Small dent in helmet, time to replace?

I had a nice little trip over the bars today and was so busy wiping blood from my elbow that I didn’t notice that I had put a small dent in my helmet just above the ear until I got home. The helmet is a Fox Flux and quite new so I am reluctant to spend yet more money but on the other hand there isn’t much point in wearing a helmet if it’s not going to protect your head. So replace or nor?

depends on the size and depth but loads of people will be along soon to call you an idiot for not replacing it instantly. I have all sorts of dints in mine and i’m happy with it

I would only replace if the internal shell has cracked as this is how they work by cracking to absorb the impact force.

They work by compressing the liner. If it is permanently dented the ability of it to absorb energy is seriously compromised

Its another one of those things I cannot comprehend – why wear a compromised helmet?

there is a dent and a dent, a minor scuff from handling, fine, a dent from any sort of impact time to replace.

Then after a couple of years you find the helmet has a fair few scuffs from handling and it time to replace anyway. The design parameters of helmets aren’t that great so why use a compromised helmet which is barely unto the job anyway?

Right, hand in pocket time then. On-one seem to have a good offer on Giros at the mo, anybody spotted anything better?

been riding with mine cracked since end of july after a high impact..

time to replace then 🙂

On-one seem to have a good offer on Giros at the mo, anybody spotted anything better?

horse riding Urge stylee?

Worth buying a Specialized just for the crash replacement policy (and they are pretty decent helemts too)

My last helmet had several small dents in it for ages. A head into tree crash earlier this year broke the internal polystyrene structure in 4 places. That was the point at which I felt it needed changing.

do they have a crash replacement policy?

hit mine hard on the floor last weekend – no marks but it’s getting replaced.

not worth the risk imo.

Polystyrene isn’t designed to take multiple impacts – if there is a dent it no longer has the ability to dent = less protection.

you could gamble that next time you’ll land on a different bit…