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Only $10 for all 2026 SX, MX, and SMX series.
http://www.motorcyclistonline.com/gearbox/motorcycle_helmet_review/index.html
Here is the test done by Dirt Rider mag . Good info here.
http://www.dirtrider.com/features/web_extra/141_0910_off_road_motorcycle_helmets_testing/helmet_test_facts_chart.html
I think the whole key is to buy a helmet that fits correctly, and one that you can afford to replace after every big hit on it.
I have yet to see a test where shoei or aria score that low on the g meter, they are usually on the upper end due to their hard shells.
I would love to see something official, instead of just the "IMOs" and "He said, she said" ratings.
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and can that pro explains me why is the Bell (Made in China - developed in USA) safer than the Fox (Made in Korea - developed in USA), when both design bureaus have the same access to technologies, same access to knowledge and same experience and pass the same ratings and safety standards, especially SNELL or ECE?
My Fox helmet is Chinese btw.
Do you have a Fox V1 or a V3? I thought their helmets were made by KBC. Well I guess they are made by KBC but produced in China like everyone else.
Again, China doesn't mean bad (to the educated), it all depends who the company use to supervise the production and who is doing the QC.
There is no proof, no data that shows that MX riders get less concussions with an Arai or a Shoei compared to a top of the line Thor, Fox or Bell.
Riders wearing Arais and Shoei are getting the concussions too. It is a dangerous sport with hard impacts to the head/brain and all concussions are dangerous. Heck even in MTB riders are getting concussions.
I understand concerns of some riders like GL but as I was explaining before, we are all working to make concussions prevention better and evolve the helmets and we have them pretty good right now.
The better helmets will have more EPS and be much bigger on the head and the market is not ready to go there yet.
It is laughable for some of the helmet manufacturers, like AGV, Thor, Fox, Shoei, Bell, who have worked hard on developing better lids in the past 2 to 4 years, who have modern, better, helmet, to hear the usual urban legends that the 10 year old Arai is the best on the market.
Would love to see some independent testing data on all of them.
The guys get a tiny bit dizzy right after the crash, sit it out for a minute or two and move on. At the time they have already experienced serious damage or bruising of the brain. They may be fine or may suffer another fatal blow in the following days or week or years.
Concussions are still a big mystery in the medical world but they have learn a ton more about them in the past decades and the records (unfortunately all concussions are not recorded, especially off-road motorcycling crashes - they are better data and reporting from cyclists). Reports show that the slightest concussion can kill at a later stage, even years later.
Too often people brush it off and go riding right away. This is a very serious area where more education and enforcement need to take place. 2 of the recent high profile fatalities had suffered concussions in the days leading to their last crash. No helmet will protect form concussions, no helmet will protect after the subject has suffered a concussion.
And looking at safety ratings/standards, let's remember that as far as the studies report (and again, the medical world is improving its knowledge of concussions), the more serious impacts happen on the sides of the head and the back of the head. Especially in MX and gravity MTB.
generalizing is like profiling, doesn't always lead to the right things.
Some of the Chinese factories, used by major, well-established brands that do not want liability issues in the US, are more advanced technologically than one of the Japanese one. Better, more advanced technology, allows consistency and better controlled finished quality of the products. It's not because you still do things the way you were doing it 20 years ago that it's better. Not necessarily, not always. but for sure it would be costlier, which in turn can always be used as a marketing argument that (like the $0.40 SNELL sticker/helmet) allows you to raise your MSRP quite nicely.
I've always got a chuckle out of the ones who spout "$10 head, $10 helmet". Overpricing something to make people think it's the best has been in the marketers arsenal since day 1 for all products.
So.. for the $10 head people that have $500 helmets, show us the proof that your helmet is better than all others. That would mean, scientific testing proof, not cousin Fred told me so proof, or manufacturers claims.
You are straight to the point, so the best thing to do? Time for me to get out of the house and go enjoy a great Spring Sunday of riding
Pit Row
Shenzi is being kind enough to enlighten me somewhat.
Which part of that is pointless ????
BTW it must be great to be above the "general mass" .......
It's pretty well recognized that the common US standards address very high G impacts, and that this leaves off road riders subject to forces which can cause concussions. So there's a trade off to protect them from impacts they're less likely to experience (and which may be catastrophic in any case), which leaves them vulnerable to impacts they are more likely to experience. There are couple UK studies on this, and others as well.
Also, we are beginning to understand the magnitude of closed head injuries ~ even "minor" ones; knowledge that has gone waaaaay past the basis for the common standards used today.
Part of the problem is how do you make it economically feasible to redesign a safety product based on evolving knowledge. How much R&D money do you commit, when do you freeze the knowledge base from which you direct your design, how do you price a single use product that allows you to recoup those costs? There's no point in building a better mouse trap if it's so much more expensive that no one buys it. There's already a barrier telling people to toss a $300-$600 piece of equipment for a new one after one crash.
And all of that doesn't consider the product liability litigation/insurance issues with introducing a new design, and the political issues of challenging an iconic standard ~ Snell ~ when the entity that runs that standard jealously guards the iconic place the standard holds in the industry.
It's going to very hard to change anything.
I ended up going with a Arai a couple years ago because I know it's made well and it fit better for me than any other. I think there are good options, and fit probably should be the thing that drives your decision among those good options.
BP
These Bell Moto 8's are a great deal imo for $150 at Motorcycle Closeouts. That's what I've been buying. Nice helmet, spare visor and nice bag. Of course it's last year's model, which some folks are too cool for.
http://www.motorcyclecloseouts.com/search/bell_moto_8
People say that Arai,Shoei and Bell are just "names" and over priced but I look at them as a name that has been in the MX industry for a long time. Often when a top rider crashes the manufacture will take the helemt to investigate the helemt structure after the crash ( and probably, to limit liability but that's a seperate issue) . These names probably have a lot more experience with collected data than the fly by night Chineese companies.
I prefer to look at real world testing as a comparison. If you look at Josh Grant's get off in that whoop section form awhile ago that is proof enough for me that a Shoei is a sound product. Whether he has a concusion or not is minor to the fact that he was able to get up. Yes, we all want to minimize a concussion and all want the perfect , I can crash my brains out all is good in the world lid but one has to be realistic. No helmet is gonna save you if its the wrong kind of hit. We take a chance every time we ride so the warm fuzzy feeling has to be under control.
Pick one that's best for you but I'll take someone who has been doing it for awhile.
I wore these inexpensive models and crashed over many years in them. I also had Arai and other expensive snell (carbon fiber and kevlar etc) helmets over this same time period.
The funny thing is, and it proves nothing, the ONLY helmet I was knocked out in more than once were the Arais. I love the Arai fit and finish quality. All the high dollar helmets looked better and had great fit and liners than cheapies, but I was never knocked cold in a cheap helmet.
Fit is VERY important. What I found through years of selling and fitting helmets was that almost all helmet buyers bought at least one size too big and didnt buy one that fit the shape of their head best, but the one they liked the looks of best.
As I see it, fit and liner shape are important, but the most important thing is how many G's are transferred to the head AT the speeds we ride in MX. If snell ratings are at speeds triple or more of MX then as far as I am concerned, those ratings do not apply to what I am doing. Harder styrene liners are not the answer for MX.
How about that for no help at all?!
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