Cycling vs. skate helmets?

[505]

I took a nice fall today whilst wearing my (skate) helmet, and I'm thinking after falling on this helmet a few times I may need to get a new one. Will a bike helmet sort of like this GIRO provide similar protection to a skate/ bmx helmet? I'm particularly thinking about protection for the back of the head. I do slalom and get up to some pretty serious speeds, so I'd like to know my head won't crunch if I fall.

Thanks.

[Largeboarder]

I took a nice fall today whilst wearing my (skate) helmet, and I'm thinking after falling on this helmet a few times I may need to get a new one. Will a bike helmet sort of like this GIRO provide similar protection to a skate/ bmx helmet? I'm particularly thinking about protection for the back of the head. I do slalom and get up to some pretty serious speeds, so I'd like to know my head won't crunch if I fall.

Thanks.

No man,cycling helmets for cycling,skateboarding helmets for skateboarding.

[pavedwave]

I do slalom and get up to some pretty serious speeds, so I'd like to know my head won't crunch if I fall. .

one of the things I've seen happen a number of times in slalom racing is -- losing rear traction, board pitched sideways, you're pitched downhill, back-first. this means you normally land on your butt, roll on your back, and end off with a slam to the back of your head.

so a (new) skate helmet is best for what you do.

[msk]

Will a bike helmet sort of like this GIRO provide similar protection to a skate/ bmx helmet? I'm particularly thinking about protection for the back of the head.

Road helmets don't offer much back of the head protection. Almost all impacts on a road bike are to the forehead and temple, so most road cycling helmets are designed for that. The backs of those style helmets are designed more for aerodynamics and cooling, rather than optimal impact protection. Standard MTB (not DH/fullface) helmets are a little better, since there's a slightly greater chance of hitting the back of your head, and aerodynamics aren't as much of a concern. But for back of the head protection, you want as round a shape as possible, which is why BMX, DH, and skate helmets are shaped that way...

*edit* If you take a slam like what pavedwave described, a road helmet might actually increase your chance of injury. Since the rear of the helmet isn't round, if you hit the back of your head, the shape may cause your head to twist to one side, increasing the possibility of a neck injury. If there's a chance of hitting the back of your head, rounder is better...

[SoloRider]

All helmets are supposed to be a one time use item. One hit and they're done. With hard shell helmets, like skate helmets minor hits can be shrugged off and they can go right back into service(not according to the manufacturer of course, liability and all). With a helmet, like the road lid you link to, dropping it on the garage floor after a ride can do fatal damage to it. I'm an avid cyclist and have toasted more than my fair share of expensive lids. If you can't afford to replace your helmet everytime you fall, steer clear of bike helmets.

*I think it's pretty obvious but BMX helmets are the exception to the rule. Hard shell and made to take a beating.

[stringtheory]

All helmets are supposed to be a one time use item. One hit and they're done.

Solo, while that's a good rule to follow, and in most cases true, it's not necessarily true in all cases.

There are several skate helmets that use multi impact foam. Granted, IMHO they don't offer as much protection as hard foam (and they hurt to fall on), but regardless they are designed to take more than one hit and keep ticking.

505, if I were you and looking into a new lid, I'd check out the Bell Faction. It's hard foam, rated for one good hit. But, it carries a CPSC rating and the new ASTM 1492 skateboard rating as well.

[KanoaSurf]

Styrofoam helmets are just dumb.

There are several skate helmets that use multi impact foam. Granted, IMHO they don't offer as much protection as hard foam (and they hurt to fall on), but regardless they are designed to take more than one hit and keep ticking.

Its a fact that it hurts less to hit your head in a "soft foam" helmet.

LOTS of experts feel helmet foam should be softer, and that softer foam is much better for most impacts (lesser ones).

Hard foam does NOTHING in terms of most skating impacts (yet you still have to throw the helmet away).

Soft foam still absorbs some impact in a hard hit too (thought I don't know why folks can't accept this).


Most people agree that styrofoam is better for the bigger impacts, but they are going completely on what SNELL and others say foam should do.

What weird is that I would think if you fell and hit your head going as fast, you would bounce a bit. (Like hit, bounce, hit again)

Well if your foam is only good for one hit, the second bounce is gonna be nasty by definition.

What really crazy is that people buy styrofoam helmets for KIDS.

Kids are too light for stryofoam to do any good, and even when they do hit, they don't throw away their helmets.

[Hot Wheels]

I took a nice fall today whilst wearing my (skate) helmet, and I'm thinking after falling on this helmet a few times I may need to get a new one. Will a bike helmet sort of like this GIRO provide similar protection to a skate/ bmx helmet? I'm particularly thinking about protection for the back of the head. I do slalom and get up to some pretty serious speeds, so I'd like to know my head won't crunch if I fall.

Thanks.

I would not take a chance bro, skate helmets are made for
skaters, and bike helmets are designed for bikes.


