I'm a firm believer that many of the cheaper makes of helmet on the market today are just as good as some of the more expensive helmets. I'm looking for a genuine alternative to the BIG 2 (both start with the letter S). I keep hearing good things about the NITRO make of helmets, is anyone able to impart some first hand experience in this respect? I don't want to spend any more than about £100 ($240) on a plain colour helmet and it MUST be a type A giving maximum protection. The big 2 must obviously pass on their marketing costs to the customer which must increase costs massively. Years ago the BIG 2 were AGV and Bell but they seem to have gone out of fashion for some reason (in the UK at least). Finally, where is the best place to get one from?

I read yesterday that the UK government is passing new legislation which will result in helmets going through a much more rigorous testing process. Rather than just advising the customer that the helmet meets a required minimum standard the helmet manufacturer will have to give detailed data about the type of tests and the result of these tests in fine detail. This will enable customers like me to make an informed judgment when looking for reasonably priced alternatives. I imagine that the BIG 2 might be worried by this development because their share of the industry might come under threat from helmets manufactured to the same standards but much less expensive.

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