Early Designs- Leather Hairnets and Skateboard Derivatives.
Advocacy for wearing bicycle helmets is almost as old as bicycles themselves. In the 1880s bicycle clubs began to advocate for the use of helmets. Eventually racers began to use helmets, first leather pith-type helmets, then leather ring-type “hairnet” helmets, but helmets were unknown in non-race bicycling.
The first thing resembling a modern bicycle helmet was put out by Bell Sports in 1975, the Bell Biker, which was a modification of motorsports helmets, made of polystyrene foam with a hard Lexan shell. These continued to evolve into the early 1990s (most noticeably by replacing the act of threading the chinstrap through rings with a quicker to use buckle).
The First True Bicycle Helmets- Hard Shells with Polystyrene Foam
The first thing resembling a modern bicycle helmet was put out by Bell Sports in 1975, the Bell “Biker”, which was a modification of motorports helmets, made of polystryrene foam with a hard Lexan Shell. these continued to evolve into the early 1980s (most noticeably by replacing the act of threading the chinstrap through rings with a quicker to use buckle. Later came the “Biker II”, and the “Jammer” for kids and “Windjammer” for adults were the final versions of traditional hard-shell helmets, in an era when the market was moving on to lighter, more comfortable offerings.
Today: Skate Style Helmets
Hardshell bicycle helmets have stuck around in a way; they’re now smooth, rounded “skateboard style” helmets. Traditional bicycle helmets are designed to be well ventilated and protect for a single higher speed crash only before being replaced. The skateboard standard calls for limited multiple impact protection at lower speeds and ventilation is a secondary concern since you aren’t constantly working , and generally more back of the head protection since you can fall backwards off a skateboard easier than a bicycle.
But some people, especially teenagers’ and young adults, choose to use skateboard style helmets (which have further morphed into “urban” style helmets) on bicycles despite the drawbacks. Nutcase is a notable maker of these, with eye-catching graphics. This has even led to skateboard-looking helmets that are actually not certified for skateboarding, only bicycling. ProRider and Top Gear, who make low cost helmets for sales and giveways and schools and bicycle rodeos and such have these models. They’ve also morphed into “urban” helmets, which still have a hard shell, but typically different styling, more vents, and a visor.
Late 1980s: Shell-less and soft shell helmets
In the late 1980s came improvements in the foam that negated the need for a hard, heavy outer shell. One of the first, the Bell Ovation, had a soft lightweight shell that was taped to the foam, but more commonly they had no shell at all. Most of them had a Lycra cover to make it at least look like you weren’t wearing a Styrofoam picnic cooler and to provide a bit of protection from handling damage.
Unfortunately in practice these tended to shatter into pieces and scatter at the first impact leaving the user vulnerable to further impacts. Manufacturers experimented with embedding wire mesh, but ultimately returned to soft shells. The color of the foam eventually generally changed from white to black to reduce the “picnic cooler” or “mushroom-head” aesthetic, as well as colors of the shell other than white or black becoming available.
Here’s me in a typical “mushroom head” helmet, the Headwinds.
A more colorful example, but still the outer shell is taped to the foam
The main problem with the band of tape was aesthetic and it could eventually deteriorate so the shell could separate from the foam. Some of the ultra-cheap helmets today, like the ones sold in discount stores or given away for free at helmet giveaways still have taped shells, but they’ve mostly been supplanted by in-mold shells. Here’s me modeling a modern taped shell helmet. Not the prettiest looking thing, but fully certified and sells for $6.95 to schools and nonprofit organizations in quantities of 720 or more.
Late 1990s: Molded in Shell Helmets
In the early 1990s came another innovation: injection molding the foam into the shell, rather than manufacturing them separately and then taping them together. Initially it meant the front strap or strap anchors were exposed, but later on they figured out how to make them recessed. Of course, the trend towards models with more and more vents came out.
In the mean time, an occipital lobe retainer became standard; this is the strap that runs across the back of the head. Later came one-size fits all ring fit systems, where you tighten a fastener on the retainer rather than having multiple sizes of bicycle helmets and further fine-tuning fit by swapping out different thicknesses of pads.
The most recent development is MIPS” Multi-Plane Impact Protection.” One of the criticisms of bicycle helmets is they can increase the torque applied to the head in the event of a crash, MIPS is basically a layer of slick plastic that allows some slippage between the head and the helmet. Whether this makes a difference in the real world remains to be seen. Generally the plastic is a bright yellow to draw attention to the fact that it’s there to potential buyers.
Styling of Road and Mountain Bike helmets diverge.
Selecting a Bicycle Helmet: Overview
So with all these advances in technology, is a recent $200 bicycle helmet safer than your old one from the 1990s? If it doesn’t have new impact reducing technologies like MIPS, maybe, maybe not. There have been various safety standards at different times and places but there have been no real-world differences noted since the adoption of the ASTM standard in the late 1980s. No manufacturer is going to come out with a design that is marketed as “50% safer than brand “X”, for a number of reasons.
- The things that would make a helmet safer, namely thicker foam and fewer vents, would make it less marketable in other respects,
- This would expose them to potential liability, and
- The safety tests performed are go/no go tests; there’s no standardized tests to say a bicycle helmet exceeds them by X percent.
So the bottom line is there’s rarely a scientifically tested difference in helmets, so anything going forward needs to be taken into that context. If you research helmets online, soon you’ll find the “Bicycle Helmet Safety Institute”, (BHSI) in reality apparently a husband and wife team working out of their home out east that have been advocating for riding helmet use and laws since the the late 1980s. They make the following suggestions.
