Buying helmet online ..

Mr Sheen!

Geraldo wrote: »

Not sure I ever agreed with this statement really. The cheapest lids will obviously be of a poorer fit etc but they all pass pretty much the same safety standards. And let's be honest, if you come off at speed you're in big trouble no matter what.

True that they all meet the same standard. However many of the top end lids go well above this standard and it is just because there is no standard at that high level that you cannot truly compare.

For example years ago people thought that houses were houses and they all had to meet the same standard which was try to a certain degree. Now however with the BER ratings you can see why a house which looks identical to the one next door is worth ten times as much. An A rated home is well above the standard it must meet.

Roadcraft

Wonda-Boy wrote: »

Well I would rather be in my Arai Quantum coming off at speed then a €50 lidl/Aldi lid.....but each to their own m8.

AraI Quantum, 3 star lid, scored very bad for side impact, but each to their own its a very good brand name.

I would say a 50 Euro lid would suit a 50 Euro budget.

Cienciano

Roadcraft wrote: »

AraI Quantum, 3 star lid, scored very bad for side impact, but each to their own its a very good brand name.

I would say a 50 Euro lid would suit a 50 Euro budget.

I'd take that test with a pinch of salt tbh.
I go with mid range lids though, I don't think arais are worth the cash

zubair

Some people agree with the rating some don't. But it's the only independent test we have that's considered reliable, it was setup by the uk department of tranport so I trust it.

I think an aldi lid would probably fail it, but there are cheap brands that would pass with flying colours as there are expensive ones. I don't think people should poopoo their ratings altogether and if you don't have faith in their system just use it as a guideline rather than the deciding factor.

Remember the main difference between a 50 lid and a 300+ lid is the 50 lid protects your head from impacts and the elements, an expensive lid does this too but with Bluetooth, sun visor , pinlock, low noise, lightweight, cool colour scheme and a recognised brand name.

Kat1170

zubair wrote: »

Some people agree with the rating some don't. But it's the only independent test we have that's considered reliable, it was setup by the uk department of tranport so I trust it.

I think an aldi lid would probably fail it, but there are cheap brands that would pass with flying colours as there are expensive ones. I don't think people should poopoo their ratings altogether and if you don't have faith in their system just use it as a guideline rather than the deciding factor.

Remember the main difference between a 50 lid and a 300+ lid is the 50 lid protects your head from impacts and the elements, an expensive lid does this too but with Bluetooth, sun visor , pinlock, low noise, lightweight, cool colour scheme and a recognised brand name.

Don't know about that, they sell the same lids in Germany and they're fairly anal about passing tests.

Wouldn't buy/wear one though

CJhaughey

It doesn't matter how much a helmet costs if it doesn't fit correctly.
a €500 helmet that is too big will be worse in a crash than a cheapie that is sized and fitted correctly.
Too many people buy helmets to fit their face, not their head.
Usually the big advantage with a better helmet is the adjustable cheekpads and pads, cheaper helmets don't usually have this feature.
I see helmets coming up in features and down in price all the time, apart from the big names but even Arai have made a more affordable model now because they are being hammered in sales.

zubair

Kat1170 wrote: »

Don't know about that, they sell the same lids in Germany and they're fairly anal about passing tests.

Wouldn't buy/wear one though

We're both making assumptions here to be fair. I would add that all the helmets on SHARP have passed the necessary ECE tests but they all have different ratings when tested by SHARP.

1 reason I wouldn't wear one is the amount of handling they get while on the shop floor.

Vikings

zubair wrote: »

1 reason I wouldn't wear one is the amount of handling they get while on the shop floor.

No more than one sitting on the shelf of a bike shop for a couple of years at an extortionate price with people coming and going trying it on to buy it half the price online

CJhaughey

Handling is not the biggest threat to helmets, sunlight, and petrol vapour will do more damage than someone handling a helmet.

Wonda-Boy

Roadcraft wrote: »

AraI Quantum, 3 star lid, scored very bad for side impact, but each to their own its a very good brand name.

I would say a 50 Euro lid would suit a 50 Euro budget.

As I said would not trust the sharp tests at all, have seen 1st hand the state of 5 star sharp lids after the smallest offs up in cross and by the owner. I'll will stick to my Arai all the same.

