THE HELMET THREAD

[Smoother]

Helmet info and opinion is scattered all over the forum, mostly in thread derailments, which I categorically deny having anything to do with, ok, maybe a little,.  ALRIGHT! IT'S ALWAYS ME. 

HAPPY NOW?

Please feel free to add your thoughts and recommendations about all things helmet related.

So here's what I bought:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01L6SS4FW/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

and why:

1. its road legal, and therefore safer than a bicycle helmet.

2. it's matt black like my wheel, so it goes with anything.

3. I can wear goggles and keep my eyes from tearing up.

4. I don't care about the extra weight, It's not like I'm peddling for Gauds sake.

5. I can wear it while jet skiing, powered paragliding, and if I ever get on a motorcycle/scooter again.

6. the padding comes out for cleaning, etc

7. there's room for speakers

8. it was cheap

9. it comes well recommended

Concerns:

1. I do a lot of sidewalk and boardwalk (promenade) riding, so I'm concerned that my full MC helmet and jacket combo will scream "HEY! he doesn't belong here".  Which, of course, I don't. But riding in the road is illegal here too, so I'd rather be hung for a sheep than a lamb (as the old English saying goes)

said to mean that because the punishment for a bad action and an even worse one will be the same, you have no reason not to do the worse one

2. How bad is my hair going to look, when I take it off? 

3. How much more time is this going to add to my pre/post-ATGATT routine?

4. Just one more bulky thing to find a place for here, and where I'm going.

5.  Makes my recent headphone purchase useless, as I use them exclusively when gliding.

 

I tore apart my old headphones (won't charge anymore) with a view to installing them in this helmet.  Another project that may never see the light of day.

 

 

Yeah, I know,  somethings wrong with my nose, or the helmet, or the goggles, or my head.  Either way, nothing is lining up.

 

Edited March 1, 2018 by Smoother

[Smoother]

Goggles fit well, and my glasses fit both, so that's good.

They lied when they said there was room for speakers, although they didn't actually say, "speakers".  Bluetooth is what they said.  What is "bluetooth" ? it has no common physical properties. one bluetooth device can be 100 times bigger than another. In this respect its no more than a concept.

Anyway, I took it apart, and carved out some foam, to make room for the speakers I salvaged from my old headphones.  Some polystyrene foam was not well stuck to a piece of plastic, so I used some contact cement to fix it. Speakers fit well after I took the backs off.  Put it all back together "dry" and it looks stock.  Two of four screws that hold the inner shell in place, were never installed.  I will finish the wiring, once I find some thin wires to extend what is there already.  I found a place to keep the module that houses the control panel.  This was the outside of one speaker pod, but the pod is gone, and it needs a different location.  I found a location on the right side of the chin guard.  I can lead the wires inside through the existing ventilation hole, and do no damage.

 

Inside cheek/earpiece of the lining.  Hole is where chin strap goes.

 

Old headphone speaker lined up for trial fit.

 

Marked for cutting.

 

Cut and trial fit.

 

The raised surround around the hole has to go, it's taking up valuable room.

 

Raised edge removed (placed on white foam for the picture)

 

Air vent recess where speaker control module will go.

 

Trial fit.  Yeah, it's not vertical anymore, but it falls naturally to hand.

EDIT.  Ruined the Bluetooth remote trying to solder the speaker wires to it, so converted the set up to wired by cannibalizing a 3.5mm stereo cable.

