I damaged my helmet!

[Doomanic]

My Troy Lee A3 helmets come with a spare set of pads. Not that they ever last long enough to need them...

 

[PeeJay1]

Same as the , Motorbike helmets.. 3-5 years… all mine have been immaculate , Arai, Shoei, AgV… I normally donate my old ones to the fire service, ambulance , for training on , Motorcycle RTA’s…
It’s an expense .. YES.. but what price do ya put on ya Head….
The old saying… £10 head in a £10 helmet..

 

[steve_sordy]

@VWsurfbum Your Seven iDP source says this:

• After a Crash: Always replace your helmet immediately after it sustains an impact, as its protective capabilities are compromised, even if there's no visible damage.

If I did that after every impact, despite no visible damage, I'd be going through one new helmet per month! There's a lot of overhanging branches hidden by leaves where I ride the most.
I'm surprised that I haven't lost my ears by now.

 

[RustyIron]

Getting old has its downsides.

You're outliving your helmets, which is better than the other way around.

Someone of your advanced years is certainly aware that the manufacturers' recommendations will tend to be on the conservative side. They're written by pencil-pushing lawyers, after all.

My chosen brand recommends retirement at three years. A while back I swung by their company headquarters. The pads on my helmet were a bit shabby, so I thought they could hook a brother up. Unfortunately, they didn't have any pads. Instead, they opened a cabinet and handed me a helmet that had been taken out of its box to be photographed for the catalog. They're just like the rest of us, and can never fit the helmet, parts, and papers back into the box. Instead, they keep the helmets for themselves or to hand out as swag. I was pleased. When I got home, I noticed the manufacturing date was three years prior. I figure if they're comfortable riding three year old helmets, than I should be, too. But keep in mind it's a "new" three year old helmet.

My previous helmet was replaced because the MIPS system was clearly degraded. I'll also replace a helmet that's dented, or if it's substantially older than the retirement recommendations. I clean the outside of my helmet with the same automotive final-detailer that you'd use on your priceless collector car. For the inside, once in a while I'll hose it out, spray it with Simple Green Crystal, and rinse it some more. Once in a while I'll spritz the inside of my helmet with Vapor Fresh.

If your alcohol degraded helmet was new, I'd be tempted to continue using it. But since it's already old, perhaps it's time to belly up to the bar and buy a new one.

 

[Mikerb]

You're outliving your helmets, which is better than the other way around.

Someone of your advanced years is certainly aware that the manufacturers' recommendations will tend to be on the conservative side. They're written by pencil-pushing lawyers, after all.

My chosen brand recommends retirement at three years. A while back I swung by their company headquarters. The pads on my helmet were a bit shabby, so I thought they could hook a brother up. Unfortunately, they didn't have any pads. Instead, they opened a cabinet and handed me a helmet that had been taken out of its box to be photographed for the catalog. They're just like the rest of us, and can never fit the helmet, parts, and papers back into the box. Instead, they keep the helmets for themselves or to hand out as swag. I was pleased. When I got home, I noticed the manufacturing date was three years prior. I figure if they're comfortable riding three year old helmets, than I should be, too. But keep in mind it's a "new" three year old helmet.

My previous helmet was replaced because the MIPS system was clearly degraded. I'll also replace a helmet that's dented, or if it's substantially older than the retirement recommendations. I clean the outside of my helmet with the same automotive final-detailer that you'd use on your priceless collector car. For the inside, once in a while I'll hose it out, spray it with Simple Green Crystal, and rinse it some more. Once in a while I'll spritz the inside of my helmet with Vapor Fresh.

If your alcohol degraded helmet was new, I'd be tempted to continue using it. But since it's already old, perhaps it's time to belly up to the bar and buy a new one.

What worries me is that Steve seems to either crash or bash into low branches on a regular basis.......the resulting friction appears to have worn all his hair away as well....there is more to this story.....he he.

 

[Nicho]

I would heed Nicho's advice and just bin it tbh. The damage may never be visible and only become apparent once the worst happens. Helmets are not something to take a chance

There is also the matter of insurance.
If you were to suffer a head injury and your helmet was found to be out of date or defective, your bike or medical insurance would be likely to reject your claim.

 

[steve_sordy]

.................. When I got home, I noticed the manufacturing date was three years prior. I figure if they're comfortable riding three year old helmets, than I should be, too. But keep in mind it's a "new" three year old helmet.

....................................

If your alcohol degraded helmet was new, I'd be tempted to continue using it. But since it's already old, perhaps it's time to belly up to the bar and buy a new one.

