Different helmet shapes for different markets?

[Tazz]

i am having a major logic fail here.

I can't comment about other factories, I know though that Arai definitely do offer different headshapes. IIRC they don't offer different headshapes within a helmet style, the different models come in different head shapes. This is all explained in detail on the Arai website. My USA bought Arai fitted because I could buy it knowing that it had the same head shape as the Arai I already owned.

From the web site:

Q: I see that Arai now has three different shell shapes. Why?
A: It could be argued that helmet fit can be kind of a benign process. A helmet manufacturer does some R&D to develop a shell shape and an interior fit shape they think will appeal to a lot of riders; then they make the helmet and put it on the market. The potential customer then tries on the helmet, and it either fits the customer’s head, or it doesn’t. Arai Helmets, on the other hand, takes a different approach. Instead of one-shape-for-all, Arai offers you three different interior fit shapes to choose from. Arai believes helmet fit is critical to both the performance and the enjoyment of a helmet.. Arai believes the rider benefits of a better, more comfortable fit result in a helmet you can wear longer – longer rides, longer years – without fatigue or “pressure points”. A better fit can also help reduce wind noise because it seals better, conforming more your head shape. It allows for a better chance of buying a helmet that’s the right size for your head – instead of one that’s too large – because in the search for comfort we might be tempted to buy a size that’s too large in order to get a “one-shape-for-all” helmet to feel comfortable. And a too-large helmet is one of the major contributors to wind noise, buffeting, and in the extreme, a helmet that moves around on your head.Next, the science of helmet fit isn’t an exact science. If it were, somebody would probably have created the “perfect” shape years ago and been done with it. But there are a countless number of head shapes that not only vary from person to person, but from culture to culture. To Arai’s designers and engineers, that means you work as hard as you can to come as close as you can to “the best fit for the most riders”. It also takes a particular type of company to encourage its people devote so much time and effort to the search.

Q: What’s the difference between the helmet shapes?
A: It comes down to a basic fact: the shape of the head – the relationship between length and width – are as important as head size in determining the right helmet for you a helmet:

The traditional Arai fit – the “Long Oval” – For heads whose length is distinctly narrow side-to-side, combined with a longer front to back measurement

The transitional fit – the “Round Oval” – For heads that are distinctly rounder, the length and width being almost even.

The bridge fit – the “Intermediate Oval” – For heads with a round shape, but with considerably more forehead length. This shape “bridges” the gap between the two previous shapes.

Well there we have it, 5 mins of looking on your own and you would have found the answer

Interesting they have 3 shapes, for some reason I though it would just be two.

[AllanB]

My last couple of HJC's have been purchased ex USA. Fix my head perfect as do the equivalent NZ HJC.


Possibly the more interesting question is: are vaginas globally different between races? Does one size really fit all?

[Tazz]

My last couple of HJC's have been purchased ex USA. Fix my head perfect as do the equivalent NZ HJC.


Possibly the more interesting question is: are vaginas globally different between races? Does one size really fit all?

And do they queef or flap different notes in the wind. If so, are they tuneable?

[HenryDorsetCase]

So whats the difference between a European head in France and an ethnically European head in the US?

Not the point. the point is that manufacturers supply a different shell or padding shape to a market depending on the demographic factors of that market.

If you are in that market then you buy the helmet that fits you same as here. You might be an Asian person with a round head instead of the more usual "long oval" so a lot of helmets dont fit you there but you keep trying till they do.

I struck it personally with Arai and the fuckwits that import them to NZ. Get this, they are different as between Straya and UnZud..... model range and name, graphics etc.

That, and the issues with damage in transit and hassle in returning (plus the GST/customs thing) would make me think twice about doing it again.

I also bought another brand of helmet not available here out of the US, and lucked out that it fit me pretty well. But it is cool enought that I was prepared to use it as an ornament if not.

[nodrog:Me]

Arai has different sized shells in each model range, not to suit different head shapes but to use in the different sizes. ie their small shell will do xxs to s, and the large shell will do L to Xxl.

they do different shaped shells for head shape, but they are model specific. ie an rx7 will be a different shape to a quantum.

Its not feasible or economic to make a shell shape for every ethnicity, with 3 different shell sizes, on every model.

It would be ok though if immigration wasnt invented.

[caspernz]

It would be ok though if immigration wasnt invented.

That might be the answer to the housing problem in Auckland. Now let's invent the time machine...

[Oscar]

When I was in Spain a few years ago, I needed a helmet, and after a lot of shagging around trying get the right size, I bit the bullet and selected what I thought was the exact same Shoei Hornet that I had bought in NZ. Despite it being the same model and size, the damn thing wouldn't go over my fat head (size 60 / XL).

In fact, there were very few helmets in the larger size available in Spain - 58 was generally the largest.

[SPP]

Can anybody suggest why there would be a significant difference between head shapes in Europe and North America when North America is predominantly populated by immigrants from Europe?

Nope, didn't care much past knowing the helmets were different. The back of a spoon can fix things if they're not too far out.