CJhaughey

Wonda-Boy wrote: »

As I said would not trust the sharp tests at all, have seen 1st hand the state of 5 star sharp lids after the smallest offs up in cross and by the owner. I'll will stick to my Arai all the same.

It is a personal decision. However the state of the helmet after an accident is immaterial, the state of the contents of the helmet is the primary concern and if the contents are still functional then the helmet has done its job by dissipating the energy involved.

Wonda-Boy

http://whyarai.co.uk/why-choose-arai

Mr Sheen!

http://youtu.be/1F0Myf4oEzc

P.C.

So, if you pay €300 for a helmet does that mean that you have a €300 head?

Still a very cheap price to put on your head.

What if you get the helmet on a sale and only pay €200? Does that mean that you only have a €200 head?

Fit, comfort, low noise and other things like that are important to me when I buy a helmet.

Budget also comes into it. I am not going to spend thousands on a helmet just because it has some fancy artwork.

Each to their own - find a helmet that you are happy with.

Mr Sheen!

My missus loves polishing my helmet. I'm happy with that.

CJhaughey

Mr Sheen! wrote: »

My missus loves polishing my helmet. I'm happy with that.

Does she use Mr Sheen to polish it?

Mr Sheen!

CJhaughey wrote: »

Does she use Mr Sheen to polish it?

Spit Polish :eek:

dav32cs

As said it doesn't matter how much the helmet costs if it is the wrong size. At another point, trying to equate the safety of a helmet strictly with the price is a very simple and misinformed way to look at things. The majority of crashes are at low grade (20-40mph)survivable speeds so the gap between brands will be relatively minor, the higher speed ones its not going to matter what helmet you're wearing...Comparing safety to price is like saying you'll be safer in your 200k Mercedes compared to a 30k Audi even though they might have very similar SAFETY quality's but vastly different SPECS which lead to the price difference . Also a good article below( which eventually led the writer to being fired over advertising threats from big brand helmet makers)
Enter http:// before to see link as it won't allow me
motorcycleinfo.calsci.com/Articles/MotorcyclistHelmets.html

dav32cs

Wonda-Boy wrote: »

As I said would not trust the sharp tests at all, have seen 1st hand the state of 5 star sharp lids after the smallest offs up in cross and by the owner. I'll will stick to my Arai all the same.

As said by another user a helmet like the one you described could have done its job perfectly by spreading the force of impact out and around over a helmet that may show no damage but because the shell was too stiff it absorbed the impacted directly into one area rather than spreading it out. The important bits to look at after a crash are inside the helmet and not outside anyways

szatan84

dav32cs wrote: »

As said it doesn't matter how much the helmet costs if it is the wrong size. At another point, trying to equate the safety of a helmet strictly with the price is a very simple and misinformed way to look at things. The majority of crashes are at low grade (20-40mph)survivable speeds so the gap between brands will be relatively minor, the higher speed ones its not going to matter what helmet you're wearing...Comparing safety to price is like saying you'll be safer in your 200k Mercedes compared to a 30k Audi even though they might have very similar SAFETY quality's but vastly different SPECS which lead to the price difference . Also a good article below( which eventually led the writer to being fired over advertising threats from big brand helmet makers)
Enter http:// before to see link as it won't allow me
motorcycleinfo.calsci.com/Articles/MotorcyclistHelmets.html

That link is actually the best review of helmet safety I ever read. Well done.

zubair

zubair wrote: »

Don't mean to hi Jack the thread but has any one ever dealt with this company before?

www.motoabbigliamento.it/en/

Replacing my helmet and its 35 shmackeroos cheaper than the next best price I can find, www.motorcycleshop.ie, have dealt with them before and have been very happy. 35 quid is a bit of a difference though.

In case anyone cares... I went with the 35.00 cheaper option from www.motoabbigliamento.it/en/. It took 2 weeks to get posted as they had to request it from one of their shops, this was stated in the ordering process though so was well informed before ordering and wasn't in a hurry anyway. Once posted (free) it arrived in 3 days. The only concern i had was the protective packaging could have been a bit better but that's probably me being overly concerned about buying a helmet online. Then again, I have never bought one in a shop and probably still never will.

Having dealt with www.motorcycleshop.ie in the past I expect that they would have delivered quickly and their price was competitive with UK/ Eire prices so I would have bought from them if I was in a hurry.