The best and safest bike helmet (Testing site reference)
The best and safest bike helmet (Testing site reference)
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Discussion

anonymous-user

Original Poster:

82 months

Wednesday 11th September 2024
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[redacted]

Mr Scruff

1,395 posts

243 months

Thursday 12th September 2024
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Yup, fair to say my Smith Signal hasn’t come out too well there! Ah well, not going to change it as a result.

Pablo16v

2,876 posts

225 months

Thursday 12th September 2024
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Interesting. I was aware of the Virginia Tech ratings but hadn’t paid much attention to it recently, but good to see all our Specialized helmets fare well. A mate is a Specialized dealer so I’ve ended buying a few Tactic, Ambush and Camber helmets from him over the years for the family and I.

Rough101

3,046 posts

103 months

Thursday 12th September 2024
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The overall safety of bike helmets against serious injury is a joke, it’s degrees of crapness.

They all make your head, and therefore neck a bigger target and more likely to hit the ground and transfer the shock in minor collisions.

dontlookdown

2,478 posts

121 months

Thursday 12th September 2024
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Rough101 said:
The overall safety of bike helmets against serious injury is a joke, it’s degrees of crapness.

They all make your head, and therefore neck a bigger target and more likely to hit the ground and transfer the shock in minor collisions.
I always wear a helmet, but am inclined to agree that they could offer a lot more protection whilst still being unobtrusive to use. Perhaps a newer/better safety standard would help drive up the protection levels?

Rough101

3,046 posts

103 months

Thursday 12th September 2024
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dontlookdown said:
I always wear a helmet, but am inclined to agree that they could offer a lot more protection whilst still being unobtrusive to use. Perhaps a newer/better safety standard would help drive up the protection levels?
I think the concept is fundamentally flawed, in that you can’t excercise in anything that would offer decent protection.

I wear a helmet about 50% of the time.

ecs

1,446 posts

198 months

Thursday 12th September 2024
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There's a good video about their testing by Seth Alvo:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKbYaOiz5U4&ab...

Portofino

5,332 posts

219 months

Thursday 12th September 2024
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Years back I used to wear a helmet or not, based on how hot it was that day.

One day, wearing my helmet, coming down the side of a hill on my MTB hit a tractor track that was hidden by the long grass. Got pinged into a fence post, hit it with my forehead left temple area, the helmet deflected the blow & I got away with mild concussion & a torn left ear.

Ever since I’ve worn a helmet every time I ride.

Daveyraveygravey

2,105 posts

212 months

Friday 13th September 2024
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Portofino said:
Years back I used to wear a helmet or not, based on how hot it was that day.

One day, wearing my helmet, coming down the side of a hill on my MTB hit a tractor track that was hidden by the long grass. Got pinged into a fence post, hit it with my forehead left temple area, the helmet deflected the blow & I got away with mild concussion & a torn left ear.

Ever since I’ve worn a helmet every time I ride.
I have to agree; I've had enough crashes on and off road to have found out the hard way it is almost impossible to NOT bang your head when you come off a bike of any kind. I won't claim they are life savers, I would argue passionately against them being compulsory, and they won't save you from an idiot driver but they do give your head some protection.

TwigtheWonderkid

48,854 posts

178 months

Friday 13th September 2024
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Daveyraveygravey said:
Portofino said:
Years back I used to wear a helmet or not, based on how hot it was that day.

One day, wearing my helmet, coming down the side of a hill on my MTB hit a tractor track that was hidden by the long grass. Got pinged into a fence post, hit it with my forehead left temple area, the helmet deflected the blow & I got away with mild concussion & a torn left ear.

Ever since I’ve worn a helmet every time I ride.
I have to agree; I've had enough crashes on and off road to have found out the hard way it is almost impossible to NOT bang your head when you come off a bike of any kind. I won't claim they are life savers, I would argue passionately against them being compulsory, and they won't save you from an idiot driver but they do give your head some protection.
+1. I wear a skateboard style helmet, as I prefer them to bike helmets. I know if I get hit head on by a cement mixer, it ain't gonna help, but hopefully a head injury following a minor off might be avoided or mitigated

hoegaardenruls

1,224 posts

160 months

Friday 13th September 2024
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Another +1 here

I've always worked on the principle that you can't choose your accidents, especially since I wiped out when by back wheel clipped a wet manhole cover when taking a corner. I hit the ground hard enough to break two ribs, and my head followed onto the tarmac hard enough to crack the helmet.

I've no doubt the helmet saved me from further damage on that occasion, and that was echoed by an A+E doctor who sent me for a Cat scan just to make sure

Salted_Peanut

1,788 posts

82 months

Sunday 22nd September 2024
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anonymous said:
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Kask’s propaganda people will be going into overdrive to downplay their poor performance, whereas it can’t have done Giro’s Aires sales numbers any harm.

Also, Sweet Protection and Specialized must be smiling smugly at Kask’s reputation taking a bump to the head.

Julian Scott

4,308 posts

52 months

Monday 23rd September 2024
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Thats really interesting. I've used a Sweet Protection Falconer MIPS for years, mostly because my LBS stocked them, they were comfy and didn't make me look like Kinopio-kun. When I first got one, 2019, I'd never heard of them.

Pleasantly surprised it's #3 on that list.