I had a hard fall a few months ago where I hit my head hard on the left hand side. The helmet shows a very small dent but nothing else that would indicate that it absorbed any of the impact of the fall. As It didn’t absorb the impact my brain bounced around my skull causing a subdural haematoma on the right hand side of my head.

So this finds me looking for a new helmet but I can’t find any helmets that say that they absorb impact or have been tested for this.

Finding this http://www.cyclehelmets.org/1209.html it seems that almost every helmet will stop grazing and cuts, maybe a broken skull but won’t help avoid the situation I have had. Obviously having made an assumption that a helmet will protect me in most situations I want to avoid a similar injury happening again. Don’t get me wrong about the helmet I had – I’m happy that my skull is still intact and that it’s not splattered over the Peak district but I want more protection.

None of the manufacturers seem to say that they have tested for impact absorption although POC use a different system that is supposed to do this to some degree.

Has anyone looked into this and come across any other MTB helmets that absorb impact and what are they? To make things harder I have a head shape where I struggle to get helmets that fit – even more so now 🙄

All helmets absorb impact- it’s part of the standard CE test. Frankly the test standard is very low, though and I don’t think there’s a CE2 for xc type helmets.

POC and Scott and maybe others do MIPS, which is pretty clever- it’s not exactly about reducing impact, but about reducing rotation. It could have made a difference, depends on how you hit your head but if it was a straight on blow it wouldn’t.

Oh, and it’s not obvious but cyclehelmets.org is an anti-helmet website, or at least, an anti-compulsion website but they blur the lines between the two quite badly. There is some good info on there but approach it with caution, there’s no attempt at balance.

I came across this site after a bump

http://www.bhsi.org/helmet14.htm

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/bike-helmets.htm

The helmet shows a very small dent but nothing else that would indicate that it absorbed any of the impact of the fall. As It didn’t absorb the impact my brain bounced around my skull causing a subdural haematoma on the right hand side of my head.

How well did the lid fit?
from Wikipedia

Subdural hematomas are most often caused by head injury, when rapidly changing velocities within the skull may stretch and tear small bridging veins. Subdural hematomas due to head injury are described as traumatic. Much more common than epidural hemorrhages, subdural hemorrhages generally result from shearing injuries due to various rotational or linear forces.[3][8]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subdural_hematoma

From what you say your head hit something, if that object was stationary or immovable there is nothing more that your head can do but to stop violently, the brain then catches up with the skull. To prevent such an injury you would be looking for a lid that allowed your head to slow down at the point of impact. Most DH full faces have a bit more padding inside and are very snug fitting so would provide some more protection in that way. Not sure many XC/trail lids will provide more protection in that way.

I thought the ‘cardboard helmet’ sounded really good… The tests by whoever certifies helmets found it reduces impact to the head 10 times better than a polystyrene lid, and it still offers good protection after 5 impacts so they say it doesn’t always need replacing after a crash. And it’s waterproof.

I would buy one, except it only comes in an unvented pisspot/city style and weighs 500g.

http://www.fawkes-cycles.co.uk/1961539/products/abus-kranium-eco-commuter-cycling-helmet-in-black.aspx?origin=pla?kwd=

Thanks for the replies everyone,some interesting info in there. I can’t say I remember much about the crash but it was at speed and was not straight on, I went down at my side so the MIPS system may have helped.

Basically, manufacturers wan to make the lightest, thinnest, most ventilated helmet they can that passes the CEN test – so ironically a cheaper, heavier, less fashionable helmet may well offer more protection. If you can find one, a helmet that passes the old SNELL tests will be better too, as those tests were more rigorous.

For all you know the helmet may have saved your life. Just because it has a small dent it doesnt mean that it didn’t absorb impact. It just sounds like the impact you had was too hard for it to fully protect you.

I would say try as many helmets for fit as you can. Buy the one that fits the best and has features that you feel confident will protect you the best. You certainly have the motivation to spend decent money on a helmet now.

I can’t find any helmets that say that they absorb impact or have been tested for this.

