# Helmets: Where to spend your money



## KevinLutz (Sep 19, 2009)

I just picked up a Smith Overtake MIPS helmet. It is light and feels good on my head. Used it on a few rides in 80/90 degree weather and it kept my head cool without letting sun light hit my head and heat-up and burn my scalp.


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## giro_man (Oct 29, 2003)

This article does not answer the question of where to spend your money.


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## froze (Sep 15, 2002)

I read this article with much interest, even clicked on the Kali Protectives site to read more, in the end of my reading I had a question that came to my pea brain. Crush zone sounds good, it works in cars really well, problem is with a helmet you only have 1 inch of crush area at the most vs at least 48 inches in a car. Knowing that there is only 1 inch of crushable area in a helmet how much is that area really going to effect slowing down the effects of an head impact at say 14 mph (average speed of the average rider) to zero in 1/4th of a second? I think it's nil vs other types of helmet construction; a point could have been made if the crush zone was say 12 inches thick inside the helmet but that would make the helmet to bulky. Unless I can see independent crash results proving that the Kali Protectives crushable zones work better than a standard helmet I'll have a difficult time believing it, in the meantime I'll call it hype like a lot of stuff sold on the cycling market.

So where to spend your money? I say the sweet spot in a helmet to get quality materials is $90 to $100, find it on sale for $45 to $55 and you got a great helmet as long as it passes the federal CPSC rules.


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## advcyclist (Feb 8, 2012)

agreed... completely skipped that crucial part.


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## Monteiro (Nov 10, 2008)

I felt from my bike at 63 Km/h and hit my head straight into the asphalt with my body weight on top of it. Everything was black for a moment and when I recovered I saw the damage on the helmet and couldn't believe I was still alive. It was a 25 usd helmet from a ordinary approved company. I have a very hard time believing that a 300 usd helmet will do any better than that in similar situation. Definitely an overpriced piece of Styrofoam in most cases.


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## onefascruzan (Dec 28, 2006)

I can't believe manufacturers are STILL only using EPS foam with all the material breakthroughs lately. This is OUR HEADS we're talking about. It dosen't take much to protect your cranium in a fall which is why I use a 20$ helmet from Wally World. They ALL have to meet the same ASTM ratings no matter the brand/size/price point. But I'm bewildered why more companies aren't using a variation of densities that would decelerate better and dissipate energy better than the same stuff found in a cheap, disposable cooler.


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