Helmets -- Have you ever bought one online?

[kajero]

I desperately need to replace my helmet. I can't find anything locally that I like. I've looked at Performance Bicycle and found a couple in my price range that I like. I also looked on Amazon. I wonder about the quality because the helmet prices on the site are so inexpensive. I'm afraid I will spend a ton on shipping if I buy a helmet on line and have to return it.

Any advice?

[emily_in_nc]

Yes, I have purchased helmets online (from ebay) before, but only a brand/size I knew I could wear based on past experience. I would be very careful about a brand you haven't used before. On Ebay I was able to find a couple of Giro Havocs from a previous year (but still brand new in box) at an incredible price and bought two of them. Still wearing the second one but plan to replace it soon as it's quite long in the tooth now.

[ny biker]

Same as Emily, I have bought helmets online when I already knew what I wanted.

What brand is the helmet you're wearing now?

[rebeccaC]

I prefer trying on before buying to see how it fits and how adjustable it is for my head. Isn’t there a REI in the twin cities? If so and if you haven’t already looked there you might want to. For online shopping Competitive Cyclist will send a prepaid return label for $6.99. Colorado Cyclist does the same. With REI you can order on line and return it to a store for free. They also have free shipping on items over $50, good if you know it fits and don't need to return it.

Personally I like my brain enough to get a helmet with a mips protection system too. Even though it’s a small advantage a mips helmet can help in protecting the brain in some falls. A mips helmet can be bought for around 100 now, Giro and others.

[kajero]

Thank you for all the replies.

I am ashamed to say my helmet is 5 years old; I know it should have been replaced long ago. I looked on line and it is no longer made.

I do plan to buy a MIP helmet. I forgot about REI. Thanks for the reminder.

Edit 07/04/2017 13:19
I just looked! REI has a helmet I like and they are open today until 18:00. I called and it's in stock so I am going for a ride today after all. I have to ride my commuter bike which takes me forever to get anywhere, but I want to go grocery shopping, too. If it doesn't fit I may have to bite the bullet and order online and pay return shipping. I wanted to pay around $100 or less. I don't race and don't ride very fast -- not that it makes any difference if you fall. I want my head protected. If it does fit I will give them my old helmet to throw away! (I don't understand why people buy used helmets. What if someone has crashed in it?) End of Edit

[/B]Another fun story from me. This time about a helmet. It’s rather long so grab a cup of whatever and settle down to read. (My stories always seem so long, but I talk the same way.)

I was on a return ride from Fort Snelling Cemetery where my Dad and SO are buried. My bicycle started making this awful clicking noise every time the pedals rotated. I stopped at Minnehaha Falls, turned my bicycle upside down and took off the chain thinking that would was the problem. While I was putting the chain back on a guy rode past me, turned around, and put his bike up against the bench. I asked him if he was stopping to help me as he approached with his little clear bag of tools. I was so happy when he said, “yes.” He looked at my bike quite thoroughly and discovered a little cable that had turned around which caused the clicking noise. He fixed it and we started visiting.

I was supposed to be at my sister's in an hour, but I thought screw that. The conversation was so interesting I couldn’t leave. A BIG of the discussion was about helmets. I told him I really needed to replace mine. I took it off and he examined it. He said yes I did, it looked ancient, and there was a crack in it! He told me I was wearing it all wrong, too. He put it on my head and adjusted it. It took him several times – maybe around 10 minutes. While he did that he explained how import it was to have the straps in the correct position and what to look for when I adjusted them in the future. I swear when he was done the helmet was the most comfortable it had ever been. He told me how important to have the helmet fit correctly. The week before he was riding under the bridge on I-94 and saw a girl fall. Her helmet flew off head. She died on impact.

We talked about so many things.

He said that bicycle shops need to adjust helmets to people who purchase them but most bike shops don’t know how to fit them correctly. I sure agreed with that statement!

Although he didn’t ride professionally he rode a professional bicycle. Whenever he rode on anything except pavement, he took apart the back wheel and the derailleur (is that the right word?) and removed all the sand and debris He rides a minimum of 1700 miles each season. I asked if he was retired so he could ride every day. He smiled and said when you ride around 20-27 miles mph it doesn’t take long. I told him my mph average and he said it was just important I was riding.

He told exactly what tools I should be carrying when I ride. Oops, I don't carry half of them!

I told him about my serious crash and he said most people would give up riding at that point but he was glad I didn’t. I explained bicycle riding is about the only exercise I truly enjoy. (I should be out there today, but for some reason I have been really tired lately)

I wish I would have had him show me more of his bicycle. I learned it was incredible how much I learned from him and all he did was stop to help me.

