Helmet help

I have a 2003 giro pneumo (lonestar) - that is red white and blue, and it looks & feels great on my head, $136

Thats pretty expensive for a helmet.....I know it's silly to worry how you look, a helmet is there to save your head, but we are all a little vain aren't we.

lancefan2000 said:

I have a 2003 giro pneumo (lonestar) - that is red white and blue, and it looks & feels great on my head, $136

with the roc loc sytem , and the rear head protection, it has , if you ever wore one you woundn't have said that, but then your probablly not into cycling like I amSorry to have wasted your time

You are not wasting my time at all, I have never tryed the roc loc system. I am just on a tight budget. I do appreciate the advice...I wish I could afford such a nice helmet. I am new to the sport, and don't even have a good bike yet...I just want to know what you guys wear thats all. Have you heard of a Ghiselle I believe, seems like a nice looking helmet for under 100 bucks.

lancefan2000 said:

with the roc loc sytem , and the rear head protection, it has , if you ever wore one you woundn't have said that, but then your probablly not into cycling like I amSorry to have wasted your time

kyperman said:

OK, OK....I am a total newbie and want to know what the popular helmet is. I have a Bell something right now that I picked up for 25 bucks, but it looks like I have a oversized bowl on my head...looks do matter, so what kind of helmet LOOKS the best?

Of course you're right -- looks matter. Here's a simple, sad but true rule of thumb. All helmets sold in the US meet the same safety standards. In fact, in real testing, some of those stupid bowls rate a bit higher than the fancy lids in terms of impact resistance. In some cases, the cheaper or mid-priced helmets are even lighter than the pricey ones.

So what makes the pricey ones pricey? A few minor technical things having to do with airflow and fit, sure, but mostly, they look damn good. The more you spend, the better your helmet looks. The more they charge for it, the less bulky, globular, and medical-issue it looks; expensive helmets tend to sit close to the head, have low-profile foreheads, and sweep back nicely. It's a conspiracy, and one we're all subject to, so pony up the cash if you want to look good. You could start by finding out what the pros use. A few suggestions, all pictured:

The Limar F111 and F911; expensive but extremely sexy and elegant. Very Euro-chic. The Limar F107 is cheaper and a bit more rugged looking, but it's fairly unique and not too common. The Catlike Kompact is a really rare sight in the states, popular elsewhere. It's quite low-profile. Lots of pro teams use them. The Giro Pneumo is the flagship lid in the states, largely because the Posties wore them until this year, when Giro trotted out the Atmos. The Bell Ghisallo, along with the Limar F107, is a screamin' deal. It's the Pneumo's cousin, but it's almost always $50 cheaper.

Ok, I just noticed the previous 2 messages. The Ghisallo and the F107 are the only pair of lids I mentioned that you'd likely consider affordable. The nice thing about helmets is that they're often over-stocked; stores will sell 2004, 2003, 2002 models, and so on -- you can buy a Ghisallo (the same helmet worn by teams CSC, Phonak, and so on) for $60 if you search for older year models.

lokstah said:

Of course you're right -- looks matter. Here's a simple, sad but true rule of thumb. All helmets sold in the US meet the same safety standards. In fact, in real testing, some of those stupid bowls rate a bit higher than the fancy lids in terms of impact resistance. In some cases, the cheaper or mid-priced helmets are even lighter than the pricey ones.

So what makes the pricey ones pricey? A few minor technical things having to do with airflow and fit, sure, but mostly, they look damn good. The more you spend, the better your helmet looks. The more they charge for it, the less bulky, globular, and medical-issue it looks; expensive helmets tend to sit close to the head, have low-profile foreheads, and sweep back nicely. It's a conspiracy, and one we're all subject to, so pony up the cash if you want to look good. You could start by finding out what the pros use. A few suggestions, all pictured:

The Limar F111 and F911; expensive but extremely sexy and elegant. Very Euro-chic. The Limar F107 is cheaper and a bit more rugged looking, but it's fairly unique and not too common. The Catlike Kompact is a really rare sight in the states, popular elsewhere. It's quite low-profile. Lots of pro teams use them. The Giro Pneumo is the flagship lid in the states, largely because the Posties wore them until this year, when Giro trotted out the Atmos. The Bell Ghisallo, along with the Limar F107, is a screamin' deal. It's the Pneumo's cousin, but it's almost always $50 cheaper.

Wow thanks for the help....I really appreciate it, I think I am looking at the Ghisallo cause I can get it on ebay for 80 bucks. Plus it looks good. If it's good enough for Tyler Hamilton, it's good enough for me.

Yes, the Bell Ghisallo is a great helmet it has great rear head protection and Cam-lock strap adjusters, if you found it for under $100 , your doing great, I haven't seen one for less than that.🙂

lancefan2000 said:

Yes, the Bell Ghisallo is a great helmet it has great rear head protection and Cam-lock strap adjusters, if you found it for under $100 , your doing great, I haven't seen one for less than that.🙂

I'm not using it any more, but I bought a 2002 model last year for $60. Using a Limar right now.

kyperman said:

Wow thanks for the help....I really appreciate it, I think I am looking at the Ghisallo cause I can get it on ebay for 80 bucks. Plus it looks good. If it's good enough for Tyler Hamilton, it's good enough for me.

That's what I told myself when I was wearing one. Go Tyler!

lancefan2000 said:

Yes, the Bell Ghisallo is a great helmet it has great rear head protection and Cam-lock strap adjusters, if you found it for under $100 , your doing great, I haven't seen one for less than that.🙂

Qbike ( http://www.qbike.com/cgi-bin/bike.cgi?ord=p&s=0&q=314600&st=ghisallo )lists the following. You probably have to hunt and peck for sizes. I got a Bell Phi a while back for about 30% (not 30% off) of list by e-shopping around. If you can live with last year's colors.....

$59.99 Bell Ghisallo Helmet Performance Bike
$64.99 Bell Ghisallo 04 - Free Shipping Jenson USA
$64.99 Bell® Ghisallo™ `04 Helmet Performance Bike
$69.95 Bell Ghisallo Helmet ´04 Bike Nashbar
$74.98 Bell 2002 Ghisallo Dirt World
$74.98 Bell Ghisallo Helmet Price Point
$74.98 Great Deals in the DirtWorld Store
$89.88 Bell Ghisallo Helmet 2003 Excelsports
$89.95 Bell Ghisallo 50th Anniversary Edition Bike Nashbar
$99.95 Bell Ghisallo Helmet 2004 Excelsports
$99.99 Bell Ghisallo Blue Helmet Bell CBike
$99.99 Bell Ghisallo CSC Helmet Bell CBike
$99.99 Bell Ghisallo Titan Helmet Bell CBike
$99.99 Bell Ghisallo White Helmet Bel CBike

I have this Ghisallo on order with Performance. I can't wait to replace my old Trek helmet.

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