Incase you don’t know. Virginia Tech Has been testing different sporting helmets for years. Like football, open face bike helmets, hockey and so on.
They didn’t have a set up to do full face helmets so they never did those and I have been asking for years now that they start testing full face helmets and last year they said they had designed a set up to do it but had other things to do first.
Well I talked to them again yesterday and they said they now have it made and ready to start testing just need helmets.
So spread the word. All dirtbike and all MTB manufacturers need to send in a helmet.
6D, Fly, Bell, Fox, 100%, alpinestar, and so on and so on let’s go.
I can’t say if it’s the end all of testing answers but at least it’s something to use as a gauge from helmet to helmet.
And when does Deegan race?
I remember 6D was working with the NFL to improve their helmets a few years back, among other helmet makers. Now I’m seeing some different designs on the current players helmets. I’m sure VT is or will be involved too.
It’s good to see the efforts to improve helmets.
This is a good initiative. I know some helmet manufacturers like to quibble with the VT testing protocols, but this is the only truly independent testing lab out there. I've been using their data for years to make cycling helmet decisions.
Do the manufactures really want them tested independenty and have the buying public find out how thier helmets really stack up? I'm sure thier are really good helmets out there, just as I'm sure some aren't as good as we think. Would love to see real data on what we wear.
I hope they get a good range of helmets to test. I think that to do it right, they will need multiple helmets of the same size and model . It would be interesting to see if different sized helmets perform better than others. Like if a small from one brand scores the best, but an XL from another brand out performs the XL from the highest performing size small. I think that the larger shells will not do as well in some tests . Such as rotational energy transfer. A smaller size version of the same helmet would do better just because of the physics involved.
I know that no testing will give the answer 100% for every variable that can happen in a crash , but it will be good to have an independent source of info. Something that shows what is marketing and what is really safer. There was a poster saying that people will not understand the test info if it was put out. I would say , maybe at first. But people will learn, and it could help push to make even safer helmets.
The Shop
I did same thing to pick my kids youth football helmets.
Fox, 6d, bell, Troy Lee design (and all other big name Bicycle helmets) all sent in there helmets for MTB half shell helmets so I’m assuming they would have no problem with there full face helmets being tested.
I already sent a message to 6D today but no response yet.
On there open face MTB helmets they don’t say what size but on there football helmets they do say the weight of each helmet. And they won’t test a helmet if it’s not supplied by the manufacturer. I got one of my boys the RIDDELL AXIOM for youth football because he has a messed up head shape and they custom make it to your head yet they say it’s a varsity helmet and not youth so VT said they would not test it as a youth helmet (I asked them) because manufacturer says it’s varsity only.
My kid is 12 and was a running back and got a mild concussion first game🙄
I guess that if they started off just doing a single size helmet , it would be better than what we have now. But I would have to think that the size helmet could impact the results in certain tests. Leatt was saying that a 10% reduction in overall shell diameter would result in a 30% reduction in rotational energy transfer. If they tested a small helmet from one brand and a XL from another, there would be enough on an increase in the shell size to make the larger sized helmet not do as well at reducing rotational energy transfer.
Maybe all the brands will send in their smallest helmets. But I imagine that there could be areas that a larger shell size may do better in.A larger surface to absorb energy from a hit? Or who knows . I just feel like if what Leatt said is true, different sizes will have different results and that could mean that a XXL from brand A is safer than an XXL from brand B. But Brand B has a better design for the smaller sizes? Maybe sometime down the road they could get even more detailed in the testing. Or explain why what I said would not matter . If they have a way to correct for shell sizes. Maybe the way they test, the size will not matter as much ? Or maybe this variable is just 1 of many that have kept others from performing similar tests and rating them? But Like I said they have to start somewhere . So I'm happy they are going to be doing the testing!
ECE 22.06 helmets have been available for 3 years. Most of the industry and all of the media has ignored this, despite having a "low speed" impact test. Less than 20 models from 11 manufacturers are certified (posted here: https://www.vitalmx.com/forums/Moto-Related,20/List-of-ECE-22-06-Helmets,1390228).
Not all those manufacturers you listed even have an ECE 22.06 certified helmet. Demand the ECE certification. Then we can move on to the VT mountain bike test.
Supposedly European countries are not allowed to sell mx helmets without ECE 22.06 after this month...
Oh I'm sure some will send them in and others won't. Will be interesting to see the results.
Yes the head weight is a fundamentally critical factor. This makes the high speed and low speed thresholds that much more difficult to meet (XXL for high speed/death and XS for low speed/concussion). There will be optimum performances for each head weight and different results for each head size.
Testing protocol should be to use store bought examples, not the hand picked sample the company provides them.
Do you know if they take crashed helmets as well? I thought I read somewhere where testing companies also look to take crashed helmets in order to see some real world examples and deconstruct them for evaluation. Might be a useful way for some of us on here to contribute to the cause.
just buy a 6d atr2 and forget about all this flim flam.
VT only tests mountain bike helmets currently. Regardless of fullface or halfshell their test has no relevance for the moto community.
If you're looking at bike lids, it makes sense. Does nothing for MX.
Hi motosakison,
Respectfully, it does say they can now test dirtbike helmets. As you stated they do and have done testing for MTB helmets.
VT has an excellent reputation in this field so I’m glad they are getting involved. Also, this has been an enlightening thread for me. I didn’t realize we had so many people with ME”s or equivalent experience here. I’ve learned a lot from the comments.
Thank you.
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