They all do. That’s the whole point of them. The polystyrene will have taken a significant amount of sting out of the impact, even if there is only a small dent visible.

…made an assumption that a helmet will protect me in most situations…

That’s the trouble, its simply a flawed assumption. All helmets absorb impact But seeing as most are constructed using a 1-1/2 to 2 inch thick section of EPS they can only ever be effective within a limited range, which is basically what they are tested and certified for…

You will struggle to find a helmet sold as significantly exceeding minimum standards. Depending on who you listen to the optimal performance is somewhere around 12mph…

Would your previous noggin bashing have been any less serious with another lid? Pretty hard to say really all accidents are rather unique TBH. ..

Of course they are limited. But they do offer some protection. Some being better than none, of course. You could get more protection by wearing a motorbike helmet. Would probably be too much of a trade off for most people though!

From reading a few things recently including a study on helmets from riders who suffered begin injury, the message I’m getting is that bike helmets are good a preventing you breaking your skull, but very poor at absorbing the shock, so the brain still wobbles about and bruises or bleeds.

Apparently S works helmets and Scott Vanish have some sort of dual layer to increase impact absorption.

Well, there’s some basic physics at work. If your head is travelling at 10mph, so is your brain – and it has to go from that to zero in, at most, the thickness of the helmet. If a helmet is 1″ thick, your head goes from 10-to-0 in one inch, which is better than doing in in zero inches, but still a sizeable force.

The only way to change this is to increase the thickness of the helmet – that’s where the inflatable one was on to something interesting.

The problem with studying this is you can’t really experiment. No-one collects statistics of people who hit their heads and were fine. All you can do is look at people who were unlucky enough to be injured and extrapolate from there.

IMO the whole system is flawed, manufacturers as above make a helmet as light and ventilated as possible, people buy helmets on probably the order of 1. What they look like 2. How much they cost (expensive must be better right? )’, 3 how much they weigh 4 Whether they will be cool on their head. I doubt safety even comes in to it !

Also helmets can’t prevent injury, only reduce it, just like cars they are much ‘safer’ now, people tend not to get broken limbs etc, but they do suffer internal deceleration injuries.

Ben, it appears 1 inch of cardboard is ten times better than 1 inch of polystyrene. You normally only see a small dent in a helmet and then cracks elsewhere, it would be nice to see an impact leave a decent dent, acting like a cars crumple zone. (even if the dent pops back out like the cardboard one supposedly does!)

Are helmets tested on impact absorption?

cynic-al – Member

Are helmets tested on impact absorption?

Yup, the CEN has a flat and sharp edged anvil test, with deceleration limits.

Yes, and I wonder how the cardboard fares with that – a material that squishes more for the same force (as cardboard appears to) would also be worse with sharp-edged impacts.

Ideally, you have a thin but very rigid shell, with a very squishy interior. The shell protects against sharp edges, the interior decelerates the head as gently as possible.

But then it has to be light, cheap, ventilated, stylish,…

I think I’m going to replace my Hex with a Feature. I want something a bit ‘safer’ and I am prepared for a weight and comfort penalty to get a bit more coverage. I would pay more for a helmet with better (proven) impact absorption.

The cardboard helmet does have a rigid shell (and some polystyrene I think).

Bike helmets are good at preventing you breaking your skull, but very poor at absorbing the shock, so the brain still wobbles about and bruises or bleeds…. is the situation here to not crash…. I know that sounds obvious but can we really expect something magical to happen when we fall off our bikes? Is the risk not there and all you can do is to prevent your skull from braking and risk the whole damage somehow thing? A year ago i destroyed a helmet, a crack through the entire depth of it and its arguable it saved me from a wheelchair or death, I just had a very bad concussion which means my memory of the crash is non existent, nor is the call to 999 I made somehow. Otherwise wouldn’t we be covering ourselves in bubble wrap to prevent any damage we do? Or just not riding at all, I mean dont get me wrong but is it not considered an extreme sport? Going from 30mph > 0mph is going to cause damage and we all know that when we get on a bike?