Originally Posted by RS Tweed

One company (A) makes what is almost ideal for me; but the peak is still too big to be comfy at speed, while yet another (who also make bikes, German ones) has a good sized peak, but too constrictive a chinguard.

Originally Posted by farqhuar

Ok, Im going to open a can of worms here.

1. When it comes to helmet safety, cheaper = better. Do not buy an expensive Snell approved helmet - they are DANGEROUS, and more likely to cause injury in over 90% of accidents.

2. Do not buy a flip up helmet - once they are hit and no longer flip, you can't remove them. Almost lost a rider a year back because of that.

Garry from Oz.

Originally Posted by Caminando

I'm interested in your comments about flip-ups. Most of the people on the HUBB will be wearing flip-ups, as I do. Yet I once read a throwaway remark by a helmet manufacturer dismissing flip-ups as useless - but that’s all I could find out about them.

If anyone has some hard facts/research on this it would be useful to see.

Originally Posted by farqhuar

Judd/Caminando, my comments relate to an incident that occurred in November 2007.

A rider from France came down under to join a group of us locals on a Sydney - Melbourne - Brisbane tour via all the twisty back roads. Going down a mountain, 50kms from the nearest small town, the rider locked the rear wheel on his GSX1400 (we were all riding 14s), ran wide on the corner and basically went head on in to an oncoming Subaru. His head hit the A pillar as well as the windscreen and when we went to pick him up off the road (not literally) he was drowning in his own blood inside his flip up Schubert. Although we got the visor open we could not flip the front of the helmet up or take it off his head (ultimately the ambulance officers had to saw the front of the helmet off to remove it) and as with most flip-ups you can't take them off without first flipping them (flip-ups have the front section of the helmet sitting much closer to the mouth/jaw than a regular full-face and many of them actually fit under your chin).

The rider is now back in France but was comatose for a fortnight then spent 3 months in rehab in Melbourne before being repatriated and spending a further 3 months in rehab in Paris. He is still an outpatient, and because of his brain injuries has limited control over the left side of his body.

As for my comment about cheaper being better, it is based on Snell certification. Snell certification means a manufacturer charges more for their helmet (it's a higher standard and better isn't it? - yes and NO).

Basically to achieve Snell certification means the helmet outer and inner must be very firm to pass the cannonball pendulum intrusion test.

The problem being of course is that the firm inner can no longer absorb lesser shocks, and transmits them directly to the skull (which transmits them to the brain and causes brain injury). Accidents which cause lesser shocks represent 90+% percent of all accidents (and just about 100% of all single vehicle incidents), so in effect, by buying a "better, more expensive" Snell approved helmet you are increasing your risk of brain injury in 90% of your possible accident scenarios.

Basically it's all Snell’s fault - they just kept raising the bar to make their impact intrusion standards better than everyone else, but they unfortunately forgot that intrusion is not the be all and end all for helmet safety.

Garry from Oz.