Hello all,

Just about to get my Nephew a helmet for his 1st Birthday – any views on which brands seem to fit best – Specialised, Giro etc? I bought my Daughter Halfords own jobby thing a while ago and regret it seriously as it’s awful interms of adjusting the fit.

ta

Fit will be unique to the shape of your child’s head. But stick to the main brands and im sure you’ll be reet.
My little in has always had met helmets, fit great. She’s now 7 and is needs an adult lid! 😮

Rose has a decathlon ‘kiddy one’. Now we’ve managed to teach her to do up the straps, it is fine. It is very lightweight. She has crashed pretty hard with it (includihg faceplanting at faster than my running speed on a mud covered asphalt track a couple of weeks back) and it appears to stay on and leave her head uninjured. They do a decent range of sizes they are quite lightweight compared to ones that just do ‘small kid’ and ‘teenager’ sizes or whatever.

She also has an expensive and fancy ‘crazy stuff’ tiger helmet, which looks lovely, but is bigger and heavier, and every time we’ve tried to put it on she screams her head off. I think it is just too bulky.

I cannot resist another showoff moment, so here she is riding with it on (when she was a bit on and off as to whether she’d do the straps, hence them sometimes being undone):

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6V5bDim2ho[/video]

Got 2 Bell ones cheap at LBS <£10 each but only elastic cradle for my 2.5yr olds. I’ve tried them in the Giro ones which seem to fit well with the adjustable cradle but think it is a case of try before you buy.

Try to get one with as ‘flat’ a back as possible. That way when they are in a child seat their head isn’t forced forwards all the time

edit: iirc the decathlon ones tighten easily but I may have that wrong

Our two both had Specialized Small Fry helmets from age 1 to about 4.5. They have a very flat back which is what we needed so they could go in the bike seat without their head getting pushed forward.

cheers all, the small fry seems to get the thumbs up from others as well. will go look to see who;s got them.

cheers.

BBB Mini.

Edit: It’s good!

Small fry for the little un, the older ones (3+) both have Bell Fractions and ongoing sticker collection wars.

Met Elfo is apparently the only one that has indents to cope with the soft bits in the skull (quick google – fontanelle)
More applicable for smaller kids, but my 4-year old still has his Elfo. Hmm, probably time for a change thinking about it as its 3 years old…

Met something or other for my two (bit older than yours), they’re pretty adjustable so I’m hoping they’ll do them for at least a couple of years.

The bike shop I used to work for sold a lot of child helmets (as we specialized in “alternative transport” as opposed to sporty bikes) and I always found Abus helmets to be the best.
The band on the back comes down very low, so once they’re fitted they’re very secure.
Also, the straps are routed through the band at the back, so they dont move around much and, once fitted, they sit well clear of your child’s ears.
As the main band is sort of floating, it generally fits well to pretty much any shape of head. The problem I always found with Met, Giro etc is that the band doesn’t do this, so the fit was never as secure. They’re also dead easy to fit.

They do a massive range of sizes, colours, and many of them have a wee light in the back (although your kid’s probably not going to be riding on the road, it’s a nice thing to have for peace of mind, and kids love to play with them!)

Well worth a look, in my opinion.