What is the difference between a $15 helmet and a $150 helmet?
My SO has been shopping for a new helmet, and the price differences are bizarre. What do you really get with a $150 helmet you don’t get with a cheaper model?
My helmet cost $35, should I be looking for a more expensive one? Will it protect my head better?
Since all helmets have to meet federal safety standards if they are sold new, I believe you are buying comfort, style, marketing, panache, color and perhaps durability. I, too, have a boring white helmet I purchased on clearance for $35. My wife’s is cooler looking and cost an additional $20.
After the safety factors are acceptable, I guess one may view it as a fashion decision.
I ride all the time and my helmet came from an MCC Thrift Shop. Cost me a buck!
Anyway, I don’t know if it’s different in the States, but all helmets in Canada have a number/rating from the Snell Memorial Foundation,(mine is B90) along with a serial number. It’s also covered by ANSI Z90 Standard. I think some have a CSA rating as well. My helmet is a Louis Garneau and was probably fairly expensive new, but I’ve seen the same kind of standards on a Zeller’s cheapie so I think some level of testing is probably mandatory.
Good on you for wearing one! It’s supposed to be the law around here, but I see way too many people out without 'em.
Unless your head tends to get really hot, or is a very strange shape (like a giant wedge of cheese) there is very little reason to pay over $40 for a helmet.
I tend to gravitate towards clearence models with as many vents as possible. (hot head, not cheese wedge)
BTW, let us know how the “all the dopers say you are wasting money” conversation with the SO goes…
As of 1999, all bicycle helmets sold in the US have to meet the CPSC (consumer product safety commission) standard for helmets.
The Snell Foundation also has a set of standards that they apply to all sorts of protective helmets, bike ones among them.
Snell B-90 roughly corresponds to the CPSC standard, but the newer Snell B-95 is a more rigorous standard. Unfortunately, with the required CPSC testing, few manufacturers pay to have their helmets Snell certified anymore.
So in a nutshell, any non-Snell certified helmets all meet the minimum standards for safety as required by law. Any that are B-95 certified meet a higher standard and will probably cost more.
As for me… I have a $35 1998 Specialized Mountain Man helmet that is Snell B-90A certified, and I’m not too worried about getting my brains scrambled.
Source for information: http://www.bhsi.org/standard.htm
As tastycorn said, the most significant difference is the size and number of vent holes. They also look more fancy.
It may be worth spending the extra money if that’s what it takes to get you a helmet that you like. If you feel like you look stupid in your helmet or it’s uncomfortable, you’re less likely to wear it. And it doesn’t protect your head at all if it’s not on your head.
If your $35 helmet is comfortable and you’re satisfied with the way it looks and it meets the safety standards and it’s not more than a few years old, then you’re all set.
I’d be wary of the off brands, but if it is a brand you trust, there’s no reason to suspicious just because it’s cheap. I got my snappy Bell helmet at Costco for $19.99.
Some of the main reasons for helmets running in the $100 plus range is weight, head fit and air flow (cooling the head). Of course style is a factor also, but I’ve seen $35 helmets that look pretty sporting. When the wife got into cycling, she bought a decent Giro helmet at Sports Authority for about $40. Two weeks later she did an endo and trashed the helmet. I bought her a $65 Giro on sale at my LBS. After a ride with the new helmet, she commented that the helmet seemed lighter and much cooler.
Some cheaper helmets, like cheap coolers, are uncovered polystyrene foam. They’re about as energy-absorbent as the hard-shell ones, but the foam has traction on concrete and asphalt. When your head hits, the surface grips, and your neck gets twisted. With a hard shell, the helmet slips along the ground without spinning your head.
With any bike helmet, replace it after a crash.