 

Edited March 1, 2018 by Smoother

[Cannings]

Well my helmet came yesterday as you saw from the pics, and I got to go out a bit last night. In the cold that is the UK I noticed a few things:

• I get a bit steamed up but simply crack the visor a small bit and its all cool
• the protection from having the visor fully closed or only cracked a bit is really nice in this weather, beats my old helmet snood goggles combo
• it looks cool as fuck
• i can put it on really easily with apple earphones in, however taking it off with them in really hurt, had to take them out my ears first
• i've not tried to put my bluetooth earbuds I bought specifically for this but i'm worried they wont fit (pic of buds attached)

 

[Marty Backe]

16 minutes ago, Cannings said:

Well my helmet came yesterday as you saw from the pics, and I got to go out a bit last night. In the cold that is the UK I noticed a few things:

• I get a bit steamed up but simply crack the visor a small bit and its all cool
• the protection from having the visor fully closed or only cracked a bit is really nice in this weather, beats my old helmet snood goggles combo
• it looks cool as fuck
• i can put it on really easily with apple earphones in, however taking it off with them in really hurt, had to take them out my ears first
• i've not tried to put my bluetooth earbuds I bought specifically for this but i'm worried they wont fit (pic of buds attached)

BTW, is that visor functional in the dark or does it cut down the visibility too much?

[Cannings]

2 minutes ago, Marty Backe said:

BTW, is that visor functional in the dark or does it cut down the visibility too much?

It was getting dark on the way to being dark in the hour I managed to go out last night and I didn't have any visibility problems, its not quite as good as my skiing goggles that are yellow tint and almost enhance it a bit, but it was just as if I was looking through clear glass

[Marty Backe]

8 minutes ago, Cannings said:

It was getting dark on the way to being dark in the hour I managed to go out last night and I didn't have any visibility problems, its not quite as good as my skiing goggles that are yellow tint and almost enhance it a bit, but it was just as if I was looking through clear glass

Thanks, that's good to know because I'm considering getting a helmet with a built-in visor.

[Cannings]

7 minutes ago, Marty Backe said:

Thanks, that's good to know because I'm considering getting a helmet with a built-in visor.

Yeah for me it was a must, Ive always covered my whole face snowboarding or anything with a snood up to my cheeks, goggles and the helmet, this gives me more breathability and is less claustrophobic and the one I got has the option to remove the visor entirely if it gets to that sort of weather (usually 2 days in june for the uk)

[Smoother]

54 minutes ago, Marty Backe said:

Thanks, that's good to know because I'm considering getting a helmet with a built-in visor.

Not all visors are the same.  His didn't restrict light, yours might.  Yesterday my goggles arrived too.  The silver mirrored lens cuts light significantly, but the Yellow lens, as @Cannings said, almost enhances it.  Not that easy to change, so I'll stick to yellow for this darkest of seasons.  I have sunglasses which will fit inside if the sun makes a rare appearance.

@Cannings why not bring your helmet photos over here, to help make this thread useful to people.  Maybe include a link to where you bought them.

[Cannings]

1 minute ago, Smoother said:

Not all visors are the same.  His didn't restrict light, yours might.  Yesterday my goggles arrived too.  The silver mirrored lens cuts light significantly, but the Yellow lens, as @Cannings said, almost enhances it.  Not that easy to change, so I'll stick to yellow for this darkest of seasons.  I have sunglasses which will fit inside if the sun makes a rare appearance.

@Cannings why not bring your helmet photos over here, to help make this thread useful to people.  Maybe include a link to where you bought them.

Sure I got this helmet from: 

https://www.titus-shop.com/en_GB/product/257000-TSG-Pass-Pro-Carbon-Graphic-Design-Fullface-Helmet-trace.html?sid=1

it was the most reasonably priced version of the carbon, the other version was about +70e

 

[The Fat Unicyclist]

18 hours ago, Smoother said:

Please feel free to add your thoughts and recommendations about all things helmet related.

So here's what I bought:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01L6SS4FW/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

and why:

1. its road legal, and therefore safer than a bicycle helmet.
2. it's matt black like my wheel, so it goes with anything.
3. I can wear goggles and keep my eyes from tearing up.
4. I don't care about the extra weight, It's not like I'm peddling for Gauds sake.
5. I can wear it while jet skiing, powered paragliding, and if I ever get on a motorcycle/scooter again.
6. the padding comes out for cleaning, etc
7. there's room for speakers
8. it was cheap
9. it comes well recommended

And 10. You look great wearing it ! 

