Australian Cycling Forums - Bicycles Network Australia

Can anyone recommend a good full face helmet for road use? Something light and cool. I'm recovering from an epic face first downhill crash and want to make sure it doesn't happen again.

How epic is epic?



As far as i'm aware there aren't any full face helmets around that offer enough light weight or ventilation for road use, and I would be surprised if it would be possible to make one that did without seriously compromising it's ability to actually protect you. Face plants are mercifully rare, there's not a whole lot you can do about them really.

ldrcycles wrote:How epic is epic?

That's pretty epic.

Face fractures and brain damage. Spent a 10 days in a coma, fortnight in ICU. I'd describe that as fairly epic.....

Moderating your riding habits would be FAR FAR FAR more beneficial than getting a full face helmet. (This is a simple truism rather any reflection on any individual rider. I wish I had done so last month, I broke my hand!)

A full face helmet for regular road cycling is simply not practical and hardly necessary for its risk profile. If you do still feel like you are taking on too much risk then I'm doubt that a full face helmet would be the best solution.

Have a search for Met's Parachute model. Maybe they've put out a new model.

Got good user reviews on Wiggle but not available there anymore.
http://www.this link is broken.au/met-parachute- ... lmet-2012/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Personally, I think there's a case to wear them, especially in some criterium races, though haven't seen data on how much force the face protector can absorb before shattering and risking your eyes. Keep in mind too if you buy it OS, the compromise of not having an Aussie standards sticker.

Nearest thing is the now defunct MET Parachute or the Cratoni C-Maniac (which is actually a freeride helmet)...

Making something that works as a full face road helmet is not really a problem. The problem is marketing such a device to an inherently conservative user base that always thinks that it can't be done and if it does get done it won't be as good as what's worked for the last umpteen years

human909 wrote:Moderating your riding habits would be FAR FAR FAR more beneficial than getting a full face helmet. (This is a simple truism rather any reflection on any individual rider. I wish I had done so last month, I broke my hand!)

A full face helmet for regular road cycling is simply not practical and hardly necessary for its risk profile. If you do still feel like you are taking on too much risk then I'm doubt that a full face helmet would be the best solution.

There are so many possible responses to this question, but this is the best one.
Is it possible that the presence of a bobby dodger on your head last time gave you a misplaced sense of invulnerability ?
You will probably be safer in no helmet, as the clean breeze blowing through your hair will remind you to ride more safely.

Ken Ho wrote:

human909 wrote:Moderating your riding habits would be FAR FAR FAR more beneficial than getting a full face helmet. (This is a simple truism rather any reflection on any individual rider. I wish I had done so last month, I broke my hand!)

A full face helmet for regular road cycling is simply not practical and hardly necessary for its risk profile. If you do still feel like you are taking on too much risk then I'm doubt that a full face helmet would be the best solution.

There are so many possible responses to this question, but this is the best one.
Is it possible that the presence of a bobby dodger on your head last time gave you a misplaced sense of invulnerability ?
You will probably be safer in no helmet, as the clean breeze blowing through your hair will remind you to ride more safely.

not wearing a helmet doesn't improve your chances of avoiding the misplaced sense of vulnerability of other riders.
anyway, this isn't an argument about MHL. the guy asked a specific question. Let's presume, after the injuries he's had, he learned a profound lesson about vulnerability.

If someone wants to make his their soapbox for MHL debate, can a suggest they start another thread.

I'm amazingly lucky to be in a position to ride again, and given I wasn't doing anything dumb when I came off,you can be damn sure I'll be wearing a helmet when I do so.The MET Parachute looks perfect but it looks hard to track down. Can anyone else suggest something similar or a retail outlet that may have them?

human909 wrote:A full face helmet for regular road cycling is simply not practical and hardly necessary for its risk profile. If you do still feel like you are taking on too much risk then I'm doubt that a full face helmet would be the best solution.

A lot of motorcycle riders would disagree with you when it comes to practicality. Necessity is up to the wearer.

For an inexpensive full face, the sixsixone comp II gets good reviews.

Make NO MISTAKE. Nobody here is trying to bring up MHLs here!! (so please don't associate that discussion with discussion here) I definitely think helmets are needed many times, the day I broke may hand, my jaw felt distinctly vulnerable on that downhill.

However I simply don't see a full face helmet is a best solution. EVERYTIME I've been injured on my bike I've learnt a lesson and improved my riding. Even if an incident is somebody elses fault then that still teaches me a lesson! Outside of cycling I've had one head injury and that certainly taught me a lesson. But if your only solution to reducing the risk of head impact is a helmet (or full face helmet) then you are clearing not addressing the real risks here.

Sure if you THINK coming off is likely then add more protection. Lots of downhill mountain bikers certainly do. But then you are talking a proper full face helmet along with neck guards, back guards, wrist guards etc... But if you think coming off while road cycling is likely then you probably aren't riding safely in the first place!

Xenon wrote:A lot of motorcycle riders would disagree with you when it comes to practicality. Necessity is up to the wearer.

For an inexpensive full face, the sixsixone comp II gets good reviews.

