best helmet...

[Baltobuell]

 OK I'm going to give my idea to anybody that may implement it. Most of you have ruined a helmet and remember the BONK it gave you. When the shell hits the ground, BONK, and unless your brain is attached to the inside of your skull tighter than the styrofoam crushing, no helmet is going to help. I personally have bonked too many times and have been told each succsesion will multiply the size of the concussion. OK are ya with me so far. Now look at the vents on an Arai. Average about 1"wide plastic scoops. I wish a top dollar helmet company would put some kind of cheap lumps like that all over to act as a crush sleeve before it ever gets to the shell.  I really think it would save alot of concussions and unconscious rides in ambulances.
 PS: last KO was in a Shoei, I now have an Arai and like it alot better.
Back to the testing debate.

[cornercamping]

What I'm trying to figure out is how you can really compare one helmet brand to another.  Yeah, they pass certain levels of certifications and such, but you don't crash the same way every time, so therefore saying brand X is superior to brand Y because brand Y broke when I crashed and X didn't doesn't make sense.  Honestly, does it really matter if it's a Shoei, Arai, Suomy, ect.?  As long as it fits right, and it has pass certain certifications, nothing else really matters.

Why haven't they put an "explosive foam" or something simliar that will blow the helmet up with foam or gel or something upon impact?  Kinda like an airbag inside a helmet, but it uses foam or gel.    Wonder if that would work  ???  

[Super Dave]

I think Brian hit it on the head...LOL...

"Personally, I would try on many different helmets (from major manufacturers) and pick the one that I like the fit and finish the best."

In this day and age, you can make new standards all day long.

I had this discussion with the people at Vanson.  They related that there are standards, but sometimes, those standards don't relate based on one's experiences.  Those standards sometimes just end up costing money while not necessarily helping the product overall.

I'm sure we can think of ways on both sides where that works and doesn't.

Anyway, I'll defer to Brian.

I've been whacked on the ground a couple of times over all these years.

I've seen stars and I have been knocked out.  But the helmet did it's job.  Nothing is perfect.

[license2ill]

I had this discussion with the people at Vanson.  They related that there are standards, but sometimes, those standards don't relate based on one's experiences.  Those standards sometimes just end up costing money while not necessarily helping the product overall.

Now that's bs from a company that wants to sell cheap armor. They can't tell how it doesnt relate to anoyone's experiences or how a non-standardized option relates better, at least with any kind of proof.

[H-man]

Hope this doesn't incite or toss fuel on a fire but.... Anyone have experience with X-Lite and Shark helmets?

Both have were used by WSBK riders this past year (but that could have been one of those Shoei tricks where the graphics you see on a professional racer doesn't necesarily match the model helmet sold to the general public withthe same graphics - the DuHammel model for example) so I'm presuming they're both pretty good.

I've heard really good first hand advice about the X-Lite being really quite and light weight.

The Shark interests me because of it's looks and meeting the BSI stds.

[Super Dave]

Now that's bs from a company that wants to sell cheap armor. They can't tell how it doesnt relate to anoyone's experiences or how a non-standardized option relates better, at least with any kind of proof.

Talk to Alexa about their stuff.

Most of the privateer AMA guys are wearing Vanson because of protection and availability.  Go up a rung, and you're talking about contracts and money.  It's not what you can buy from those companies.

Standards are often not set by the people that actually have things in use.  What standard would you use?  Tell me the handful of individuals that have real experience with road racing crashes?  It's a double edged sword.  

Case in point.

Arai.

New or different standards.  I've raced with Arai's and crashed them to pieces.  Snell is good.  So is DOT.  Now BSI enters the picture.  Arai doesn't want to use the BSI standard, read they don't see the value in paying for another standard, so are they bad or do they have poor protection?

[K3 Chris Onwiler]

Man, I've taken some AWFUL licks in my Vansons, and always faired better than I had any right to expect.  If that's BS, I'll wear it all day....

[Frank_Angel]

Hope this doesn't incite or toss fuel on a fire but.... Anyone have experience with X-Lite and Shark helmets?

Both have were used by WSBK riders this past year (but that could have been one of those Shoei tricks where the graphics you see on a professional racer doesn't necesarily match the model helmet sold to the general public withthe same graphics - the DuHammel model for example) so I'm presuming they're both pretty good.

I've heard really good first hand advice about the X-Lite being really quite and light weight.

The Shark interests me because of it's looks and meeting the BSI stds.

Miguel likes Shark now too.

http://venus.13x.com/roadracingworld/scripts/NewsInsert.asp?insert=11494

[Super Dave]

Just read that myself.

[license2ill]

Standards are often not set by the people that actually have things in use.  What standard would you use? Tell me the handful of individuals that have real experience with road racing crashes?  It's a double edged sword.  

While that seems logical, very few people will actually know how to properly interpret the actual forces at work. There's an expression in the fitness industry that holds very true, never ask a bodybuilder how to get big, you will never get the right answer.

That's not say we can't interpret anecdotal damage to a degree, whether its an injury or damage to the gear, its just to say that our assumptions can be way off and only validated through what amounts to limited experience.

As far as Arai, the main thng they advertise about Snell approval is that all of their helmets in North America are Snell approved, rather than any models that are just DOT approved. Considering the requirements of both Snell and ECE22/05, BSI wouldn't hold much extra value in other markets if their helmets carried the both labels, as Snell impact requirements surpass BSI and ECE22/05 specifies the same oblique requireemnts.

[H-man]

Hmmm... I din't realize the Shark is a French product.  I'm still upset with the French.

Hell, I still boycott anything by Toshiba because of their secret sale of heavy machinery to the USSR back in 1986.

That machinery (long with the software from a Dutch or Swedish company whose name I forget right now) enabled the USSR to machine submarine screws from a single chunk of steel.  They couldn't do that before and it made things a hell of a lot unsafer for us in the undersea war.

Fo the younger among us and the uninitiated, during the cold war, things raged pretty hot for the sub services.  Read The Hunt for Red October
That cat and mouse stuff was REAL.  We even fired upon one another from time to time.

Anyway, I may drop Shark from consideration.

Any testimonies about the X-Lite?

[spyderchick]

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