Had a rather fast fall at SITS at the weekend resulting in a very sore shoulder, a stained jersey and a dent the size of half a penny to my helmet on the side, about 3mm deep (still managed my second fastest lap though!).

Just wondering after what sort of crash to people replace their helmets? Only if there’s a crack? Or even if there’s no sign of damage?

Its a 2.5 year old Athlon if it helps.

I’d change it now tbh bud.
I change mine after two years or any blow to the head. I know sometimes it’s not neccessary but i like to know that whats sat on my sweed is going to protect me in the event of another off

Any visible damage replace it.

The poly crushes under impact and it will rebound to some extent. a dent that size has significantly weakened the helmet. Taht area has lost much of its ability to absorb impact

Replaced my first after 4 years, after all, you only have one head. Though I never crashed enought to dent it, I had had lots & lots of small crashe/hit, so thought it time to replace it.
2nd is now due really, so will replace it when I find employment…

I’d replace it, if there’s a dent then there’s compression in the shell and as the shell is designed to compress on impact, absorbing impact force, it’s done it’s job and shouldn’t be asked to do it again.

I’m sure there will be posters on here who will tell you they still ride in helmets that have had much greater impacts but that their head not yours.

surpose it depends on how much you use your head, can you afford to damage it if you have another crash and the helmet fails to absorb the impact forces.

Take it back to where you bought it see if they do a crash replacement deal (I know Spez do – wife crashed her lid we took it back to LBS and they did us a deal on a replacement the damaged one went back to Spez for research purposes)

Change it mate ! Crashed on FtD in spring, polystyrene in mine fractured in 4 places and a slight dent in shell, when my head hit a tree. Mind you my old spesh helmet was 5 years old and just being chucked in the van after rides may not have helped it, like all most plastics ( and my good self !)I guess it had become more brittle with age.

Replacement time, mine all go in the bin/back to Giro after a crash involving my head.

IIRC there was a mag article not so long ago stateing that they should last 7 years if loked after, stored somewhere cool and dry out of sunlight etc.

Mine’s full of cracks, I don’t worry about them.

Is any evidence re. replacement provided or funded by anyone other than manfacturers?

Now sounds perfect. You’ve had a genuine crash, and you’re still within your three year crash replacement. Quite lucky really.

Not really – it’s a Giro so crash replacement is at least as much as a new helmet. Giro really suck at that part.

My mate just got a Spesh 2D for £60 on replacement.

Really? Sure the last one I had was about 40 % of rrp. Guess it doesn’t look great against discounted prices.

I looked at mine the other day. It’s a few years old and I’ve been thinking I should probably replace it. The were complete cracks through 5 sections of EPS (vent to vent). Pretty sure it’s up there with a chocolate teapot in terms of crash protection. 😐

Now shopping…

Yup – just looked; Athlon crash replacement price – £60, on-One currently doing the Athlon for…. you guessed… £60. Great.

So if I get a new one, which helmet? I use the Athlon for mtb and road cycling (removeable peak, so not as to look daft on the road bike!), but I’ve never been entirely convinced about fit. I’d consider 2 helmets if the prices were right – something roadie, but still wearable for an xc mtb race, then something a bit more ‘Giro Xen’ shall we say.

Or is there something else out there that does both?

Is any evidence re. replacement provided or funded by anyone other than manfacturers?

Pretty sure your post does the job nicely

Why do you own a helmet Al? The protection helmets offer is provided by energy from the impact being used to crack or crush the helmets material. Surely you only need a basic understanding of physics to work out a damaged helmet is going to offer less or no protection in the event of a colision. I honestly didn’t need the money grabbing bastid helmet manu’s to tell me that.

It’s your head and your choice.

As has been said if it has a dent then replace it is best advice. In theory they are one hit wonders, same as motorcycle helmets. I also recall that you should look to change them after 3 years bashed or not, but not sure about that bit.

The 3 year thing is as a result of possible degradation by UV. I’m sure that again there will be conspiracy theorists that will say this is another manufacturer myth designed to ease money out of your bank account.

In a previous life I spent a couple of years working on UV and effect on polymers for an industrial printing process. Believe me, UV can and does knacker quite a lot of polymers. If you ride a motorbike 10 weekends a year and your helmet spends the rest of the time in the cupboard then 3 years is probably not required. If you ride in a helmet at least once a week I’d seriously consider sticking to the 3 year “rule”.

But again, it’s your head, do as you want.

Definitely. Crashed in my 5 year old specialised. Took almost the full force on rock and when taken off looked like new. It was only when I looked past the cradle that I saw the impact had punctured a panel through the structural inner yet the poly shell was perfect!

As others have said, it’s time for a new lid.

I put an dent in a new-ish one the other month, about the size of a thumb. It really didn’t look much but when I thought about the trauma and violence of the impact that caused it, the ‘fuckfuckfuck’ thoughts that went through my head split-seconds before and the overwhelming sense of relief when I stood up afterwards and thought ‘hey I’m OK’, I didn’t hesitate to replace it.

So I may as well not wear my helmet then? Any evidence for that?

Hmm, thought not 🙄

Used to work for Arai, a top end motorcycle and motor sport helmet manufacturer. They offer a 5 year warranty on new helmets and recommend replacement after that unless it is very lightly used then 7 year max to replacement. The outer shell would go on for 20 years no problem and the inner lining is replaceable on most models. The issue is the inner Styrofoam type liner which is what most cycle helmets are made from. What happens is that the natural oils in your skin and hair along with the sweat breaks down the shock absorption properties of the Styrofoam. Now you can imagine that your average cyclist produces a fair bit more sweat than a Born Again Biker so I would not be stretching things when it comes to primary safety equipment. If it has done its job in a spill change it. If its old and well used change it.