Have recently lost my helmet and so am in the market for a new one. Was wondering if people could give me the pro’s and cons of each.

Is the composite gonna last longer then a carbon? I realise the composite is slightly heavier but is that the main difference.

This is not a race helmet so not particularly bothered about weight.

Cheers

both one strike and out….

Carbon might cost more/weigh less but still only good for a single smack into a tree…

fit is more important than bling in my book

Weight has a safety impact too- the more weight in the helmet, the more momentum and so the more stress on the spine in some crashes. Though I don’t know if that’ll be significant with the sort of weights we’re talking about here. I’m not sure comfort’s that big a concern, my full face is cheap and heavy as hell but is fine for full days.

Some carbon fibre motorbike helmets test out much worse than their fibreglass equivalents, it tends to be a stiffer stronger shell which counterintuitively leads to worse impact resolution- your brain stops moving faster basically. <Northwind resists the urge to geek out about helmet crash tests and competing standards. But it’s really interesting!>

Mainly weight is the only difference, same with motor racing helmets.

and Northwind is right carbon is stiffer than fibreglass/kevlar/dyneema.

Just to be picky, they are all composite, just using different materials.

The type I would stay away from are the polycarbonate helmets, they are not composite and usually have a mould line right down the centre. This is the weak area.

I always try to buy one with a D buckle rather than a clip fastener, but that is just down to personal choice.