Helmets - Protecting Your Brain from Disaster

• Posted on 11 August 2021
• By KW
• 0

One of the most important things you can do for your riding is protect yourself.  This includes being visible, riding safely, and especially wearing a helmet.  That seemingly insignificant chunk of foam and plastic can prevent your head and brain from serious injury, and we advocate wearing a helmet each and every time you ride.  This post will center on selection and features to help you decide on what to look for; it will not go too in depth in the "wear a helmet for safety" category, since we expect that most of you reading this will already be aware of that.

First of all, as we tell all of our helmet-shopping customers, "everything on the wall protects your head basically the same way, using established safety standards."  In general, spending more money on a helmet gets you more ventilation to keep you cooler, and less weight to hold on your head.  Impact and piercing protection are all governed by the Consumer Product Safety Commission.  Their website states that "all bicycle helmets manufactured after 1999 must meet the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) bicycle helmet standard (16 C.F.R. part 1203); helmets meeting this standard provide protection against skull fractures and severe brain injuries when the helmet is used properly."  Every helmet we sell, from our $45 Chakra to the $120 Vivo, meets those standards.

Starting about 20 years ago, new research on "rotational" impact began.  The safety industry wanted to know how to protect your head from a fall that maybe wasn't totally static.  When your head hits the ground (hopefully it won't!) when you fall from your bike, there may be a rotational force involved, and the goal became to protect you from injuries of this type.  Enter the Mips design...

Mips - Multi-directional impact protection system - is an industry-wide protection system and is available on many of our Scott brand helmets.  "The Mips® safety system features a low-friction layer inside the helmet that allows a multi-directional movement of 10-15mm on certain angled impacts, intended to help reduce rotational force to the head," according to mipsprotection.com.   Further, it states, "The brain is more sensitive to rotational motion than linear motion because it has shear properties similar to water or gel. When different parts of the brain move relative to each other as a result of rotational motion, the tissues can stretch, which can cause concussions or other brain injuries."

Kali helmets also use an enhanced protection system, though it is proprietary to their brand.  They utilize Composite Fusion, which "uses a layer of multi density cone shaped foam that intersect with a layer of softer foam that surrounds the head. In an impact, these cones act as a progressive damper to absorb different levels of impact. As they collapse, these cones also direct energy sideways and away from the brain."  In addition, on some models, Kali uses their Low Density Layer, or LDL, rotational technology.  This system is said to reduce rotational force up to 25%.  Kali also adds the crash replacement program, which replaces your helmet at no cost after a crash.

Let's talk about "after a crash" for a minute.  Your helmet is NOT designed to be a multi-crash item.  One and done.  A former colleague stood by the "if your helmet hits the ground with your head still in it, it needs to be replaced."  If you go back a paragraph or so and read the Kali info, the words "as they collapse" should stand out to you as to why you'll need a replacement.  So don't take any chances: a crash is a crash, and you need a new lid.

You might also need a new helmet if the one you're wearing still has a lycra cover over a styrofoam base...  Sun and time both work to degrade foam, and the recommendation for helmet replacement is 3-5 years, depending on your hours in the sun.  If you bought your helmet during the Obama administration, you probably need a new one.  Bush 43?  Totally.

Remember, this is your head we're talking about.  It's not like, "hey, I busted my collarbone."  It's potentially totally life-altering.  I will also say here that one of my big helmet pet peeves is watching a family pedalling down the street, and mom and dad have bare heads while the kids are wearing helmets.  Not cool.  "But we aren't going that fast," you say.  Well, I've busted several helmets over the years, and only one was at any speed.  Two of them were very low speed crashes: one when a car cut me off on the bike path and I almost went over the hood, and the other when I crossed a sidewalk and the edge was much higher than I thought.  Went over the bars at such a low speed it had to be comical to onlookers...  Broke my helmet, though.  But not my head.  Your kids don't go that fast, but it only takes one inattentive driver to ruin your ride.

Stop by and see our collection of helmets, or check them out on our e-commerce page.  We are sure you will find one to fit your style and your budget!