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My helmet wish list
Last Post 11/22/2013 01:29 PM by 79 pmooney. 5 Replies.
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79pmooney
Posts:3180
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| 11/21/2013 10:18 PM |
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It's time for a new helmet or two. I've been using the Bell Influx which I like a lot except the plastic rear retainer that contains the adjusting screw regularly cracks and is not replaceable. I like it because 1) it comes in white - becoming road kill is not one of my desires, 2) I love the wheel and easy strap adjust because it makes getting winter hats to fit (then come off mid ride) easy and 3) visors make life better both for us who have to wear prescription glasses and they provide a place to mount a screw clamp Cat-Eye mirror where it works really well. (I do have to make a custom fitting and screw it on to the visor, but once that is done, it goes from one helmet to the next. Makes washing the helmet easy. Pop off the visor and wash it in the bathroom sink.)
But my next helmet really should use the MIPS technology. You guys have all heard about my many concussions and how easily it happens. Me not using that technology that is now out there for anyone would be stupid.
So why is it so hard to find a white/visible road/MTB helmet with adjusting wheel and visor that uses MIPS? I went to the MIPS website (http://mipshelmet.com/find-a-helmet). It had links to 9 helmets. Lazer and Scott had several. Lazer's helmets are for kids. Scott's are all off road and dark. There is the POS Trabec Race Backcountry which comes in white and has a visor. It claims to have "size adjustment system" but the strap adjust looks like ancient technology. 340 grams so it's not a flyweight.
I wish the major players would start making all their helmets with MIPS, at least as a option.
Ben
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Oldfart
Posts:511
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| 11/22/2013 12:13 AM |
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| The POC is a helmet for "all mountain" whatever that is supposed to mean so it has more coverage at the back of the head. Many people that use this helmet also complain that the helmet interferes with eyewear. There's some new Scott helmets with MIPS. I saw them at Crankworks. There are also new Smith helmets with this honeycomb looking impact absorbing stuff that look interesting. The device at the back of the POC for clamping works just fine. I have one.
I own too many helmets. I think my head is an odd shape because I try helmets at the store, wear them around the shop buy them but then when I ride them I discover they aren't such a good fit. I bring my riding glasses, bend over in a riding position and often a helmet seems good but the real test is actually riding. |
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Gonzo Cyclist
Posts:568
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| 11/22/2013 02:52 AM |
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| the POC is pretty sweet, nice coverage in the back of the head as OF stated, check out the Bell Super, great fitting coverage just like the POC, but not as ugly, does not break the bank at an MSRP of 125.00 bucks, and comes in a nice high visibility green. The new POC road helmet looks pretty interesting for sure. The Smith rep brought one of the new helmets with the honeycomb stuff, very cool, very light, great looking helmets, but it is quite expensive. He also had a new helmet that came from the Skiing division, very cool, and very light. I've been wearing a UVEX FP-3 for the last few years, makes my high end Giro's and Bell's feel and look terrible, great high quality helmets, I just ordered new Catlike from our rep, I'll keep you posted on how that helmet fits and feels |
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bobswire
Posts:304
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| 11/22/2013 10:00 AM |
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Posted By Kenny Gonzales on 11/22/2013 02:52 AM
the POC is pretty sweet, nice coverage in the back of the head as OF stated, check out the Bell Super, great fitting coverage just like the POC, but not as ugly, does not break the bank at an MSRP of 125.00 bucks, and comes in a nice high visibility green. The new POC road helmet looks pretty interesting for sure. The Smith rep brought one of the new helmets with the honeycomb stuff, very cool, very light, great looking helmets, but it is quite expensive. He also had a new helmet that came from the Skiing division, very cool, and very light. I've been wearing a UVEX FP-3 for the last few years, makes my high end Giro's and Bell's feel and look terrible, great high quality helmets, I just ordered new Catlike from our rep, I'll keep you posted on how that helmet fits and feels
Gonzo knowest of what he speaks on this subject. BTW Gonzo have you had any recurring problems since that accident?
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Oldfart
Posts:511
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| 11/22/2013 12:07 PM |
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| Actually I tried the Bell Super on. It fit well but interfered with my prescription glasses. The helmet sits low on my head and as a result rests on the arms of my glasses. I did just get a Troy Lee A1. Nice blue and silver and fit is not perfect but as good as it gets for my cromagnon skull. But none of these have MIPS. |
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79pmooney
Posts:3180
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| 11/22/2013 01:29 PM |
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All this sounds good, but I still want MIPS. In June I did a rather poorly executed and documented test of the MIPS theory, that of having the helmet shell slide instead of the head being snapped around by the impact should reduce concussions. I hit my head hard enough to trash the shell and crush foam; but the helmet slid enough to start taking my far ear off with the straps and cause real cuts around my eye with my glasses frame. (My face and ear were a mess.) The crunching on my helmet was my last memory until all had stopped.
But, I had zero concussion. None. That lost second or so was just my brain sparing me of what was happening to my body which was far from pretty. As soon as I was stopped, I was all there. No headache, then or later. I remember everything leading up to the crash and the start of it.
Now, this happened (the slip effect) because the straps were not tight enough and/or the adjusting wheel not snugged. In other words, user error. In a different scenario, that error could have cost me dearly. But it opened my eyes. I've been getting minor concussions almost routinely from hard crashes, even when my helmets have barely contacted the road. Thanks to my big crash in '77; a 5 day coma and several hard crashes since. Loose brain syndrome
I still may see the life ending crash. I refuse to wear the motorcycle helmet to prevent it. But a helmet to reduce the concussions form minor crashes I know will happen? Wearing one of those seems to me like a no-brainer. And I suspect that a disciplined study would show that virtually all bike riders with more than 150,000 miles on their legs and 60+ years old who are still riding should be doing the same.
Ben |
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