Quote:
Originally Posted by Verus Cidere
The really good helmets are geared to take impacts at speeds much higher than our little ninjettes can handle.
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Howdy! You certainly aren't offending anyone, but I don't think this statement is fully accurate. Any helmet you'd want to purchase has both DOT and Snell certification. The DOT certification is basically the manufacturer saying it meets the standard, and the Snell certification means the Snell foundation actually bought some samples of the helmet and tested it against their standard. Both certifications have changed and improved over time, and along with that helmets are improved.
Bottom line, you can pay $700 for a DOT/Snell approved helmet, and you can pay $100 for a DOT/Snell approved helmet, and as long as both fit your head correctly, the safety differences between the two of them are minimal, if they exist at all. The additional dollars spent on a high-end helmet buy you better shields, better shield mechanisms, better comfort, more options such as fully removable liners, better materials, better venting, lighter construction, better graphics, higher quality paint, better warranty, better customer service, and perhaps a bunch of other factors I've forgotten.
Helmet safety also has very little to do with a bike's top speed of 100 mph or 190 mph. The helmet has to decelerate our skull, and the brain inside of that skull, when it hits something in the space of about an inch of padding, max. The sad truth is that if it hits anything solid at 40+ mph, and that solid item doesn't give, there isn't a helmet out there that will protect you from catastrophic head injury. The impact of most helmets hitting things is the helmet hitting the ground, which is more like a 6 foot fall, rather than a full-speed --> zero mph instant hit. Want to walk away with no or limited injuries after a crash? Don't hit anything hard with your body.
We've all seen people crash at 100+ mph and walk away, even if they hit their heads, but the impact of hitting your head on the ground while you are sliding along at great speed really isn't that great.