I was in a big new bike shop "Bike Trek" on the outskirts of the Lake District a few days ago. I asked about helmets and possible best before dates. The guy told me that three years was the general figure, but that it was from first use and not the manufacturing date.

I went into every bike shop I came across to try on helmets. I could not find one that I liked and most were not my size anyway. Once I'd got back home, I went back to the Bell website (my favourite helmet brand) and found what I was looking for! Dunno how I missed it before, but they say its new, so maybe it just popped up? I went for the Bell Super Air Spherical + Mips I got if for £120 delivered free from Swinnerton Cycles, which is £105 off rrp. Others charged a bit less but they wanted £5 for delivery. I have been dealing with Swinnerton for years, and I know I'm not going to get any hassle if I need to send it back.

 

[steve_sordy]

What worries me is that Steve seems to either crash or bash into low branches on a regular basis.......the resulting friction appears to have worn all his hair away as well....there is more to this story.....he he.

No impacts, just rubbing on the head board.

 

[steve_sordy]

There is also the matter of insurance.
If you were to suffer a head injury and your helmet was found to be out of date or defective, your bike or medical insurance would be likely to reject your claim.

Not a problem for me, I have neither medical nor bike insurance.

I used to have free medical insurance when I worked for a living and when I retired it was costing me £150/month (and that was twenty years ago!!). Once the annual increases started coming in (15%-20%) I decided that as my wife and I were both in good nick and quite fit, never been smokers etc, that I would put that money into an equity ISA. The idea was to have it available as and when required. Never used it and the money is still going in!

As for bike insurance, my view was that I would not let it out of my sight. If I damaged it when riding then that will be my own stupid fault. My general house insurance covers the bike for theft from the garage, but I don't like the idea of some scum sucking a'hole having the benefit of my hard-earned toy free of charge, so the garage is like Fort Knox and the bike is chained to the floor with Kryptonite's finest kit.

 

[RustyIron]

If you were to suffer a head injury and your helmet was found to be out of date or defective, your bike or medical insurance would be likely to reject your claim.

Is this true? If you have a bike accident, and the government discovers that your helmet is out of date, you don't get medical treatment? What if you get in an automobile wreck and they discover your brakes were worn? What if you burn your hand because the oil you were using to fry your chips was overheated?

 

[Nicho]

Is this true? If you have a bike accident, and the government discovers that your helmet is out of date, you don't get medical treatment? What if you get in an automobile wreck and they discover your brakes were worn? What if you burn your hand because the oil you were using to fry your chips was overheated?

It is nothing to do with the government.
It is private insurance people choose to take out to cover their bikes and themselves in the case of accidents.

 

[Zero cool]

Don’t worry about manufacturing and use by dates of helmets. As long as they’ve been looked after, not stored in extreme temps or left exposed to UV light (parcel shelf of cars, windowsills, outside in the sun) all the time then they should last years.

OP, it’s probably time to replace that helmet.

Also for cleaning the pads and straps I’ve found the Muc-off foam is good.

This reminds me I need to take mine out and rinse/soak them all clean.

 

[steve_sordy]

The helmet I ordered yesterday arrived this morning! That is less than 21 hours from order to delivery! Ordered from Swinnerton Cycles, delivered by Fed-Ex.

Here are a few shots of the Bell Super Air Spherical + MIPS MTB helmet:

I had to look up what MIPS stood for:

MIPS, or Multi-Directional Impact Protection System, is a helmet technology that reduces rotational forces on the brain during an angled impact, which are a common cause of brain injury. It works by incorporating a low-friction layer that allows the helmet to slide 10-15 millimeters relative to the head, absorbing and redirecting rotational energy that would otherwise be transmitted to the brain. You can often identify a MIPS helmet by a yellow dot on the back of the helmet and the presence of a yellow liner inside.​

Last pic, showing the spherical system:

The spherical system: Do you see those yellow things at the front?
They carry the whole of the inner cradle, which is a quite seperate thing to the core and shell. They feel like zip ties, but act like strong rubber bands. If pressed hard, the whole cradle can be pushed down or pulled up by about 5mm, so 10mm of movement. There may be more movement, but I didn't want to push too hard. In addition the cradle can be twisted left or right by about the same amount. Ingenious.

