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We'll never be able to prevent getting knocked out, right? Some helmets may just lessen the injuries or possibility of fatality when encountering certain situations. I bet each helmet tech has its slight strengths in certain areas but none of us really get to choose how we hit our head to get the best possible outcome.
I'll let this helmet tech evolve over the next few years (or until a concussion) and re-evaluate once each manufacturer picks a method to keep refining. I run a Shoei. The VXF-W, not EVO. Price was a main point for me. It was an upgrade from my 2 previous helmets and I got a good deal on it since it's discontinued.
The Shop
The independent tests were done by SATRA labs and that’s well documented. We have no affiliation with that laboratory. You skipped over this fact entirely, even though it’s stated repeatedly in all literature, our catalog and on the website.
Please feel free to email me directly at Jthomas@flyracing.com and I can provide you my cell phone # if you’d like to discuss. Anything is better than this inaccuracy.
with "smart" comments "get another's seat" blah blah blah it's mind numbing.
If I’m on a budget I think I’d choose dual or triple density eps before I chose something with rotational protection. If I had to choose.
Which helmets have the thickest or most layers of the type of the density of eps that stops concussions?
I’m less concerned about hitting a car on an mx track.
If I’m on a budget I think I’d choose dual or triple density eps before I chose something with rotational protection. If I had to choose.
Which helmets have the thickest or most layers of the type of the density of eps that stops concussions?
I’m less concerned about hitting a car on an mx track.
FYI, if you’re young and ride a lot, you’re gonna crash a lot and you will likely get a concussion in any brand with or without concussion protection technology.
To respond to what they are saying here, yes the round, smooth shell can have some impact in very specific situations. The sharp edges could possibly catch and dig into certain surfaces. However, it's nearly impossible to quantify that because each impact is different. Different trajectory, different impact area, different angle, different surface angle, different substrate. So to say that there helmet is as good, or better, than the most advanced helmets on the market now is completely asinine. If Arai truly believed this, they would be sharing data to back it up.
At the end of the day, it's still a shell with a hard EPS liner, no different than the helmets we all wore in the 90's. I personally have 2 carbon shell helmets with EPS liners hanging in my garage that I was knocked out in, both Snell approved just like Arai. As an engineer, just feeling those helmets compared to my 6D or my kids Bell Moto 9 Carbon Flexx, it's very obvious that they don't offer the same level of impact absorption.
I don't believe the Bell even offers the same level of protection as the 6D. Because of that, I'm buying a 6D for my kid next week.
This argument from them is just rediculous, it's a motocross helmet with a visor and chin bar, the damn thing is going to catch the ground no matter how roundly its shaped, and when it does friction is all but guaranteed to cause some form of angular acceleration. Consider this, frictional force is a function of contact area, frictional coefficient, and the applied force between the two surfaces. Now, consider the amount of force present at the instant when your head smacks the living hell out of the ground, that's some serious force for a split second there, and I don't care how round your helmet is, there's going to be significant angular acceleration transferred through the helmet. Whether you hit the roundest part of the helmet or not is irrelevant at this point, the force is still going to be so high that the helmet is going to produce enough frictional force with the ground to create some level of angular acceleration. Unless we all start racing on oil covered ice, this is going to always be a factor. For them to sit there and claim that a rounder shape is going to help with the instantaneous angular acceleration that results from an impact is just so ludicrous I don't know if I want to laugh or cry.
The bottom line is helmet design is not where is should be in this day and age. A lack of testing protocol and complete absence of backbone from the AMA or FIM to produce tests and standards is probably the scariest part of this whole deal. At least we've got multiple companies trying to move in the right direction (some I think are complete gimmicks, others I believe have valid benefits, I'll hold those opinions to myself). It's not 1985 anymore, we've got better elastomers and multi-density foams available that can do the job better than any old designs could, to not take advantage of that (even if the costs are obscenely inflated for what they are) is just criminal. We've also got FEA and other analysis tools at our disposal these days that can help us make much better designs from the get-go, and as such we're seeing major improvements in helmets just in the last few years. Things will only get better, but I think we've got a ways to go still and naturally the competition between manufacturers will only benefit us.
That does not change the fact that one of the two labs making claims also has an interest in how the helmet is received due to using some of their materials.
It just looks odd from the standpoint of someone who looks for objectivity when it comes to safety.
Pit Row
Arai.
That said, Arai has been at this game a long time and they do a lot of R&D. I feel safe in mine. Also, let's turn the marketing doublespeak around for a moment... Who is to say that MIPS couldn't help you in rotational impacts but hurt you in a direct, blunt-force impact? There is plenty of discussion in this thread already about "independent testing." Maybe the marketeers are just taking the newest acronym and running with it?
Those that say the Bell Flex is just like MIPS are very misinformed. There’s a lot more going on than a thin plastic liner.
You are correct, it should be noted-
The Moto 9 is MIPS
https://www.bellhelmets.com/p/moto-9-mips-dirt-bike-helmet
The Moto 9 FLEX is not MIPS technology ...
https://www.bellhelmets.com/p/moto-9-flex-dirt-bike-helmet
Post a reply to: List of helmets with improved concussion preventing technology.