What makes a helmet worth £450 ?

Finally got to Hein Gericke a couple of weeks ago.

After trying on several hundred helmets [1] the only one I could get to
work easily with my glasses (Air Titanium , very bendy legs) was the
Arai RX-7 Corsair.

I thought the price was a bit excessive but to be honest I had repeated
the process the previous week at another dealer and failed to find a
decent fit so decided to go with it.

Seeing Lidl with their £24.99 helmet is making me consider whether I
should have had a bit more patience and kept looking for a cheaper solution.

What makes a helmet worth £450 [2] ?


[1] Artistic license it was probably about 10 different helmets from
various manufacturers.

[2] Other than the obvious "whichever sucker is willing to pay that for it".

 

Donald says...

Read these and find out:

http://www.araihelmet-europe.com/php/page/index2.php?page=araitecs

Then wonder if the makers of Lidl's helmets go to the same lengths to
ensure safety and quality control.

 

Being able to walk.

 

To meet the same test certifications they would have to pass the same
tests.

Now profit margins, now that's something completely different.

 

Mick Whittingham says...

It all boils down to how far they exceed the safety tests by. To me, the
mere fact that a full face helmet retailing at 25 quid will pass the
ECER22-05 tests means the test is nowhere near strict enough.

No-one makes stuff for the retail public for fun, it's all about profit.

 

And being able to think, then do something about what you just thought
about.


Alan

 

...like ""why am I being fed through a tube?" or "Christ, I'm a copper
in 1973!"

 

I think you're mixing up "confidence" in quality control when
manufacturing the product to meet the standard.

Can I buy a £25 Lidl helmet at random and find it passes the test?

I like the "Arai Standard" statement in that brochure.

Arai’s in house standard exceed all global standards. This makes
the Arai helmet so unique. In order to maintain this quality, it
regrets us that for obvious reasons we cannot reveal these
criteria. Besides (severe) impact testing , the Arai standard also
includes penetration and rigidity tests.


I do take your point that the Arai claims to have extra "penetration and
rigidity test" which might make it worth the extra.

I guess that's the SNC "Structural Net Composite" blurb that I threw in
the bin.

I think the Japanese have been forced into the superior quality niche
because of the Chinese. If the Arai didn't have a made in Japan label on
it I doubt I would have believed the quality tests had taken place and I
wouldn't have paid the premium.

 

...like ""why am I being fed through a tube?" or "Christ, I'm a copper
in 1973!"

 

Would you buy a Lidl parachute?

 

Cane says...

<Frank Spencer voice>

But I'm only a lidl man...hmmm

</FSv>

 

I agree. How far _do_ they exceed the safety tests by?

 

Could someone clear up what the obvious reasons for not revealing the
testing criteria would be ?

I can only think of 2 :

a) We know/suspect that if we publish these criteria then Shoei et al
will immediately try these tests, probably pass them and issue a press
statement to that effect

b) We don't want to be sued if it turns out that a helmet we supply is
not up to this standard, despite being up to the required legal
standard.

Neither of which is particularly compelling.

 

A third reason might be that their testing criteria would be easily
proved to be irrelevant to rider safety.

It has to be said that if you've really got a better product refusing
to tell people about it is rather commercially stupid. (....and
dangerous. If an Arai is more likely to save your life in a crash then
explaining why will mean more people buy your helmets and less people
will end up dead or as mongs.)

Sadly, IME, there's no objective way of knowing if one legal helmet
that fits ok is safer than another legal helmet that fits ok. Or if
there is I've never found it.

 

"If you've got a $5 head, buy a $5 helmet."

--
Ivan Reid, School of Engineering & Design, _____________ CMS Collaboration,
Brunel University. Ivan.Reid@[brunel.ac.uk|cern.ch] Room 40-1-B12, CERN
GSX600F, RG250WD "You Porsche. Me pass!" DoD #484 JKLO#003, 005
WP7# 3000 LC Unit #2368 (tinlc) UKMC#00009 BOTAFOT#16 UKRMMA#7 (Hon)
KotPT -- "for stupidity above and beyond the call of duty".

 

Donald wrote:

IME its bugger all do do with safety. Was it Dire that started dropping
them 20 ft onto concrete? While Lidle represents the bottom of the
range, and probably would fail before the Arai, I bet there little
difference between say a 150 quid helmet and the Arai.

Weight, noise, aerodynamics and gubbins probably adds a bit more on the
R&D side. Cheap helmets tend to be heavy, noisy, and not very waterproof.

Which leaves the BMW badge on the side...

 

I assume that at BSB this year they'll all be using Lidl helmets.

 

Ask 'em.

 

I started at the £100 mark and I'm pretty sure if I had found a fit I
would have taken it. Otherwise what's the point of having the standard ?

If some of the research is to be believed, it's the brain twisting
inside the head which causes most damage. There doesn't appear to be a
way to address this without compromising the ECE and SNELL tests. Maybe
that's what Arai s SNC is designed to do but they can't tell us !

I must admit, the light weight and quietness have been a bit of a
revelation. I hope it's worth the expense.

Can you put go faster stripes on a helmet ;-)

 

Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose...

--
Ivan Reid, School of Engineering & Design, _____________ CMS Collaboration,
Brunel University. Ivan.Reid@[brunel.ac.uk|cern.ch] Room 40-1-B12, CERN
GSX600F, RG250WD "You Porsche. Me pass!" DoD #484 JKLO#003, 005
WP7# 3000 LC Unit #2368 (tinlc) UKMC#00009 BOTAFOT#16 UKRMMA#7 (Hon)
KotPT -- "for stupidity above and beyond the call of duty".