Edited December 15, 2017 by The Fat Unicyclist

[Smoother]

1 hour ago, The Fat Unicyclist said:

And 10. You look great wearing it ! 

And I thought I had too much time on my hands!! I can't even upload pictures on my own thread (EDIT sorted).  How sad is that?  My old photo sharing service won't send the password reset they promised, and with my new one, I cant get the "insert other media" tab to work  ( EDIT just discovered which link to copy/paste, dooh!)

PS I never ride shirtless, might mess up my plastic pects.

Edited December 15, 2017 by Smoother

[Smoother]

Photos added in post 2 for helmet mod for speakers.  And post one for the helmet.  Not great pics, but you get the idea. Seemed logical to put them there with the text.

Edited December 15, 2017 by Smoother

[The Fat Unicyclist]

2 hours ago, Smoother said:

Photos added in post 2 for helmet mod for speakers.  And post one for the helmet.  Not great pics, but you get the idea. Seemed logical to put them there with the text.

Y'know, I can't quite put my finger on it, but... Oh, wait... That's it...

Darth Smoother! 

Edited December 15, 2017 by The Fat Unicyclist

[Hunka Hunka Burning Love]

Kinda reminds me more of the Bug Droid RA-7 from the sand crawler.

[litewave]

11 hours ago, Cannings said:

Sure I got this helmet from: 

https://www.titus-shop.com/en_GB/product/257000-TSG-Pass-Pro-Carbon-Graphic-Design-Fullface-Helmet-trace.html?sid=1

it was the most reasonably priced version of the carbon, the other version was about +70e

 

 

Thanks for posting a real picture of this helmet. I was hoping either the yellow (your helmet) or green (@kour 's) would be close enough to the hi-viz yellow of my motorcycle jacket, but it doesn't seem so. I think the carbon-fibre might complement the forthcoming Ninebot One Z (or Gotway Tesla), though 

Edited December 15, 2017 by litewave

[brianle]

Reposting stuff I had about my new inexpensive folding helmet from a thread on the IPS sub-forum.

I bought an IPS i5 as a "last mile" device, and bought a backpack that I could put it in, to facilitate taking it into stores, restaurants, public transport, to include maybe places that might otherwise be less pleased (or disallow) an electric unicycle being brought inside.  For safety gear, I reckoned I would be using wrist braces, depending on the situation, and a helmet, ditto.

The wrist braces are pretty low volume and can easily fit inside that backpack.  But for a helmet, I decided to look for a folding helmet. 

This is the particular version that I got:
https://www.aliexpress.com/snapshot/0.html?spm=a2g0s.9042647.6.2.MCsskI&orderId=88144200589417&productId=32825251930

When I looked at various types of folding helmets for sale domestically (in the U.S.), the cost was generally $100 or more.  This one cost me about $30 via aliexpress, and shipping time wasn't really all that bad.   This helmet that I got doesn't "lock" in the open position, but I reckon that as long as I have the chin strap reasonably snug, the design of it will keep the helmet open just fine, and so it seems to be.  The venting design is more "open" than my more normal bike helmet --- more airflow, a clearer view of the head inside, and as a bald person I'm even more inclined with this to wear something under it for those reasons (whatever the season).    The foam cushioning on it is just peel-and-stick stuff on the side of the foam that faces the helmet, and in particular the strips that are right on the inside of the rim of the helmet look to me that they'll peel off over time from just pushing them onto and off of a hat of some sort on my head.  No problem, shouldn't be hard to re-glue or just replace.  But not an optional design choice there, one of the trade-offs of a $30 folding helmet.  The helmet does have a size adjuster, a standard type of unit at the back.  The size seems reasonable to me relative to the sizing on the website.  When folded, it's certainly not flat in any of the 3 dimensions, but it is indeed a lower volume item to store than a standard bike helmet.