The back of the cradle carries the rotary tension adjuster, but it was too close to the top of the helmet for comfort. I felt like the helmet was perched on top of my head. That part of the cradle is anchored to the shell by two straps, each with two poppers on them. The poppers are pressed quite hard into a row of holes in the core. If I didn't already know that they would come out, I would have assumed that they were permanently attached (same system on my previous Bell helmets). I had to use quite a bit of force to release them. I moved them further down the row of holes and refixed. The helmet is now perfect for me. For the first time, ever, I did not have to adjust the straps at all. The helmet feels very comfortable, the visor is adjustable, but only has two three positions instead of the variable positioning on my previous Bell helmets.

The helmet comes with a soft drawstring storage bag. A breakaway camera mount also comes with the helmet. The red stickers that draw attention to the "breakaway camera mount" position and the "multi-positional visor" were easy to peel off and left no mark.

My old helmet is now in the delivery box and stored in the garage as an emergency spare.

Later Edit: No. of visor positions amended from 2 to 3.

 

[Stihldog]

It is nothing to do with the government.
It is private insurance people choose to take out to cover their bikes and themselves in the case of accidents.

I think that’s the case. The private insurance companies see the numbers and the government reacts with legislation. Seat belts, food expiry dates, PPE etc, for example.

In the logging industry I’ve somewhat seen the evolution of PPE. Especially hard hats. Head protection was never required before. Soon metal hard hats with leather webbing were available. Then plastic hard hats were required at all times. Eventually, if a sticker, or any type of modification, the hard hat was rejected.

Those rules, policies or regulations were driven by insurance companies, who gathered data from testers and looked at the costs. Then the government eventually legislates in most cases. It sometimes feels like we’re living in a “Nanny “ state. But the intentions are mostly good.

The helmet I ordered yesterday arrived this morning! That is less than 21 hours from order to delivery! Ordered from Swinnerton Cycles, delivered by Fed-Ex.

Here are a few shots of the Bell Super Air Spherical + MIPS MTB helmet:
View attachment 168485 View attachment 168486

View attachment 168487

I had to look up what MIPS stood for:

MIPS, or Multi-Directional Impact Protection System, is a helmet technology that reduces rotational forces on the brain during an angled impact, which are a common cause of brain injury. It works by incorporating a low-friction layer that allows the helmet to slide 10-15 millimeters relative to the head, absorbing and redirecting rotational energy that would otherwise be transmitted to the brain. You can often identify a MIPS helmet by a yellow dot on the back of the helmet and the presence of a yellow liner inside.​

Last pic, showing the spherical system:
View attachment 168488

The spherical system: Do you see those yellow things at the front?
They carry the whole of the inner cradle, which is a quite seperate thing to the core and shell. They feel like zip ties, but act like strong rubber bands. If pressed hard, the whole cradle can be pushed down or pulled up by about 5mm, so 10mm of movement. There may be more movement, but I didn't want to push too hard. In addition the cradle can be twisted left or right by about the same amount. Ingenious.

The back of the cradle carries the rotary tension adjuster, but it was too close to the top of the helmet for comfort. I felt like the helmet was perched on top of my head. That part of the cradle is anchored to the shell by two straps, each with two poppers on them. The poppers are pressed quite hard into a row of holes in the core. If I didn't already know that they would come out, I would have assumed that they were permanently attached (same system on my previous Bell helmets). I had to use quite a bit of force to release them. I moved them further down the row of holes and refixed. The helmet is now perfect for me. For the first time, ever, I did not have to adjust the straps at all. The helmet feels very comfortable, the visor is adjustable, but only has two positions instead of the variable positoning on my previous Bell helmets.

The helmet comes with a soft drawstring storage bag. A breakaway camera mount also comes with the helmet. The red stickers that draw attention to the "breakaway camera mount" position and the "multi-positional visor" were easy to peel off and left no mark.

My old helmet is now in the delivery box and stored in the garage as an emergency spare.

Yup, that’s the one I need.

 

[steve_sordy]

After all that discussion about whether helmets have a best before date, or a 3-year life, I found the manufacturing date of my new helmet today - 06/21. (The sticker was hiding under part of the cradle).

Blood yell, that's only 2 months less than my current helmet that is now my spare in a box in the garage!

No wonder it was 47% off!

 

[HandsomeDanNZ]

After all that discussion about whether helmets have a best before date, or a 3-year life, I found the manufacturing date of my new helmet today - 06/21. (The sticker was hiding under part of the cradle).

Blood yell, that's only 2 months less than my current helmet that is now my spare in a box in the garage!

No wonder it was 47% off!

To be fair...My brain probably has a sticker on it somewhere that says "best Before 06/09".

 

[Stihldog]

Packed my bags and went on a guilt trip today. Purchased a new Bell Super Air convertible helmet. The old one is a wall ornament now.

