Hi

I have a large and slightly odd shaped head and have always had bother finding helmets that fit. I bought one of the Bell Super helmets and there are two bits that just irritate me on the inside:

The bit to the left of the pad where the rectangular sticker is and the small ridge above, which is below in the pic, bug me after a while. If these were to be made flush is it massively dangerous? I know it will invalidate warranty etc but the shop won’t let me return it and I have wanted this since I saw their initial press release.

I personally wouldn’t hack a helmet to bits just to make it fit.

Try a specialized one, they fit my odd shaped bounce just nicely

I tried the tactic 2 but that didn’t feel quite right either, I’ve seen they do a bigger than normal giro hex which might be a winner

WIthout wanting to stoke another helmet thread so soon after the last one, I’m pretty certain that a few slivers of polystyrene removed from the helmet aren’t going to make much difference in the helmet’s ability to ‘save your life’.

I would

I wasn’t aware there was another thread, I did look for modifying helmets but nothing came up on the words I used. My main reservation is if it doesn’t work I’m well and truly up that creek!

If it was modified, would I need to put something over the faces that had been modified to protect it? Maybe some clear nail varnish?

There wasn’t. There was however a long thread about whether they’re any use or not, which was what I was referring to seeing as you were questioning whether it would still work post-modification. We don’t want to go into all that again. At least not for another few days at least 🙂

nail varnish may possibly eat into the polystyrene mate. Not 100% sure but I’d be careful before using it.

Roger that! It’s on the back of the head and having managed to fall off in many ways never fallen as to land on the back. That’s probably a jinx but hey ho!

Might keep away from that then, I have some stuff called new skin to cover paper cuts, like a paint on plaster that leaves a protective layer. Might try that as its ok for skin!

Lance it with a very sharp blade then stick a soft pad over it.

I do feel your pain though. I have a head like the Mekon and My Giro Hex digs into my skull in several places.

unovolo – Member
Lance it with a very sharp blade then stick a soft pad over it.

I use scalpel blades at work on the machines so could use one of them and I still have my old old giro e2 so could use the thin pads from that with a bit of sticky back Velcro to cover it. Thank you!

I’m sure it will be fine if you do it carefully. Don’t cover it in anything like nail varnish as it could react to the helmet.

Sandpaper is particularly good for fine tuning helmet fit. Id not bother covering it with a pad tho, you want to remove material to stop contact at that point, adding a pad would need more material removed than not having a pad. No need to seal it either, its only polystyrene.

I’ve modified a few helmets. Normally just a trim of bits that are sticking out from the moulding process.

I doubt it would significantly alter the helmets performance but you’d lose any warranty (and crash replacement scheme?).

Polystyrene won’t need sealing, stay away from it with any solvent as you’ll dissolve it (probably)

Thanks for all your help! I’m going to have a go tomorrow so will report back

If you did decide to seal it then pva glue would be suitable. But don’t seal it, just cut it nice and smooth in the first place then leave it.

I’ve trimmed a little of the inside of a lid and haven’t died yet. As above, either use a scalpel or some sandpaper and don’t put anything on it to seal it – the existing foam isn’t sealed in any way. There are also plenty of helmets around out there (including mine 😳 ) which aren’t quite exactly the same shape as they started, not due to any intentional trimming.

After some ‘slight’ modification I’m now quite happy!