Helmet advice

[Danno]

Sometimes that’s adjustable up and down.

Yeah, maybe I should have played with them more. But the incentive wasn't there when a perfectly good helmet fit right out of the box; I didn't see a reason to try and make the others work better.

[rideit]

That’s using your head!!!

I’ll show myself out

[Supermoon]

Yeah, maybe I should have played with them more. But the incentive wasn't there when a perfectly good helmet fit right out of the box; I didn't see a reason to try and make the others work better.

Yeah. That’s true.

[skinipenem]

Tried Smith forefront2 - rode high on my head (not in a good way. ) bit of forehead pressure. Felt like not enough coverage due to high riding. Looks dorky.

Keeping tld a3 - not perfect. Bit of forehead pressure and a little gapped on the sides. Can remove/shave the foam forehead sweat liner so should be good. Great coverage. Looks cool.

Sent from my SM-S908U1 using Tapatalk

[summit]

xpost about safe helmets responding to a request for the best enduro class helmets - consequently the convertible FFs are also typically the safest half domes, although for half domes you can also have some to add a few more

I don't fuck around with helmets as they are the last place you want to skimp on anything. At minimum you want the key features for safety: at least 2 densities of foam in the full shell to better manage energy dissipation across potential crash speeds, a shear force reduction system, something that does more than shear (yellow) MIPS like Spherical or viscoelastics, breakaway visors, and no decorative sharp edges that will catch.

Safest Half Dome Helmets:
Bontrager Blaze and Rally WaveCell helmets
6D ATB-2T
Kali Maya 3.0
Giro Spherical MIPS helmets (several)
Any of the convertible FF helmets below in half dome mode

Safest Convertible FF Helmets: (all pass DH rating except the Air)
Bell Super DH Spherical (I think this the safest light FF)
Leatt MTB Enduro 4.0 (extremely competitive with Bell Super DH)
Bell Super Air Spherical (lighter but less protective and doesn't have a DH rating)

Safest DH Helmets: (These also all pass DOT)
Leatt MTB Gravity 8.0
Kali Shiva 2.0 (Carbon)
6D ATB-1

I like the convertibles as it is 2 helmets in one, and I can take the safety features of the enduro class helmet when I am just wanting a half-lid for trail riding, and carry the chinbar for enduro/self shuttle work. I have been using a Bell Super M2 MIPS forever and I am going to replace it now with either the Super DH or the MTB Enduro 4.0 which are in the mail.

Who makes the most protective helmets?
When I think of the companies that are innovating AND putting safety above everything else: 6D, Bell, Leatt, Kali, and Bontrager. Yes POC is only about safety, but I don't see them innovating lately. Fox and TLD make great helmets, but I don't find them to be innovators. For rotational/shearing reduction, so many companies just throw in shear plane (yellow) MIPS, then put style first. I always laugh when I see a helmet that has MIPS and then has large/sharp stylized ridges or finlike structures that would catch and increase rotational forces. POC's signature smooth rounded shell helmet designs with nothing to catch? That is actually a safety feature! You want a helmet to slide, not catch!

The Ultimate Protection

There are many factors that contribute to safety, but the two biggest are a proper shear protection system and multiple foam densities to manage forces across a variety of impact speeds. Not having at least two densities is just inexcusable for any medium or high end helmet design. You have to be careful when researching because many companies are saying "two densities of foam!" but when you read the details you find out the second density layer is only on one small part of the helmet, often just on the chin piece! Having an EPP (multimpact) layer is nice to (instead of just EPS) but again some companies claim EPP and you find out its just a tiny layer coated on the chin piece. It is also worth noting that to manage impacts, ultimately you have to have distance over which deceleration occurs. It is simple physics that tells us that super low profile helmets just cannot work as well as a thicker helmet, if both are equally well designed.

Shear forces matter too... helmets have to be engineered for by providing deceleration distance along the rotation. A two layer rotating shear reduction system, like MIPS originally designed (and implemented with POC over a decade ago), is the safest shear mitigating concussion prevention prevention system. Today, the only helmets with similarly designed rotational protection are from 6D, Bell, and Giro. Sheer plane (yellow) MIPS so common in helmets is just cheaper and easier to engineer into a helmet, and I think that is where these elastomer systems (Turbine, Spin, LDL, WaveCell etc) have come in as at-least-as-good as they likely offer similar shear relief to yellow MIPS while adding what is basically an extra foam density layer serving as low-speed multi-impact protection. The Bontrager secret sauce looks promising, but it's only in half shells.

Consequently, the safest helmets ever made for DH biking was probably a tie between the 6D ATB-1 (proprietary superior spherical+elastomer) and POC Cortex DH (Spherical) MIPS (discontinued, owned 3). Advanced multidensity foam layering and energy dissipation is key, and both that POC and 6D include it, and that huge consideration also went into it with my second place award: a tie between the Kali Shiva Carbon 2.0 (innovative multidensity foam construction + LDL) and the Leatt MTB Gravity 8.0 (quad density foam + Turbine, I use this now).

[Andeh]

Did anything ever resolve in the case of Bontrager being sued over misleading statements regarding WaveCell marketing?

https://www.pinkbike.com/news/trek-b...ty-claims.html

[summit]

Did anything ever resolve in the case of Bontrager being sued over misleading statements regarding WaveCell marketing?

https://www.pinkbike.com/news/trek-b...ty-claims.html

Hard to tell if it is ambulance chasing or legit, but the charge that they used a Scott ARX MIPS vs a Scott ARX with Wavecell (which add thickness) in the test, but the Bontrager helmets have less foam than the Scott... well that means the improvements may be smaller. There was speculation without evidence that MIPS might be supporting the plaintiff.

I know MIPS sued POC over Spin

[s1ammy]

Decent discounts on POC helmets in their outlet section: https://na.pocsports.com/collections...outlet-helmets