How often do you change your helmet?
Discussion
I would like to have made this a poll thread but I have no idea how.
Simple question brought about by the fact my current helmet is nearly a year old and I haven't needed to replace it yet (basically I haven't been knocked off by anyone now my commute is rural country lanes instead of running a town or city gauntlet).
So how often do you change your helmet?
Six months or less.
Six months to a year.
A year or two.
Two to five years.
Never.
I don't wear a helmet, woof-woof bu-ler-bu-ler ahhhh-woooo!
When I get knocked off and it needs replacing.
Simple question brought about by the fact my current helmet is nearly a year old and I haven't needed to replace it yet (basically I haven't been knocked off by anyone now my commute is rural country lanes instead of running a town or city gauntlet).
So how often do you change your helmet?
Six months or less.
Six months to a year.
A year or two.
Two to five years.
Never.
I don't wear a helmet, woof-woof bu-ler-bu-ler ahhhh-woooo!
When I get knocked off and it needs replacing.
HurryUpAndWait said:
Is there a lifespan for a helmet? Does the polystyrene degrade over time?
I looked into this a few months ago and the conclusion I came to was no.Provided your helmet hasn't been dropped, it's good to go for several years.
Replacing a helmet every 12 months or whatever is just a case of more money than sense.
Standard advice from most manufacturers is three years for a number of reasons. Firstly, all those little drops from the back of the car and when in storage mount up and reduce the strength of the shell gradually as a result of fatigue. Secondly, UV damages the EPF liner (more of an issue in hot/high strength sun climates admittedly but still an issue here, just less pronounced).
That said it does in part come down to how good the helmet is. Better helmets tend to have a wraparound of polycarbonate on the base which can help ward off premature damage although the other issues still stand.
Personally I replace my DH helmet every few seasons unless it's had a big crash in there, in which case it's junked straight away. My current D3's been on the go since mid-2010 but as I've barely ridden any DH this year I elected not to replace it. Next year though there'll be a new one on the go as although it's not had any big crashes, it's had a fair few smaller ones and any damage is basically invisible to an external eye.
For a trail lid I wore the same one (a Giro Xen) from 2005 up until early this year which isn't exactly ideal but since then I've had three. Go figure!
That said it does in part come down to how good the helmet is. Better helmets tend to have a wraparound of polycarbonate on the base which can help ward off premature damage although the other issues still stand.
Personally I replace my DH helmet every few seasons unless it's had a big crash in there, in which case it's junked straight away. My current D3's been on the go since mid-2010 but as I've barely ridden any DH this year I elected not to replace it. Next year though there'll be a new one on the go as although it's not had any big crashes, it's had a fair few smaller ones and any damage is basically invisible to an external eye.
For a trail lid I wore the same one (a Giro Xen) from 2005 up until early this year which isn't exactly ideal but since then I've had three. Go figure!
This week...Giro Ionos has lasted since May 2009 (crashed & destroyed previous lid). The old Ionos has simply started to fall apart. The shell appears ok but the ratchet & straps etc are knackered & the rubberised coating on the plastic frame started to resemble some sort of gloop. Replaced it with another Giro, an Aeon...so far so good, it's very light & fits my noggin well enough.
Every couple of years (-ish) or whenever they look tired, but then again I'm overly paranoid about lids/my head, having had a tarmac/helmet/head interface many moons ago.
FWIW I've just junked a 3 y/o Giro Ionos after it developed a 'ruddy great crack down the back of the shell, despite being cosseted throughout it's life!
FWIW I've just junked a 3 y/o Giro Ionos after it developed a 'ruddy great crack down the back of the shell, despite being cosseted throughout it's life!
Piersman2 said:
Can't believe I'm first with this angle...
I've never changed it, but I make sure to give it a good polish often.
I change mine when I've finished riding my bike. I feel I look really silly wearing a helmet without a bike to go with it.I've never changed it, but I make sure to give it a good polish often.
On a serious note, I never owned a bike helmet growing up. Back in those days they were padded leather things, only ever seen on 'pro' racers anyway. Then a break from cycling from 16 to 22 (I joined the army) meant I wouldn't have needed one anyway.
Then I got back into riding, and bought a 'faddy' "triple triangle,high ground clearance" mountain bike from a shop in Andover, as I'd been posted to Tidworth and had Salisbury Plain to play on. No helmet then either, and wasn't offered one when I collected the bike from the shop, around about '92 or '93.
Then came another break from cycling, enforced on me when I fractured my C6/C7 vertebrae and wrecked the mountain bike. Cue a trip to the LBS in Camberley for a road bike when I'd recovered enough to ride again. I'd always been a roadie growing up, and following my injury, the wife forbade another off roader. This one was for commuting, but luckily almost all of my route to work was traffic free, so I didn't bother with a lid.
I did without a helmet when I started taking the 'long way' home. 3 miles to get to work, 26 miles to get home. That must have been around 2003. I took the plunge and bought my first helmet in early 2008, because I wanted my kids to ride wearing helmets, and it seemed hypocritical not to wear one myself. I wasn't flush at the time, so the lid came from Tesco, and was in the same blue as the bike frame. I kept the faith with that lid on the road bike for a long time, and it's still in the garage. I would consider wearing it again as an 'emergency' stop-gap.
Then came another MTB, a second-hand GT Aggressor which got stolen from CenterParcs near Thetford within months of buying it. Insurance policy was a good one, and it was replaced 'new-for-old', with a GT Avalanche from LBS. Confidence in the Tesco helmet to look cool on the trails was non-existent, so I bought a Met lid in late 2008. It now has a nice dent/scratch in the top, where I ignored the "cyclists dismount" signs at a bridge on the Basingstoke canal and found that the bridge height was lower than I suspected. I still wear this one off-road as the impact wasn't severe. (I know, I know, just because you can't see the damage, doesn't mean it's not there).
This summer I got fed up with the lack of efficiency of the venting on the Met, and spent an age procrastinating over a new 'road' helmet. I eventually settled on a Uvex Boss Race in a very fetching 'carbon-look white' (to match the bike, natch!). It's lighter than both the others and better vented too, while it doesn't have a visor to "spoil the aero" riding on the road.
In summary, I've only owned a helmet for the last 4 years. In that time I've bought three of the things, and all are still in good shape, visually at least. The time will probably come to replace the Met, and the Tesco one will no doubt find it's way to landfill sooner rather than later, as I can't see a long term need for 3 helmets. Replacement will probably only happen when, as others have said, the helmet becomes too difficult to keep clean, and replacement pads are not available. Until such time as that happens, or, heaven forbid it gets damaged in an 'off', each helmet will soldier on without very much thought about replacement.
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