So, should I trust a helmet bought for this price? I do feel that my head has some value (despite what various friends and relations might claim).  A folding helmet is a trade-off; my hope is that I'll be if anything safer for being more willing to schlep this thing around.  In terms of the $30 version vs. the $100+ versions --- dunno.  The claim on this one is that it meets the EN 1078 standard (safety spec).  Well, to be really clear, it just says "applicable regulations" and then lists EN 1078.  Hopefully that's just a Chinese-to-English translation artifact and that it does actually claim to meet the standard!    Here's relevant info on the EN 1078 standard, FWIW:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EN_1078

When looking around, the helmet that I liked best I think was the Morpher type, because it folds flat.  But it's also $150.  You can do a search for "folding bike helmet morpher" and you'll quickly find links to this.

I don't suggest that folding helmets are optimal for EUCs in general, but for a "last mile use", whatever it is that you're riding, I think they might make some sense.  Where I think they really shine too is in cities with bike share schemes, or at least in countries like mine where helmet use is required by law.

And again, the place that I particularly think that they're a win is if they get people (like me) to bring a helmet in situations where they otherwise might not.

[Smoother]

19 minutes ago, brianle said:

This is the particular version that I got:
https://www.aliexpress.com/snapshot/0.html?spm=a2g0s.9042647.6.2.MCsskI&orderId=88144200589417&productId=32825251930

When I click this all I get is a request to log in, page.  I'm not a member of Aliexpress.  Do you have an image of the lid to post?

Of course, there's always the original folding helmet:

Or the British version (spot the ringer)

[brianle]

1 hour ago, Smoother said:

When I click this all I get is a request to log in, page.  I'm not a member of Aliexpress.  Do you have an image of the lid to post?

Oops, sorry!   Try this link:

https://www.aliexpress.com/store/product/FTIIER-Foldable-Bicycle-Helmet-Bike-Cycling-Helmet-Ultralight-Unisex-Cycling-Helmets-Road-Man-Women-Capacete-Ciclismo/3083028_32825251930.html

[Smoother]

1 hour ago, brianle said:

Oops, sorry!   Try this link:

https://www.aliexpress.com/store/product/FTIIER-Foldable-Bicycle-Helmet-Bike-Cycling-Helmet-Ultralight-Unisex-Cycling-Helmets-Road-Man-Women-Capacete-Ciclismo/3083028_32825251930.html

Yes, it's certainly better than a bulky helmet left at home.  I'd worry about something getting past the bars in the gaps.  Something I'm sure you've already considered.  But for your basic contact with flat surfaces, like the road, it would appear to be pretty effective.

[da5id]

So, living in Colorado and also being into Biking, I think I am going with a multi certified variant, the Smith Optics Vantage. 

The listing didn't show it but after contacting the manufacturer they do cross certify. 

https://www.amazon.com/Smith-Optics-Unisex-Vantage-Sports/dp/B075MBS1R6/

[Smoother]

 

1 hour ago, da5id said:

So, living in Colorado and also being into Biking, I think I am going with a multi certified variant, the Smith Optics Vantage. 

The listing didn't show it but after contacting the manufacturer they do cross certify. 

https://www.amazon.com/Smith-Optics-Unisex-Vantage-Sports/dp/B075MBS1R6/

Not worried about your face then? $260 for large. ouch! DOUBLE ouch if you land on your face.

I'm just messing with you.  I bought my full face last week, and other than trying it on, I haven't used it yet.  Maybe over Christmas with my V8 engine app.

Edited December 21, 2017 by Smoother

[da5id]

For now my wheel only goes 15 so I am not worried about that one yet (somewhere I have a full face from Downhill MTB).

Also, it is snow season out here so I will be using it a lot on the slopes. Worst case it becomes dedicated Snow and I have an excuse to get another one?

[kasenutty]

You ride yours down ski slopes? We've gotta see video of that, Da5id. 

[da5id]

2 minutes ago, kasenutty said:

You ride yours down ski slopes? We've gotta see video of that, Da5id. 

Well played, but no. Other things on slopes, I am no @EUC Extreme

[kasenutty]

Sorry, I thought you said you'd be using it a lot on the slopes.