Decent Helmet < £200 ??

As subject, I'm now after a reasonably decent road helmet.

Not had one for years, last I had were when I was racing and the best
then were Bell. AGV and Griffin, I assume the market has changed since
....

I have a couple of reasonable Moto-cross helmets, but with peaks and no
visor, wide front for goggles etc they don't really work well on a
roadbike. Back in the day it was better to have FibreGlass, but now
there's Carbon, Polycarbonate and god knows what else. Local shops
(Hein Gericke, Carnells) only seem to have cheap stuff <£80 and
expensive stuff >£200 with hardly any selection in between.

So, would anyone offfer suggestions as to what to look for, please?
Are the cheap helmets any good?

I don't mind paying less if all the extra money gets me is flashy
graphics. I don't mind paying more if it gets me a much better helmet,
but I won't need intercoms, or gadgets and I'm not interested in
following any fashion or particular GP rider ...

Cheers.

 

You can't go far wrong with either a Shoei or Arai at £200.
Just make sure it fits, and is comfy, that's the most important bit IMO.
They are pretty much all made to the same crash resistant standards, so
the price you pay is for comfort and fit.
Lozzo off here recommends a cheaper brand,though can't recall his
choice.
A good place to see/try a lot of helmets is a big bike show with trade
stands, not sure when the next one will be.
Alan.

 

It's the Scottish bike show in Edinburgh this weekend - dunno if that's any
good for the OP.

--
AndrewR, D.Bot (Celeritas)
Aprilia RSV-1000R, Honda VFR750F-L
BOTAFOT#2,ITJWTFO#6,UKRMRM#1/13a,MCT#1,DFV#2,SKoGA#0 (and KotL)
BotToS#5,SBS#25,IbW#34, DS#5, COSOC# Suspended, KotTFSTR#
The speccy Geordie twat.

 

LOL, bit too far, Doncaster ..

 

I had to replace my old Shoei with a new Shoei as it appears I have a
Shoei shaped head. I would happily have bought a cheaper one (see link
below) had any fitted me.

They might be made to the same standards but they don't seem to all
test the same (I'm sure this has been mentioned before but in case it
hasn't recently etc).

http://preview.tinyurl.com/6m4uh5

T i m

 

As someone has already stated, the one that fits best. I seem to have
an Arai shaped head. I've tried other makes but most (including makes
such as Nitro which Lozzo recommened when he was selling them) just
aren't comfortable.

HG will do an Arai Condor for a penny under £240[1] which is over your
budget a tad but a visit to them or any decent motorcycle shop will
always be worthwhile so that you can try several on and get the one
that suits you the most.

[1]
http://www.hein-gericke.co.uk/shop/product_info.php/cPath/43_46_223/prod
ucts_id/1449 [2]
[2] I may well get one of these myself fairly soon as my current Arai
is far past its use-by date.

 

Carnells? You really are stuck in the last century, as Bear says.

My last 2 helmets have been Arais. My next one is likely to be an Arai.
Current one is the cheapest in their range which has been fine.

Their entry level helmet was in your budget but I see someone else has
posted that they are £240[1] now. Victim of the exchange rate I suppose.

[1] google suggests you can get them for £220, so it might be worth
haggling with your local Hein Gericke.

 

I bought a Shoei the other day - 200 quid incl. pinlock and a spare
iridium tinted visor.

Comfy and quiet. Bargain.

 

(SteveH) wrote in

where to?

 

mun, YSCT

 

M&P, innit, clart.

Safe as....

 

From my fairly limited experience.. I've had a Nitro, quite a lot of helmet
for the money I thought (£100) but the glued on extras didn't seem to last
eg, there was some sort of fairing thingy on the back which gave up the
ghost after two to three years. Didn't seem to affect the helmet but I got
rid of it shortly afterwards. Oh and the plastic on the bottom of the
padding started cracking up.

I've got a HJC Myth which was £120 in HG. Very comfortable but the antifog
coating is rubbish and the breath deflector that was fitted only made my
glasses steam up no matter what I did. I threw away the deflector and fitted
a Fog City insert and it's fine (after 1 year).

I did, in a fit of madness buy a Rayven flip front from Busters a few years
ago. What a pile of poo but then it only cost about £60. Feels really flimsy
and of course it's noisy. Dunno why I still keep it really.


--
Malc

Rusted and ropy.
Dog-eared old copy.
Vintage and classic,
or just plain Jurassic:
all words to describe me.