Bicycle helmets. What are there to choose?

On the pages of this blog, I always urge everyone to ride a bike in a helmet and in no case neglect this simple and often the only element of protection for a cyclist. Despite this, nothing has been written about bicycle helmets themselves. It's a mess, it needs to be fixed. So, today we will talk about bicycle helmets. What they are, what they are, which one to choose and how to use it correctly.

Varieties of bicycle helmets

In fact, cycling helmets can be divided into two categories: MTB helmets for mountain biking and road helmets. MTB helmets are divided into two types, depending on the discipline: cross-country (XC, KK) and extreme orientation - the so-called. "bowlers" and full face (Full face). Road helmets also come in two types: the first is a classic look (very similar to KK) and the second is a helmet for racing with a separate start (Time trial).

MTB

Cross country helmet (XC)

The name is not quite “scientific”, but I don’t even know how else to call it. This is the most common type of bicycle helmet. They are made, as a rule, from a special foam material, covered on top with a thin, smooth plastic with beautiful stripes and patterns applied to it. Most of these helmets have a special visor designed to protect against dust, splashes and the sun. Some models have a removable visor. A mosquito net is also quite common and a very useful thing. After all, it is very unpleasant to drive at high speed and feel like someone is swarming in your head ???? Good helmet ventilation is very important, especially in the extreme heat of summer. Fixing the helmet on the head is carried out with the help of a strap, as well as a special mechanism on the back of the head, which serves to optimally fit the helmet to the size of the head.

bowlers

A kind of MTB bicycle helmet of extreme orientation. Bowlers are usually used in such disciplines as street (street), dirt (dirt), bmx, etc. It is made in the same way as the cross-country, from foam and covered with plastic, but in this case thicker and more durable. The ventilation holes on such a helmet are much smaller and usually very small. They usually do not have an adjustment mechanism (only a strap), so the size must be selected exactly, and the helmet should sit tight.

Fullface (full face)

MTB bicycle helmet for such extreme disciplines as: freeride (Freeride), downhill (Downhill), biker-cross (4x), etc. Provides complete protection for the rider's head. These disciplines involve very difficult and technical tracks, with many large stones, trees, logs. At the same time, all this is passed at a very high speed, so the protection must be appropriate.

Road bicycle helmets

Classic road helmet

Such helmets are very similar to cross-country helmets, but the visor is rare for them. There is usually no mosquito net either, but there may be more vents to provide better ventilation during long high-speed trips on heated asphalt. Many athletes use road helmets in races and cross-country marathons, because they are not inferior in strength to KK MTB, while they look very airy and impressive.

Time Trial Helmet

They are quite rare on sale, since they are very highly specialized and are used exclusively in races with a separate start. The helmet has a characteristic drop-shaped appearance and the most aerodynamic shape for the least resistance to airflow.

Choosing a bicycle helmet

Above, we briefly reviewed the most common types of bicycle helmets. Now let's talk about which helmet to choose and what to look for. Since the article is written for beginner cyclists, we will choose the most common universal helmet “for every day”, i.e. for everything. Questions immediately arise: where to buy, which company to choose, how much it costs, and what to look for when buying? So, in order.

Where can I buy?

You need to buy a helmet in a sports, or better, a specialized bike shop. Do not even think about going and buying a helmet in the nearest hypermarket like OK, Auchan, etc., the items presented there are made disgusting, look terrible, and at times they are priced close to normal models.

Which firm to choose?

When shopping for a helmet, you should keep in mind a list of some well-known manufacturers whose products you should focus on:

What to pay attention to?

It is very important to choose the optimal helmet size. If he dangles on his head, then when he falls, there will be little sense from him. But you also need to consider that in cool weather you will want to wear a bandana under it, and in winter a thicker windproof balaclava. Thanks to the adjustment wheel on the back of the head (this is how the adjustment system is implemented on most models), it is quite possible to choose a universal helmet for all occasions. But each helmet has its own adjustment range, so be careful. Usually the size range is indicated on the sticker on the inside. So to begin with, carefully try on the helmet and make sure that there is a margin of adjustment in both directions.

Some people like helmets with a visor, some people don't. Personally, I immediately took it off and never wore it again. Firstly, it was not convenient for me with him, and secondly (in my opinion) he spoils the look of the helmet.

Mosquito net is a very useful thing, but it is not present on all helmet models. Especially useful when riding on a hot summer day on field roads, when clouds of horseflies are circling around. Also, the net will not be superfluous when driving along the evening highway, as a rule, flocks of midges fly there at this time. My helmet doesn't have a mesh, so I prefer to wear a bandanna under it in cases like this.

When choosing a bicycle helmet, first of all, we look at its appearance. And this is important. After all, it doesn't matter how you look from the outside. A cyclist dressed in a beautiful bike uniform already attracts the attention of others, but a helmet is perhaps one of the main elements here. So when choosing, do not forget about this????

Personally, I have been riding with a Bell X-Ray helmet since 2005. Without the visor, it looks like a fairly normal XC racing or road helmet. In the summer I tighten the adjusting wheel all the way and the helmet sits like a glove, in cold weather a rather dense fleece balaclava with Windblock fits under it.

Well, in the end, I’ll scare you with a few pictures that quite clearly explain the real need to use a helmet when riding a bike:

A short video about choosing a bicycle helmet:

Good luck on the roads and fair wind! Once again with the new cycling 2012! ????