

I didn't see any bias in that article against any brand. It was rather critical of SNELL but not of any particular manufacturer.

 

[mudpack]

Must respectfully disagree. Everyone here should read this:

click here for Interesting Link

If this link is intended to be the basis for your disagreement, then I'm afraid there is nothing there to refute what I wrote.
If it is not, and you just "disagree", then all is good, I allow you to disagree for whatever reason you have, and thanks for the link! ...it's a very good read.

Mud

 

[Patman]

What is less expensive a top of the line well fitted helmet from say Shoei / Arai or a lifetime supply of adult diapers?

Doing some serious research outside of asking a bunch of experts on an Internet forum would seem to be a prudent choice.

 

[DirtyRyan]

Having worked adult in home health care, I know all about some adult diapers...and yeah, they're costly....and not just financially. Point taken on the helmet thing. Unfortunately I won't be buying one until I get this damned thing running again. IN the middle of a street legal conversion on the bike and thought I had it all about right....put it together last nite, kick....kick....kick....nothing. kick, kick, kick...nothing...over and again. I did however manage to bust the crap out of my chin though...that was enjoyable. Anyway, yeah if you want more info on the bike not running, check the thread titled "Help & Win A Cookie part II"