I'm getting a child seat for the back of my bike and think it will be beneficial to get the little fella (nearly 11months old) a helmet, but where's the best place to look? I'd rather avoid Halfords, but the LBS doesn't have many small helmets and I don't want to buy online without checking it'll fit first. We're in West Oxfordshire and I can easily get to Oxford, Swindon, Cheltenham etc, but don't want to drag him around too many shops!
toysrus and halfords do actually have a good selection. Like with everything at halfords go and have a look, then check the price of it online and they'll do it in store for the web price.
Halfords or Decathlon worked for us. If you know enough to use this forum, you should be ok dealing with any weaker staff members in Halfords, but a lot are better than the haters on here would like you to believe
Uvex and cratoni both do some good small helmets.. can't remember which of ours have which helmets.. but our 9month old had one that fitted.
Just order a few from crc and send the ones that don't fit back
I'd forgotten about Toys-R-us (which is daft as I worked in the bike bit one Christmas while at uni - I sent quite a few people to the LBS to buy better bikes!!). It looks like it'll be a trip to both on Botley Road, Oxford then 🙄
Like 2 Bike, mail order from Alyth in Perthshire has some very good quality bike lids for kids that actually fit properly, think they're maybe MET..? Worth a look.
Police round here set up a stand at the local monthly market where they sell bike safety and security stuff cheap, particularly kids helmets. Could be another option of they do the same near you.
We struggled to get a helmet for the wee lad (just turned one) as he's a tiny head.
Smallest we found was the Giro Me2 kids helmet from CRC. Fits like a dream.
Giro me2 and spree here as well
Go outdoors have a few if one near you.
Warlands 😉
We have a lazer p'nut for our toddler, nice, comfy but not the cheapest.
Met kids helmets have a good rep and i know people who've used them and were very happy.
I'd avoid Giro, We bought one of them first and he hated it, screamed until we took it off, tore chunks of his hair out trying to remove it himself.
With the lazer he'll happily wear it for hours, even when he's just tottering round the house.
I got a [url= http://www.on-one.co.uk/i/q/HEMEELFO/met-elfo-s-kids-helmet ]MET ELFO S[/url] for my little lad (just turned 2) from on-one, granted he's got a head that wouldn't look out of place on a 4 yr old so getting one to fit was pretty simple. 😆
It's a great little lid with a flashing LED light on the adjuster band, he'll happily wear it for as long as he's on his bike and then getting it off afterwards can be a bit tricky so it must be comfortable.
aw cycles in reading had a good stock last time i was there, bit of a trek for you, but not too far
Smallest I found was a Wee Ride helmet at 44-48 cm, eg.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Weeride-Spike-Boys-Baby-Helmet/dp/B005LLA1PC
Bell helmets are a good choice to go for....if you buy it from an approved independent dealer then the helmet qualifies to be part of the "grow with Bell" policy where you can change the helmet after about 3 years for a new larger model at a discounted price....kind of similar to the giro crash replacement warranty.
i made the mistake of buying my sons Bell helmet from Halfords only to find out that Bell dont include them in their scheme.
EDIT: i think Giro do something similar too
Go outdoors could be worth a try if you have one near you. They had a few 48 - 52 size helmets in my local store, which fitted my little lads head very well.
I got my daughter a Bontrager Little Dipper from my LBS, it fits really well and seems comfy as she actively asks to put it on. It also has flowers on which is big hit with her (boys styles also available), which is not to be underestimated if you want to avoid complaints!