- Few Vents
- No visor
- Round, Smooth Shape
- White or Brightly Colored
There’s no actual studies and evidence for any of these, but at least we can discuss them. The theory is that vents could allow branches and rocks to penetrate and lacerate your head, while a visor could shatter and lacerate your face and eyes. While it seems that manufacturers have gone hog wild with vents, I’ve tried out dozens of helmets and only noticed a difference in actual use on a few early ones that lacked adequate front vents- in normal riding the ones on the side and top don’t do a whole lot. I personally don’t like visors because if it’s low enough to do any good, it’s low enough to interfere with the sense of openness you feel on a bicycle. But feel the fear of them shattering is unfounded and they’re more likely to deflect branches away from your face.
The round, smooth shape bears further discussion. As discussed in the article The Great Bicycle Helmet Controversy, a significant downside to helmets is the bulk they add to your head can add significant torque to your head and neck in a crash (something MIPS is trying to mitigate). The BHSI claims, and it seems logical, that deviations from that can compound the problem by “catching” on the ground rather than sliding in the event of a crash. And having a full shell rather than exposed foam, or even worse, rubber, would seem superior too. Here’s two variations of “round and smooth”- the “sharp and pointy” and the “blunted edge”. The skate style would seem to be ideal for bicycling in this regard, although they tend to have vents in the top for skateboarding rather than the front and back for bicycling. And the trend in kid’s helmets to have a bunch of 3D rubber decorative objects stuck on would seem to me to not be a good idea.
Does having a bright, visible color make a difference for safety? On one hand In the UK they did a study on what they quaintly call “Smidsy” crashes– Sorry, Mate I Didn’t See You. It involved motorcyclists, but the same principles presumably apply to bicyclists. They found that even high-visibility clothing didn’t consistently improve visibility in a crowded urban environment. At city street speeds on crowded urban arterials the visual kaleidoscope can simply overwhelm the motorist’s senses to the point they won’t even see and process something as important as traffic signals – the trend to more, larger signals overhead is needed to overwhelm all the other visual clutter. A white bicycle helmet as opposed to black is just too subtle to make a difference here. On the other hand, a bright colored helmet couldn’t hurt, and might make a difference between being seen or not in less congested settings like crossing street on a trail in a suburb.
You also see suggestions that you need to replace your helmet every other year. Turns out that’s absolute hogwash. A recent study collected helmets from the general public dating back to 1987 and tested them and found no significant difference in the performance of the foam lining. And even the cheapest ones meet the same safety standards. The one you bought for $10 in 1990 is probably as safe as a $200 one nowadays. The takeaway from all this is that a bicycle helmet is more or less a bicycle helmet. The safest bicycle helmet is one that’s stylish and cool enough to actually be worn regardless of merits of minimizing the number of vents or having a loud color.
Make Wearing a Bicycle Helmet Cool
Ultimate after all these years, a standard bicycle helmet can still come across as looking dorky. So there’s a few ways to deal with that.
Choose a dark colored helmet
One way is to choose dark colors to make it as inconspicuous as possible.
Wear a helmet cover that makes it look like a hat
or people that wouldn’t be caught dead wearing a bicycle helmet, there’s a variety of covers available from Yakkay and Bike Pretty for Yakkay skateboard style helmets. For kids there was the BSI Slammer Helmet, which was a basic EPS foam helmet with a cloth “baseball cap” cover
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Choose a “fun” helmet or cover that draws attention to itself
The Nutcase line of skate style helmets
The problem with any kind of cover is that these is you’re taking already hot helmets and then covering all the vents with fabric. Although if creating a furnace on your head is worth the tradeoff of not having to look like you’re wearing a bicycle helmet. And in the event of a crash a helmet with fabric or 3D protrusions could potentially create sliding resistance.
Some interesting Developments in bicycle helmets over the Years
Alternative Fit Systems:
Traditionally fitting a riding helmet has been a three step process: Pick a size that’s about right and fine tune the fit with different padk, then adjust the side straps, and finally adjust the chin strap. The move to “ring fit” systems has eliminated the first step, but adjusting the side and chin straps remains. I see misadjusted straps all the time, the junction of the straps should be right below the earlobe. Here’s some properly adjusted straps.There are some alternative fit systems that don’t require strap adjustments. There’s Bell’s Tru-Fit and Specialized has a similar system. I’ve tried out the Bell System, and it works as intended; the straps are elastic and are much tighter against your skin than traditional helmets, but it’s something you rapidly get used to.
Pony tail Ports
One problem with many riding helmets is they interfere with having a pony tail. Specialized has a feature on some models called the “Hairport”. you can also see their system to eliminate side strap adjustment.
Lower foam covers
When black foam first came out, it was more expensive than white foam. Some of the cheaper helmets used a thin plastic lower shell to cover the exposed foam, but you could still see white peeping out in the vents.
Here’s me putting on my lower-foam covered helmet
The Pro-Tec Ace Dig and Cyphon Helmets
Hard-shell Skateboard helmets offer more coverage and certification to the skateboarding standard as well as bicycling, but they’re hot and lack a visor. Pro-Tec put out two interesting ones. The Ace-Dig is a traditional looking helmet with a visor added, while the Cyphon has a visor and bicycle helmet level ventilatoin with a hard shell and skateboard certification and coverage
The Windjammer and Jammer Helmets.
The Jammer, for kids, and Windjammer, for adults, were the last of the traditional hard-shell helmets marketed for general bicycling, well into the shell-less and micro-shell era.
Helmet Covers
F
Dual Density Foam
Some mid-90s helmets used harder foam around the vents in order to have large vents while still maintaining structural integrity. Although they technically still passed safety standards, it was questionable what would happen if the impact hit around a vent where the harder foam was, and the exposed foam reduced sliding resitance.
Prowell’s “Nitesafe”
A cheaper taped shell model, but the taped band used is relective