I did contribute one nice thing to the conversation. He likes to ride the Luce Line trail except part of the area was under water and he wouldn’t ride through it. I told him an alternate route and he was impressed.

Things like this conversation happening, but not necessarily a bicycle problem, cause my rides to go for longer than they should. But don’t you think that they are well worth the added time???

[rebeccaC]

hoping the REI one works out!!!
you meet some amazing people on your rides....i still remember the Professor......and yes it is worth the extra time!!!

[kajero]

I rode my bicycle out to REI (25 mile round trip because as usual I missed some important turns). I bought the helmet. I love it! It is so light I hardly know it is on. I still need to adjust it only a teeny bit more and it will be perfect. It was in my price range, too. I need to write down some where when I bought it so there will be no question when I need to replace it.

[kajero]

Very good tip . . . thank you.
I was going to buy the floor model but for some reason it looked used to me. I examined it all over. It was kind of dirty on the top and the pads looked a little used. I asked the salesman when helmets were returned if they were put back on the floor. He said if they looked new and unused they were. (REI has a one year return policy) I then asked him how would you know if someone fell in the helmet but it didn't show a crack? Then I asked him to get me a brand new one from stock. He did and everyone is happy, well at least I am knowing I didn't buy a used helmet.

[kajero]

Okay, I bought the new helmet and I love it.
I know I should the throw the old one away, but for some reason I just can't do it. Do you hang onto your old helmets?

[ny biker]

No. The packrat force is strong in me, but with helmets I throw the old one away after finding a new one that I am sure I like.

But -- I have two helmets. Generally one is for daytime rides and the other is designated for my regular post-work evening rides, so it has small front and rear lights attached to it. But having two means I always have a backup in case one becomes unusable. If I only had one, I would probably keep the old one as a backup as long as it was not damaged.

What helmet did you buy? I would like to get a MIPs helmet. But when I got my current daytime helmet, it was hard to find something that (a) fit my head, (b) had lots of big vents for hot weather and (c) had a visor to help keep the sun off my face. Most of the helmets with giant vents do not come with visors. So I expect to have to do a lot of searching in order to find a MIPS helmet that meets all my criteria.

(Now that I write this, I realize the night ride helmet does not need a visor, so it should be easier and faster to replace. I just need to scrape up the cash, which is another story altogether...)

[Crankin]

I always have 2 helmets, too, although for a different reason: I am a huge head sweater. I ruin helmets quicker than anyone I know. DH buys extra pieces of the padding, which deteriorate from sweat for some of the ones I've had and extends the life. But, the one I got about 6 months after I got my Silque is trashed, and the helmet is about 3 years old. I can only wear Bell helmets, so DH found one and ordered it while we were flying home yesterday. It has MIPS and lots of vents. My other helmet is holding up well, and is a bit older, but gets worn less. It also has relpaceable pads.
I looked at the 3 other women who came on my trip. They all had longer hair than me. When they stopped riding, they just took their helmets off and their hair was perfect. Dry and not looking like they had just come out of a rainstorm. Not only is my head and hair soaked through, I am always soaked right through my jersey and have loads of salt matted around my face.

[emily_in_nc]

I always have 2 helmets, too, although for a different reason: I am a huge head sweater. I ruin helmets quicker than anyone I know. DH buys extra pieces of the padding, which deteriorate from sweat for some of the ones I've had and extends the life. But, the one I got about 6 months after I got my Silque is trashed, and the helmet is about 3 years old. I can only wear Bell helmets, so DH found one and ordered it while we were flying home yesterday. It has MIPS and lots of vents. My other helmet is holding up well, and is a bit older, but gets worn less. It also has relpaceable pads.
I looked at the 3 other women who came on my trip. They all had longer hair than me. When they stopped riding, they just took their helmets off and their hair was perfect. Dry and not looking like they had just come out of a rainstorm. Not only is my head and hair soaked through, I am always soaked right through my jersey and have loads of salt matted around my face.

Yes, this confirms that we were separated at birth! Ditto, ditto, ditto. I always hated club rides where we'd convene at a restaurant at the half-way point or end of a ride as I dare not take off my helmet for the horrific helmet hair I'd have. When it's longer, like now, I can literally twist and wring out my ponytail. I get the salt deposits really bad on my helmet straps and sides of face as well. Not a pretty look!

This is truly the downside about living in a hot and humid climate, as we did in both Belize and Mexico. I loved getting up in the morning and not even thinking about what I would wear; it was shorts and a tank top or light t-shirt pretty much every day -- easy-peasy. I loved never being cold. But what I didn't love was the drippy face/scalp/hair I'd get on even the shortest walk or bike ride, while DH stayed cool as a cucumber, relatively speaking. Not fair at all!

[jodian]

I have a MET Terra and I love it. Bought it online.