Painting your helmet….has anyone?.

Has anyone tried to paint their Helmet ( cycle helmet :roll:)?
What paint did you use….did you have to prep helmet first ….if so how

Because I’ve recently changed bikes and ideally I’d like a Matt black helmet to go with the bike….but I’ve tried loads of different helmets in the shops ….but non are as comfy as my old one, so I’m thinking why change it, just paint it?.

Painting plastic motorbike helmets was always a no no. I’m assuming push bike helmets are no different.

I did but it was years ago when giro had a removable hard shell. Took it off, spray painted with model paint and stuck it back on. You’ll no doubt void any warranty but make sure bare polystyrene is covered and should be OK.

Solvent-wise you’d need to be really careful about paint, water-based should be alright though. But it’d also be a bastard to prep.

I imagine it would flake or chip off really easily too. Maybe a plasti dip style rubber coating? Will be difficult to mask areas you don’t want it though.

Polish yes, paint no.

So acrylic spray paint should be ok then?……

It would be tricky but vinyl wrap could work if you have the patience.

Old work colleague wrapped his in a vinyl Irish flag.

I did back in the early 90’s with my Bell Image. I always got my moto-x helmets painted by a guy called Piers Dowell and i handed him a new Bell Image and a few Pics of Tomacs Eagle design to copy, it turned out really well (piers was a top notch spray artist) but i was so pissed off when i crashed and smashed it in a few pieces….quite an expensive way to waste money 🙁

Plastidip would be good but it uses a mixture of naphtha and xylene as the solvent so you might not have a helmet left (Bobbitt style)

Ok I’ll bite. Black is not a good safety feature for a safety feature.
Helmet matching bike does not make helmet look any less shit.

No, but a mate got utterly arseholed at a party once and admitted to dressing his up in his sister’s Barbie doll outfits.
🙂

breadcrumb – Member
It would be tricky but vinyl wrap could work if you have the patience.

Old work colleague wrapped his in a vinyl Irish flag.

Now that’s a great idea!!….any tips??

any tips??

Convince yourself you did it and stop riding past mirrors.

Mikes with me.

*high five*

this

Or

this

Or my preferred option is to not give a crap about colour co-ordination, to me cycling is about utility and sport, not a fashion parade.

I once put a few drops of Tobasco on mine during one of those weird rugby team games. I don’t recommend it, although it got me a couple of pints. The guy after me, Big T, dipped his in ground white pepper. I gathered from the expression, and length of time he spent washing it in the pub toilet sink, that it was harder to wash off the pepper, and it make have got under things.

Cycling is about looking good and every cyclist should make it their duty to look as good as possible. Asda helmets and flapping hi viz make you a source of ridicule and doesn’t encourage anyone to get out of their car and onto a bike and the professional bellend look ( every safety device to ride to the shop) is just as bad tbh.

I don’t see any reason not to paint a helmet, just use the right paint, what that is I haven’t got a clue though.

Taking issue with real problems like a dry squeaking chain that is torturing the whole drivechain is kind of understandable but IMHO only total cocks ridicule people because they are not cycling fashionably enough.

I don’t see any reason not to paint a helmet, just use the right paint

I am not sure if there is a paint that will both stick to the plastic and not have a carrier that would eat the polystryene.

They are painted now so it must exist?

Here’s some examples of style btw….Britain needs more of this and less hi viz.

http://www.preferredmode.com

I rather suspect the shells are painted before being fused to the polystryene.

My dad used to wear one of those yellow strap things which i thought was really silly when i was a kid, but i’ve done a lot of growing up since then. I often wear a high viz now, anything to help one be noticed in the corner of drivers eye reduces the chances of being t-boned.

In France the law requires the wearing of high viz at night, supposedly.

To do it properly would cost more than the price of a new lid. My advice would be to buy a new black helmet – after a few rides it’ll be as comfy as your old one.

If you insist in painting your old one then go to B+Q and buy a tin of hammerite. It wont damage the plastic and will be a toughish finish. Will look shite tho unless you have experience using this type of paint. And if you drop it or crash then you wont have wasted too much of your time/money.

This is what happens when you go out & leave your OH with access to the sharpies https://www.instagram.com/p/BHF7QzJA5oV/

In France the law requires the wearing of high viz at night, supposedly.

Le Victim Blaming?

OP, buy a black helmet.

rOcKeTdOg – This is what happens when you go out & leave your OH with access to the sharpies https://www.instagram.com/p/BHF7QzJA5oV/

I Like that a lot.

After reading that blog, I want to buy tweed.

In France the law requires the wearing of high viz at night, supposedly.

I thinks its actually some reflective clothing (and even then outdide of town) and in the same way you are supposed to have reflective pedals and a bell in the UK completley ignored by everyone.

I’ll like that helmet too.

…buy a tin of hammerite. It wont damage the plastic…

Not sure if serious…. :-/

The outer shell will probably be polycarbonate, and it is there to hold the brittle polystyrene foam together while it does its stuff in a crash. Polycarbonate is attacked by loads of solvents. Even if it doesn’t dissove straight away, the damage can take the form of embrittlement and/or stress cracking. Stress cracking can take some time to appear. In the case of embrittlement, you wont see anything until you hit the helmet with something (the ground?), and the shell cracks – Even the solvent in the glue on some stickers can affect polycarbonate.

So you *really* need to know what you’re doing if you’re going to paint anything made of polycarbonate, let alone something that’s designed to stop head injuries… (Fibreglass m/c helmets can be painted without problems, though.)

High-Vis black?

even troy lee masks and paints complete lids so its totally possible.

i did an old giro lid in matt black years ago. sanded teh plastic, masked teh foam off and sprayed it. looked fine and was suprisingly robust. i used boggo halfords spray paint.

i didnt notice any decay of teh foam and it defo saved my bonce on at least one occasion following spraying. it got a healthy dent in it at which point it was retired. paint didnt come off tho. 😀

Not sure if serious…. :-/

Deadly. For best results use a large cheap brush so that lots of stray hairs fall out and are lodged in the paint. Looks like carbon fibre 😛

As i said – best to buy a new black lid or spend mucho moolah doing it right.

I’ve painted a few now. Masking takes ages. I key the paint in by using the rough side of a washing up sponge, and then mask it to cover all the polystyrene. Again, this takes ages. Spray your main base colour, mask any pattern or design, spray next colour, repeat. I finish it with pretty much a whole can of spray lacquer, do not get this wrong, any runs and your back to square one.
And I generally use halfwords car paint 😀

Mate of mine did his with a rattle can and no prep, looks horrible but when you’re lined up to start the mega in the same row as Gracia and co with a ropey looking lid and torn gloves you look like a total boss. Mincing down blue runs on the other hand….

as per Van Halen above.

I plasticoted mine in matt black, looked ok. and more importantly did not fall apart upon impact(s)

That’s amazing.