Why I wear a good helmet.

**Ixion** · 9th June 2005, 10:46

I suspect that there is a law of diminishing returns.

Has the $100 lid been tested to an approved standard. Almost certainly. Am I confident that ALL the 100000 helmets the manufacturer made last year meet the standard. Uh, not very. Manufacturing is an uncertain process, product does vary. A cheap helmet suggests that maybe the manufacturer doesn't have as much in the way of quality control as I'd like.

Does this $1000 helmet offer better quality relaibility and maybe a bit more protection than the $100 lid. Very probably.

Does this $1000 lid offer better protection than the $300 one ? Doubtful. It will probably have more gizmos, and fancier paintwork and the manufacturer probably spends a lot of money on advertising marketing and sponsership, which all has to be recovered.

It's like women's [HITCHER ALERT - is that apostrophe right ?] handbags. Does a $5000 Gucci handbag offer anything extra over a $100 knockoff ? Maybe a little bit, but not much. And not enough to justify the difference (As I keep trying to explain to Mrs Ixion. She is still unconvinced. Women never understand logic or economics)

So at the cheap end you probably save a bit of money but lose more in the way of quality than it's worth

At the very expensive end you spend a lot more money over a midrange lid and don't get much extra in the way of protection for the extra money (the other benefits of the pricier lid, noise reduction, pretty paint etc, may mean you still think it's worth it)

**Oscar** · 9th June 2005, 10:55

I just invested in a new Arai Lid, and I'm pretty happy about it.

**BM-GS** · 9th June 2005, 11:21

Always buy the best lid you can afford.

I remember a story in the UK bike press about 10 years ago, where a bloke got knocked off in the middle of a junction and a mini (an real one, not the newfangled German one) ran over his head. He walked away; the mini was a write-off cos the suspension had ripped out. The rider was gutted cos it was only a few weeks old and had cost more than he could afford, but it had saved his life. He sent in a letter to a bike mag under a "buy the best you can afford" sort of title, and the manufacturer saw the letter & sent him a new lid, saying: "you can't buy that kind of advertising". Certainly true,and I bet the guy still wears the same make!

Overall quality goes up with price - not just the impact protection, but how long the padding stays fluffy & cossetting, whether the vents work, how good the visor mechanism is, etc. A nice feature is a removeable lining so you can wash out the sweat/bugs/etc.

Different manufacturers make helmets for different-shaped heads. I had Shoeis for years, and was pretty happy, until I went touring and had to wear the lid all day - not comfy as the lid was round and my head is less round at the front that the lid. Am now happy in a 5-year-old Arai which will need replacing soon.

I thought that polycarbonate lids degraded with uv exposure, so had a shorter useful life. They certainly discolour over about 6-7 years.

I'd rather pay double for something I don't have to endure, than save $200 to wear something I hate - life's too short.

If you've had a helmet where the visor kept falling down; or needed unscrewing to get off to clean; or flipped up when you looked over your shoulder; or scratched every time you wore it; or the vents didn't let air through, but did let water in; or the lining ripped after a year; or the loose end of the strap wouldn't stay put & tried to shred your neck when you rode over 80kph, you'll know what I mean - especially if you did a 100km ride every day in all weathers.

This is my opinoin, and is worth exactly what you paid for it. :-)