Is it worth spending £150 instead of the £35 ones? They don't look too bad these days. I'm thinking of road helmets.
I'd argue that for road, even more important
you at least want MIPS/rotational protection IMHO
Even cheap ones have MIPS these days. I'm thinking more about comfort/cooling etc.
I bought a £30 Bell helmet for gravel/road rides. It's not as comfortable to wear as my two more expensive MTB helmets. But it's fine.
the key thing being fit and more expensive helmets tend to have more shell sizes. relying on a cradle to cinch in a shell that is too big dramatically reduces effectiveness. So what you want is a shell that fits without being able to get a finger between head and shell at any point
good question. I would not be able to resist checking any new potential helmet purchase against the news after test list - I think it’s Virginia Tech. I think you can look up pretty much any helmet in there.
Came here to mention the Virgina Tech helmet tests - there is an interestnig little YouTube doc I watched a while ago.
from a safety perspective, probably not.
but good helmets arent neccessarily expensive. I recently picked up a £200rrp (Giro Merit) helmet for £50.
Came here to mention the Virgina Tech helmet tests - there is an interestnig little YouTube doc I watched a while ago.
So give us a summary of what it said then...
FWIW, my MTB and road lids are £20 Carnac jobs from Planet-X. They're fine.
So long as it fits well. I've got cheap and expensive road helmets. MIPS isn't all that necessary as I've never had any issues with standard helmets as they scrape along the road/verge anyway. A mate has just 'spatch cocked' his helmet in a front tyre blow out at 40 mph. I've totalled a few with road impacts.
I've quite a few Carnac lids (four) and they fit my noggin well. I also have a 'pro' level road helmet from a few years back (Bell Volt).
By far the most I've spent on a road helmet is £70, most have been ~£40. A Bordeaux red Abus Gamechanger from Amazon back in Xmas '19 I think, such a good fit... They're well over £150+ these days!😱
I think that as they get more expensive, a lot of what you're paying for are features such as magnetic buckles, more adjustability etc.
I've got both cheap (Hardnutz conventional helmets, £30ish) and expensive (POC Cortex Flow full face, £200+) Both chosen because they were the ones that fitted best. I did baulk a bit at the price of the POC but I'd really struggled finding a full face I felt comfortable in.
To my untrained eye the more expensive POC one looks better built and more substantial but it is a different kind of helmet so maybe not a fair comparison.
My experience of cheaper helmets has been that they don’t fit my head as well but I’m perfectly happy to concede I may just have an expensively shaped head.
Either way, while I’m not delighted at the cost of my fave helmet (POC Ocatal) I’m not in a position where I need to scrimp so just suck up the cost and enjoy the comfort.
FWIW, my MTB and road lids are £20 Carnac jobs from Planet-X. They're fine.
This found the fit and quality just as good as the much more expensive offerings.
Maybe posh ones have more expensive plastic shells and foam 😂
Expensive doesn't necessarily mean better fitting...if the shape happens to not fit well.
I suspect the delta in production cost between a £50 and a £150 lid is perhaps a couple of quid.
The rest is marketing and "positioning".
I got a Fox SpeedFrame MIPS a couple of years ago for £47 although the RRP was £125 I think and really pleased with it although I wouldn't have paid more than say £60. Not even sure what my point is actually 😂
I have a £100 Kask road helmet, which for me is expensive, fits well, is comfortable and OMG it's light compared to the £45 helmet it replaced. I imagine the aero road helmets are faster too but I and a right sweaty bastard and the aero ones look hot so I have never tried one
The rest is marketing and "positioning".
Or R&D.
Yes sure, perhaps another £1 worth of extra R&D per unit.
My recent off-road purchase was a distress one. Day in the Lakes where I discovered the one I was wearing felt like a vice after 4 hours out being just a bit tight front to back. Thankfully there was a TLD helmet in Wheelbase that was a better fit but a bit expensive even though it was much reduced. It's still doing sterling service some 5 years later as it spends most of its time in a cupboard as I ride road/gravel locally and don't tend to use a helmet.
Planet X helmets on sale for a tenner at the moment*
https://planetx.co.uk/products/carnac-xc-mtb-helmet
I have one, and it’s good: fits ok, good adjustability, not too heavy, as comfortable as any other helmet I’ve worn …
I’d recommend trying one first, if you don’t like it you could keep it as a spare or pass it on.
* pro- tip: they’re always on sale for a tenner.
Carnac (Planet X) were made in the same place or same people as for Bell I’m sure (well pretty certain Brant said that on here a while ago)
I recently bought an Endura helmet for the ridiculous sum of £18 from a Sportpursuit clearance sale on a whim due to the price.
It feels exactly the same as my Abus Airbreaker road helmet which I paid around £140 for, in both fit, comfort, and weight.
I think that as they get more expensive, a lot of what you're paying for are features such as magnetic buckles, more adjustability etc.
I think so too. Plus fully enclosed foam, antibacterial padding, height adjustable rear cradle and of course MIPS.
You can find great deals if you shop around though. Not road but I just got a MET Roam MIPS for £59 vs the RRP of around £160.
As long as it's a known brand and it fits it should be fine.
