Hi All
I have the pleasure of doing a track day next month in my mates Scooby, so I need a crash helmet.
After talking to biker mates for their opinions I found a good priced Bieffe end of line one, it has all the gold stickers, anti mist visor, removeable pads etc.
Now I got hold of this new for the pricely sum of £50. But whilst I was looking it occured to me that there is a huge price difference between helmets aimed at bikes and those aimed at cars. I can get a good quality branded bike crash helmet for £50, but a car helmet starts at £250, bearing in mind I would have thought that a bike hemet has more chanch of coming into contact with something hard i.e. the road, what are the differences that make the car helmets that much more expensive?
Is it just that there is a higher demand for bike helmets pushing the price down, or is there more to it?
Cheers
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Where the hell did you find helmets for that price?!
Dad usually buys Arai and they cost around 400 quid! We're going to the bike show at the NEC next Saturday and he'll undoubtedly see one there that he likes but even then - with a massive discount they'll be over 300 quid.
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Item number: 4583323307 EBay.
It's not up to Arai standards granted, but will do for my requirements. As I know little about these things I asked biker mates who agreed that it was a good buy.
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I don't know bike helmets either I'm afraid. In fact, I couldn't name you another brand other than Arai even though I'm sure there are many!
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There's a saying: by all means get a $10 helmet, but only if you have a $10 head.
I'd be scared witless of buying a s/h helmet; what has happened to it? If it has been 'used', then it may not be sound.
There is also a big difference between car and bike helmets; the car helmet is more likely to hit something because there are plenty of things near your head to hit. Also, IIRC car helmets have fireproof linings; bikers can usually run away from a fire; the occupants of a car need a bit more time to get out.
Set against that is the fact that you only plan to use it once, thereby reducing the likelihood (defined as risk times frequency).
Many trackday organisers will lend one; going rate is £5 a day. Worth asking.
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It's brand spanking new patently, just and end of line special offer.
I think your fireproof idea is the most likely.
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It's brand spanking new patently, just and end of line special offer.
Ah ... fair enough.
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Most bike helmets seem to be made in Italy - the land of designer labels. You certainly pay for the name. But you also get service from the big names. There will probably be a stand at the big shows and track events where the big names will check and service helmets, often for free.
Helmets also come in differemt shapes as well as sizes and some people have 'arai' heads and others 'shoei'. My mate bought a new visor for a shoei - over 50 quid!. I think mine was a tenner.
Any helmet with the Gold ACU sticker will be a good one - no matter what the price. BSI and/or EC marking is a legal requirement for bike helmets and assures a minimum standard. Even the cheapest approved helmet will do its job.
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Track day helmets has been done here before: You may like to take a gander at www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=14666&...f
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If you've got a cheap head, use a cheap helmet.
Works for my pizza delivery friend and his Nang Kang Wang Special Deluxe.
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You pay for what you get - pay more get better quality, not to say it wont do it's job but may not last as long or be as comfortable. When I had my bike I had 2 Arai lids, both worth £400, but then i used it every day and needed a lid that would last and was comfortable, on the other hand my leathers were cheap, reason being was I only needed them to do their job once and then I would throw them away (never needed them to though), they were as comfortable as the expensive ones, same did not apply to lids, cheap were uncomfrotable expensive fitted better. So if you are only going to use it a couple of times a year a cheap one will do the same job but save you enough money that you could probably do another track day.
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" If you've got a cheap head, use a cheap helmet."
By that reasoning, Adam's Dad only has a £400 head. Yeah, it is silly no matter how you look at it.
A "cheap" helmet that has passed the safety standards will be just as safe as one costing 10 times the amount that has also passed the same standards. The extra cost comes into play when you are comparing the shell material, glassfibre (cheap and heavy) vs carbon/kevlar (spendy and light), interior trim materials and paint/graphics.
If you are going to wear a helmet for hours a daily basis then by all means a more expensive, lighter and (possibly) more comfortable helmet is the better choice, but don't for one minute think that because you paid £400 and the other person paid £40 that you somehow have 10 times (or even twice)the protection.
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My Shark lid was over £300 but I wouldn't use it for a track day in a car as there is a pretty good chance of walloping it on the b pillar at some point in the day if the car hasn't got a full race seat and harness set-up. I'd be going down the £50 end of line route for that.
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I would not buy a crash helmet of e-Bay, it may be brand new but who knows what has happened to it, dropped from 6 feet onto a hard floor for instance, in fact I would not buy a crash helmet mail order or online, I want to see it packed nicely in it's original box at the retailer's premises, try on the actual one I am going to have, make sure there are no faults, generally you cannot take a crash helmet back, before paying for it.
That being said for use in car for the occasional track day it should be fine.
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Well yeah but no but yeah but no but yeah......
???
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Well yeah but no but yeah but no but yeah...... ???
What is he saying Captain?
The man is trying to make a point but is just not getting through Colonel!
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A "cheap" helmet that has passed the safety standards will be just as safe as one costing 10 times the amount that has also passed the same standards.
I don't think you can categorically say that. I see the point you are making, and you are correct that both will exceed the 'safeness' required to pass that standard, but there's no proof that the expensive one won't exceed it by more, equally, the cheaper one could also be the more safe.
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"will be just as safe as required by the testing standards"
How's that then? 8-)
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I value my skull because it is the only thing retaining what little brain I have.
I wore an Arai when I used my motorbike continually for commuting and working in central London , on one occasion I had cause to be grateful having been sideswiped and waking up on the road looking at the underside of the radiator of a Routemaster bus. That is when a few hundred pounds seems money well spent.
I think though for a 'one off'race day in a car you are OK with a £50 Bieffe from Ebay, provided it is new and to British or ISO standards.
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"will be just as safe as required by the testing standards" How's that then? 8-)
That's fair enough. I wonder if there is any independant tester, similar to NCAP, who do helmets? You would imagien the tests would be much simpler and easier to quantify than those for a car, and you'd get definitive results: helmet x results in an intact head with a blow of y force.
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