Bike Hemet Safety Certification: All bike helmets should
carry some sort of certification to let you know that it has undergone
suitable crash resistance testing!!! This is not something that
you can determine by visual inspection so look for a certification
label on the inside of the helmet.
Vent Holes: The general rule of thumb is that the greater
the number of vent holes in the front the greater the bike helmet's
cooling abilities. But, in the average helmet the greater the
number of vent holes the less foam you have to protect you head.
Thus if you are a casual rider, that really doesn't work up a
sweat don't be oversold on the number of vents. Consider buying
one of the Bell
bicycle helmets. Buy according to your need. For the casual
rider consider the On the other hand if you're out to race an
iron man competition you may want to consider a helmet like the
giro
atmos helmet with a carbon reinforced roll cage that compensates
for less foam with a carbon fiber web. Allows for lots of holes
and fantastic venting.
Retention Harness: The helmet harness does two things.
It holds bicycle helmets on riders heads, and allows for some
custimization of the fit. It should be designed for easy adjustment.
Every head is different in size and shape and the web harness
system must be able to be adjusted to fit firmly around your particular
features. Test the adjustment to see if it is easy to work and
does its job effectively before you buy. Not all helmets adjust
nicely to all head shapes.. try a few different bicycle helmet
manufacturers
Straps: A helmet should have a strong strap that can keep
the bike helmet on your head in case you do need it … it won't
help if it flies off before you've made impact with a car or worse
yet the cement. Nylon is quite often used for this purpose. It
wears well and resists tears.
Flip
and lock clips, like the Bell helmet Cam Lock Levers, that
allow for simple one handed adjustment of strap that straddles
both sides of your ears for a comfortable fit, are great. Hold
in place and easy to manipulate.
Fastening Clip or Neck Buckle: One handed engagement is
great, as is pinch free connection, with a minimum dexterity…
We're bikers not piano players!
Design: Aerodynamic design is only really necessary if
you compete in national level road racing competitions. For the
rest of us we should wear a helmet that is round and very smooth
with no aero dynamic tails that might get caught on something
when we go for a tumble, or cause the helmet to shift sideways
and ratchet the neck in the process. Those stylish bumps are out.
What you're looking for is a smooth slippery helmet that will
glide over any surface on impact. Rolling is far better than crunching!
Weight: Although bike helmets weight is less of a concern
for mountain biking than for road riding, lighter is always better,
but also implies more cost. Less weight typically means more money..
and you're really only looking at the difference between 9.5 grams
and 11 grams…. Is it significant to your style of riding? For
most of us I'd say no.
More Information:
The Basics of Bicycle Helmets
