The Helmet Update
Volume 20, #6 - October 9, 2002
All issues index
Bicycle Helmets for the 2003 Season
A brief summary to be followed by
a full review of each line
We are just back from the annual Interbike trade show. Here are some highlights of helmets for 2003.
Summary: For 2003 most helmet brands have a few new improvements but nothing that prompts us to recommend
replacing your old helmet. Prices are mostly stable as demand remains stable. From the consumer's point
of view there are very protective helmets out there for reasonable prices, and very stylish ones for a few dollars more.
Price and protection do not necessarily equate. There is nothing on the horizon to recommend delaying a helmet purchase,
and still no compelling reason to upgrade an otherwise good helmet this year.
Highlights
Giro has a unique new
Xen model that represents a fresh approach to skate-style helmets.
It appears to have better coverage in the rear than the bike helmet shape, and has a nicely rounded exterior with no
elongated rear section and no rear snag points, usually the hallmarks of the Giro bicycle helmet line. The vents are much
larger than any other skate helmet we have seen. Production models may be slightly improved over the prototypes we saw at
the Interbike trade show, so we are waiting to see the final version before commenting further. This is a bike helmet,
despite the shape, with crushable, one crash foam. If the rad approach catches on, this could be the future of
skate-style bike helmets.
Mongoose has a truly exciting helmet for the younger BMX rider that has full face protection. Parents may find it
useful for crash-prone boys who seem to go into everything face-first. This innovative helmet is labeled
Child BMX
and is model number MG-108. It is a thin-shell BMX model with the thick crushable foam liner wrapping all the way around
the chinbar. It is an interesting design and the first we have seen with a fully padded chinbar for bicycle use. It has
minimal vents. It is made for PTI, branded Mongoose, and sold by stores supplied by Pacific Bicycle. We don't know the
retail price, but the level of finish indicates that it would not be expensive.
The
Schwinn brand is back, also with helmets designed by PTI and sourced by them from China, distributed through
Pacific Bicycle, current owner of the Schwinn brand name. Some models have the shells glued on, but not taped around the
edges, giving the appearance of a helmet that is inmolded and distinguished by a label that says they use "tapeless
technology." We would expect the loose shell edges on the early samples we saw to deteriorate in use without the
protection of the tape band at the edge, probably affecting appearance more than impact performance.
Serfas has a unique new "all sport" helmet called the
Vault with a liner made of polyurethane, a material
seldom seen in the bike helmet market. This is a very firm multi-impact plastic material rather than an expanded foam. We
have not seen any test results, but assuming it passes the CPSC standard it will expand the range of materials currently
being used. Although the helmet has a rounded shape overall, it has lots of external snag points due to its unique vent
pattern.
Specialized is marketing their new Telluride mountain bike model with a claim that wind tunnel testing at 8 MPH
shows that it cools better at low speeds than other helmets. As the season progresses they may put up the data on their
website.
Consumer Reports picked their older M1 as the coolest helmet they tested in 2002.
Uvex, better known in the US for optical goods, is bringing its line of helmets to the US for the first time in
2003. The models selected for the US are at the top of the Uvex line, and are high-end helmets all inmolded, with the
usual elongated shapes, rear stabilizers and premium prices. Front vents have insect mesh in the European style. The
company has a unique buckle with a long tab that inserts in a slot. Unfortunately it can be inserted upside down so that
the teeth that are supposed to lock it do not catch. The entire line is made in Germany.
W Helmets has a new bicycle model to supplement their original ski/multi purpose model. You can visualize it as a
rounded helmet with two little horns facing toward the rear, their interpretation of how to impart the "bicycle" shape.
The added snag points are an unfortunate adaptation, since the original rounded model is ideally shaped to optimize crash
performance.
New names you may see in the US or other markets in 2003 include Dainese, GPR/PLIM, Oktos, Pioneer, Podium, Una
and Winwood (Quality Bicycle Components' house brand). Avenir is back, distributed by Raleigh. Italy's Carrera, REM and
Selev were on display at Interbike and may be exploring chances to bring their helmets to the US market. The Swiss firm
PLIM expects to bring back the Brancale to the US in 2003.
Asian sourcing has become the rule for nearly all helmet companies for at least part of their lines. Many of the
familiar US brands are made by a handful of companies primarily located in China and Taiwan. A few are still made by one
subcontractor in the US, some in Italy or France, and the Uvex line is made in Germany. We have not seen any Australian
helmets in the US market recently.
Designs for Women are mostly a sham. Hold up the women's model with the men's beside it and you will readily see
that they came from the same mold, and the only visible difference is in colors and graphics. The few helmets that had
pony tail ports have been discontinued, and designers do not seem to have found anything more to do for women than give
them cosmetics.
Helmet colors are not much brighter than last year, despite the brightening of bike colors and the blazing color on the
runways of the New York spring fashion apparel shows, usually indicators of the trend for helmet colors.
Prices are about the same as last year, with some older models slipping down ten to twenty percent as the design
ages. We did not see any models with higher prices this year.
Availability looks good, since there is adequate supply and demand remains tepid.
Mass merchant helmets are evolving perhaps more than the bike shop models as buyers for the big box stores get a
better handle on the product and force the suppliers to come up with better models for the low end market.
Please visit our website at the end of October for our usual long article with a full description of all the
models.
This article and the longer one can be found at
https://www.helmets.org/helmet03.htm
The Helmet Update - Bicycle Helmet Safety Institute
Randy Swart, Editor
4611 Seventh Street South
Arlington, VA 22204-1419 USA
(703) 486-0100 (voice)
(703) 486-0576 (fax)
www.helmets.org