I've been looking at these for a while and just took the plunge;

Uber imola helmet, £30 delivered

Its a full face helmet with a satisfiying clunk to the visor and very eefctive vents. The linning is light and airy and also removable.

I purchased mine from demon tweeks via ebay and collected the helmet from the local Argos store (very convinient).

I was happy with how the helmet looked and the quality seemed great but a test ride proved that it was even better than expected. Quite and quality not bad for £30. My only niggle is the snap stud closure for the excess helmet strap can prove slightly fiddly but the double d ring is tight and secure. The linning I found to be slightly itchy but I wear a helmet linner so its no big issue.

I opted for the Hi vis yellow colour as I put in a few motorway miles and have noticed that the hi vis helmets stand out more than anything else on a rider in traffic.

Other colours and styles are available and all for under £50.

If your in the market for a new helmet and you don't want to spend a lot I wouldnt look much further.

will it protect me? well its passed various tests it feels good it stands out and at £30 if I drop it I'm much more likely to replace it than if it cost £300. It feels as good if not better than any of my other helmets including my trusty Foggy Shark which is a bit long in the toooth these days.


here is a link to the advert if your interested; (if this is classed as marketing then please remove the link and use a search engine)
Uber Imola | Demon Tweeks

Does this helmet have an genuine, registered, verifiable approval from a respected testing organization such as BSA, Snell, or one of the organizations that are approved to carry out EC certification of helmets?

Sure, £30 sounds like a great deal, but I kinda-sorta think that there must be some good reason why the better quality helmets out there (Arai, Schuberth, and the like) cost several hundred GBP or more. I don't think that the price difference is only due to nice paint on the outside, or nice fabric on the inside.

The website you linked to states that the helmet has 'ECE 22.05' approval, but heck, ECE 22.05 isn't even the correct standard for that type of helmet. Full face helmets such as that one need to qualify under ECE 22.05P or ECE 22.05NP.

Maybe I'm a skeptical old fart, but my take is "If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is too good to be true."

Michael

Hey Michael no worries I'm a skeptical blighter myself and I did a wee bit of research before parting with my cash. I checked out other helmets at shows visited some bike shops (where the staff where always happy to stear me towards the higher priced helmets!!) I checked out some stats on weights etc I realised that for what I wanted I didnt need an internal (heavy =) sun visor or a flip front (I use garages that let me keep my helmet on or I pay at pump). I wear prsecription glasses so if its sunny I always have a dark and normal pair with me.

It has a ACU Gold sticker(which is to say the ACU sell the manufacturer a snazzy sticker but then so do most exspensive helmets). and here's what I found about ECE22.05

The ECE (Economic Community of Europe) 22.05 rating is the most widespread helmet standard internationally, required by over 50 countries worldwide. Motorcycle Helmets that meet the ECE 22.05 criteria will meet the expectations of the motorcycle rider looking for more protection than the standard US DOT certification. Since ECE 22.05 standards are more in line with the Snell requirements for helmet safety, American motorcycle riders can be confident that an ECE 22.05 helmet will keep their brain-bucket just as safe as a helmet with Snell certification. RevZilla carries over 100 ECE 22.05 helmets from industry-leading manufacturers such as Arai, Shark, Icon, Nolan and more. If you're a rider looking for an ECE 22.05 motorcycle helmet and have any questions about the different criteria for helmet certification, don't hesitate to contact us. We're happy to help keep you safe.

I think it is fair to say that in a world where a audi R8 costs £50,000 less than the near identical but different bodied Lambourgini then its fair to say that we are paying over the odds for a name.

I'm happy with the helmet and I'm pretty sure its ilegal to sell helmets in the UK that have not met safety standards unless they are clearly marked as for costume or not for road use etc.

I'm not saying one helmet is better than the other in fact I hope that my £30 helmet is far less supirior than the £300 equivalents but I have had various decent helmets to compare it to and I honestly think that it exceeds them in every aspect including weight.

At £30 its hard to find many negatives and if your exspensive helmet is getting a bit long in the tooth then it may just be worth taking the plunge. At worst at least you've bagged yourself a nice helmet to take down the local kart track or a handy spare if nothing else.

We live in a world where we have big brand names rammed down our throats and I believe that with a little searching similar products without the big brand price tags are available.

If your budget allows then buy whatever you desire however I would rather be riding around in a brand new budget helmet than a 10 year old helmet.

In reality who replaces their helmet everytime its dropped? each drop can create tiny unseen fractures and over time these can put your safety at risk.

With the £270 I saved by going budget I can fund a week away touring the highlands of Scotland, I'm pretty sure the views will look just as good from inside my £30 helmet.

I'm almost tempted to buy another one because if everyone buys them I'll end up having to fork our more money when its time to replace it!

One of my riding buddies just told me about his HJC, he's had the helmet a couple of years and needed a replacement visor, he found a new one for £30 but then he searched the internet and found the complete brand new HJC helmet for £30 delivered!! SO one happy guy he gets the visor with a free helmet thrown in!!

Sounds a real BARGAIN to me. Well done.

Don't be put off by those out there who will urge you to spend silly money on "top shelf" helmets.

The SHARP tests have proved that expensive does not necessarily equate to increased protection. There are plenty of examples where sub £100 helmets have blown away helmets costing 4 times as much.

I remember Arai's top range helmet being well beaten by a £70 helmet.

Pick a helmet manufacturer that doesn't waste money on expensive advertising and sports sponsorship.

__________________
Triumph Bonneville 800 (2004), Yamaha XT600E (1999), Honda XBR500 (1986).

Helmet is proving bloody useful.

I've ridden into the big smoke and done plenty of boring motorway miles and still havnt been knocked off so it must be working!