__________

[stringtheory]

kanoa, I understand you make helmets.

But, this has nothing to do with SNELL ratings etc. It's pure experience. I've been skating for 24 years. I understand to some folks I'm still a grom, lol...but I've taken enough falls in various helmets to know what my own head has told me.

My experience is this, slow impacts in a multi hit aren't so bad. I took a fast hard hit in a concrete bowl to the back of my head in a multi hit, it felt like I had no helmet on. Period the end, it hurt like a mutha.

[msk]

Soft foam still absorbs some impact in a hard hit too (thought I don't know why folks can't accept this).

I don't think anyone has said that it doesn't absorb *any* impact. It just isn't capable of absorbing as much (unless you use significantly thicker padding)...

Hard foam does NOTHING in terms of most skating impacts

Prove it. Opinions don't count. Actual data, from actual testing, or its just BS...

Most people agree that styrofoam is better for the bigger impacts, but they are going completely on what SNELL and others say foam should do.

So its best to be a little more comfortable and have less protection, and just hope for the best in case you eventually do have the big impact? I'd rather have a little less comfort during those little "taps" that likely wouldn't cause any injury anyways, just in case I really do hit hard at some point...

What weird is that I would think if you fell and hit your head going as fast, you would bounce a bit. (Like hit, bounce, hit again)

Well if your foam is only good for one hit, the second bounce is gonna be nasty by definition.

You clearly don't understand anything about the helmets you're criticizing. It isn't a case of "one impact, and then there's absolutely no protection from then on". An EPS helmet might, or might not, continue to offer the same level of protection after an impact. But without a complete examination, you can't tell. That's why you're supposed to replace them after a fall. Not because it absolutely can't offer any protection whatsoever from that point on (as you seem to believe), but because you can't be 100% certain that it'll still meet the original standards.

But as long as the helmet remains intact, it WILL still continue to offer some protection...

[TexasBomber]

As a cyclist (former Cat 2 racer) I fall off my bike once every 18 months.
On my longboard (over 30 years skating) I fall off twice a month.
By design cycling helmets of today are typically only good for one cash.
Light-weight and heavily vented they can't take multiple impacts like a skate helmet.


Get a Triple 8

[joelvdvies]

So its best to be a little more comfortable and have less protection, and just hope for the best in case you eventually do have the big impact? I'd rather have a little less comfort during those little "taps" that likely wouldn't cause any injury anyways, just in case I really do hit hard at some point...

I agree. I don't wear a helmet to make small things that won't hurt me anyways feel a little better, I wear it to prevent brain damage or other severe injury. I don't think those soft foam helmets will do as good of a job (although obviously better than no helmet)

[d-dub]

etc., etc., etc.

do you seriously need to come into EVERY helmet thread...


and msk, i've gotta say, my charly is by far the most comfortable helmet i have ever worn. i've even slept in it.

[8ftbed]

Has anyone considered Ice Hockey helmets ?


Watching clips on the news the other night, it struck me that those helmets would be about perfect. Ventilated but designed for high speed blows (puck, getting checked into the wall, slammed into ice at speed). As mentioned here and another thread I was viewing, I noticed the Ice helmets come down around the back of the head.

[rodgon]

dude... dont get it... get yourself something thatll protect your head even if you look goofy.. its worth it...

[roots1976]

do you seriously need to come into EVERY helmet thread...

As the only helmetmaker around here so far, his opinion and especially his experience both being an active skateboarder and a helmetmaker could be quite revealing for all of us with regard to the thread's topic, don't you think !?!

[msk]

As the only helmetmaker around here so far, his opinion and especially his experience both being an active skateboarder and a helmetmaker could be quite revealing for all of us with regard to the thread's topic, don't you think !?!

Where did you get the idea he was the only one in the helmet industry here?

And being a skateboarder doesn't make you inherently qualified for anything except riding a skateboard. A skater may know exactly what he wants from a helmet (light weight and ventilation, along with good protection, etc), but without any engineering background, how will he achieve it? And how do you design protective gear without proper understanding of human physiology? This is a guy who claims that nobody actually knows what causes a concussion, and that no helmet can do anything to protect against concussions. Strangely enough, since helmet standards were introduced in other sports, concussions have decreased by as much as 85%. You can't solve a problem unless you first understand it.

And to top it off, he's producing a helmet that hasn't been tested, all the while insisting that hundreds of helmets that actually are designed by people with engineering and/or medical backgrounds and then subjected to rigorous testing, don't work...

[Wells]

MSK pretty much nailed it.

[J Griff]

Tod Oles wears a bike helmet when he slaloms.

[msk]

Has anyone considered Ice Hockey helmets ?

That's what most of the early skateparks used as rental helmets, until the original ProTecs came out. I don't know how the current hockey lids are, but the first ProTecs were a vast improvement over the ones we had in the 70s...