Then I fixed my broken trail tool.

T’was a busy day.

 

[megabobra]

I haven't even needed to hit my Fox Proframe full face with alcohol to make the matte finish look awful. The exterior coating has gone sticky to touch (just like the soft-touch coating Dell put on their laptops that turns into a stick mess after a few years) and even just brushing off mud with my hand or tshirt scratches the paint. It's probably 18months old and hasn't had any crash damage but it sure looks like it's been a cliff more than once.

Any one else found this? Or better yet, know how to clean it up? Soapy water doesn't help unfortunately

Next helmet, I'm going to go back to a carbon full face with a gloss clear/gel coat.

 

[steve_sordy]

I haven't even needed to hit my Fox Proframe full face with alcohol to make the matte finish look awful. The exterior coating has gone sticky to touch (just like the soft-touch coating Dell put on their laptops that turns into a stick mess after a few years) and even just brushing off mud with my hand or tshirt scratches the paint. It's probably 18months old and hasn't had any crash damage but it sure looks like it's been a cliff more than once.

Any one else found this? Or better yet, know how to clean it up? Soapy water doesn't help unfortunately

Next helmet, I'm going to go back to a carbon full face with a gloss clear/gel coat.

You could always make a warranty claim. The helmet is quite a bit less than two years old after all. You might at least get an offer of 50% off vs a new one. As part of the process, even if your claim is rejected, you may get some good advice on how to restore the finish. But you may lose the use of your helmet while it is sent off for inspection. If you can't face that, then you have little to lose by having a go at restoration yourself.

I would never have tried this, but this happened to me (what this thread is about). Therefore, based upon experience, spray some iso-propyl alcohol (I used 100% w/w) on to a rag and give the shell a good rubbing. Try not to let the IPA get onto the core. That should remove any sticky stuff, but it will matt the finish. Then get some very mild abrasive to polish up the finish. I used chrome cleaner, although if that hadn't worked, I was going to use T-cut next. Then I finished off with some Silicone Shine (a silicone polish). See the pictures at the start of the thread.

 

[Stihldog]

I’m glad I purchased a replacement helmet yesterday. The old one served its purpose as a daily rider and has seen better days.

Besides the worn out sweat bands, webbing falling apart and numerous dings and scratches to the shell, the expiration date had passed. I’ve never had a serious crash with this helmet …several OTB’s, low branches and some poor bike cave handling and storage. Nothing serious IMO.

The shell of the old helmet looked awful when compared to the new replacement. Rain and drizzle was probably my only method of cleaning and then hang-to-dry when I got home.

I’ll probably only use the full-face convertible half the time. It’s really quick and easy to attach but wow! Kinda expensive.

 

[Stihldog]

Not all mine.

 

[DieBoy]

Regarding helmet lifespan:

Plastics degrade over time. Hard plastics tend to become brittle. UV accelerates this process usually.

Which means after a given time, while it might look OK (no dents or cracks) it won't provide the expected level of protection in a crash. If it gets really old, it'll be as much protection as wearing meringue.

Just as eating cheese one day after the expiration date won't kill you (usually) using a helmet 1 day out of date probably won't either, as the use-by date tends to be conservative. You should still however replace your helmet after a certain time, even if it still looks OK (a false feeling of security is worse than no security at all).

I suspect you'd get slightly more life from a helmet if you store it somewhere dark between uses (and Scotland vs. Sunny California might be a minor factor too) - any chemists/material engineers on here care to confirm?

 

[Stihldog]

Regarding helmet lifespan:

Plastics degrade over time. Hard plastics tend to become brittle. UV accelerates this process usually.

Which means after a given time, while it might look OK (no dents or cracks) it won't provide the expected level of protection in a crash. If it gets really old, it'll be as much protection as wearing meringue.

Just as eating cheese one day after the expiration date won't kill you (usually) using a helmet 1 day out of date probably won't either, as the use-by date tends to be conservative. You should still however replace your helmet after a certain time, even if it still looks OK (a false feeling of security is worse than no security at all).

I suspect you'd get slightly more life from a helmet if you store it somewhere dark between uses (and Scotland vs. Sunny California might be a minor factor too) - any chemists/material engineers on here care to confirm?

I’m no expert but …there must be an expiry date on this.

 

[Nicho]

I’m no expert but …there must be an expiry date on this. View attachment 168763

I believe they are the new Swiss-made helmets.
They are full of ventilation holes, and you can tell when they reach their expiry date as they give off a strange smell!