I absolutely agree. However motorcycle riding wear proper full face helmets that offer greatly enhanced protection. But even regardless of that a motorcycle rider still faces much higher risks than cycling. The original poster stated his reasons for trying to reduce his risk. It just seems to me that if he continues to focus only on helmets he will not adequately achieve his aims.

As most safety expects know, PPE is the very LAST point to address when aiming to improve safety.

I couldn't ride if I assumed there was a reasonable chance of me getting injured. You CAN ride defensively to avoid it. If you can't do that (crit, super fast descent) then you shouldn't be attempting the ride if you can't accept the consequences. Me? I can't accept them. Falling off HURTS

Now, no matter how I express things some people will continue to get annoyed or offended. My other sport of rock climbing is much more upfront about risks faced and "accidents". Except us rock climbers largely don't believe in "accidents". All these incidents are CAUSED. Recognising this is vital to staying safe. By understanding how and why such "accidents" occurred we learn and try not to have accidents in the future. Rock climbing is largely safe because of this. It certainly is safer than the type of cycling that many/most of us BNA members partake in.

Funnily enough they do this in the workplace too with workcover as learning from our mistakes is vital to improve safety. There is always a better improvement than "simply wear a helmet or wear a better helmet", not recognising this is positively dangerous.

What makes you think I haven't reflected on the accident human???

How about you come back to me when you nearly lose your life? And to keep it simple I'm after helmet recommendations, not taking the thread down some other tangent.

I've seen a few people land hard on their face, having had things beyond their control cause their accident. This will help protect me in situations like that

Two of my mates have the Met Parachute. Neither are AS/NZS 2063-2008 compliant and a quick web search revealed that as at December 2012 they are still uncertified.

The jaw piece is much too light to serve any useful purpose, except perhaps give you free cosmetic surgery as it slices open your jaw or nose in a crash. It sits at a distance out from your jaw and is much too insubstantial to survive any kind of moderate blow without being sent back into your face with velocity. Looking at that helmet, that jaw piece makes the helmet less safe, not more safe.

One of my mates came to the same conclusion and binned the jaw piece.

Better off with a full DH helmet... or the gold standard, a motoX helmet ... but then you face overheating issues if you ride for longer than a 7 minute course.

Further, I suspect anything less than a full moto helmet would have been of minimal additional assistance. Bike helmets do very little in a crash of the kind of severity you have unfortunately suffered.

Hope you continue to heal and progress in your recovery.

ABD make a full face helmet which they claim is "AS/NZ safety standard approved". My kids have them for BMX. Comfort-wise, they don't seem to mind wearing them. I can't comment on crashworthiness and I like it that way

The_Eggman wrote:What makes you think I haven't reflected on the accident human???

I won't respond for fear of continuing the discussion.

The_Eggman wrote:How about you come back to me when you nearly lose your life?

None of my comments were intended as a personal attack. My comments regarding looking into the causes of incidents are valid to myself as much as everyone.

The_Eggman wrote:And to keep it simple I'm after helmet recommendations, not taking the thread down some other tangent.

I've seen a few people land hard on their face, having had things beyond their control cause their accident. This will help protect me in situations like that

Well most full face cycling helmets will help protect your face you can find a large variety here:
http://www.this link is broken/Cate ... goryID=226" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

However most are fairly impractical for road cycling. Furthermore without a neck brace still are running a big risk. Some neck braces for your perusal.
http://www.this link is broken/Cate ... oryID=2124" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


Throw that stuff together and you will certainly help things if you do come off.

human909 wrote:The original poster stated his reasons for trying to reduce his risk. It just seems to me that if he continues to focus only on helmets he will not adequately achieve his aims.

As most safety expects know, PPE is the very LAST point to address when aiming to improve safety.

Maybe, just maybe, the OP has reduced his risk in other areas, and the helmet is now his last point to address. Maybe. Downhill can get nasty, and I'd be in full face from the get-go.

I realise the post quoted is playing the ball not the man, but you've got to realign your aim a tad.

Jim

I've posted links to helmets that I think would suit the request. My comments have been made in what I believe is the most constructive way. Completely ignoring the elephant is not constructive. Anyway I won't comment further.

Though I do agree that a full face is best from the get go for downhill mountain biking. However we are talking road biking here.

Methinks that Met hemlet is yet another triumph of marketing over function.

It's not a new idea by any means, Giro had something similar that looked a bit sturdier about 10 years back.

EDIT:
*googlegooglegooglegooglegooglegoogle*
Switchblade.

human909 wrote:I've posted links to helmets that I think would suit the request. My comments have been made in what I believe is the most constructive way. Completely ignoring the elephant is not constructive. Anyway I won't comment further.

I need a helmet recommendation, not someone telling me "try harder hot to fall off".

Well said.

If I were to recommend a one helmet that would stand some chance of being comfortable in a road situation is would be the Urge Archi Enduro. Reason being it is designed for All Mountain Enduro activities rather than downhill so it is lighter than a typical full face (but still heavy compared to typical helmet) and far better ventilated...



However...there is a potential downside to such an open full face construction as one punter has learned http://forums.mtbr.com/utah/crash-repor ... 95542.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;