remotelocal

i ask because i gloriously integrated with the ground at speed last week.

my angle of approach was particularly oblique and i went hand (love you glove!) - broken watch - large chunk out of my elbow - slammed thigh/ass cheek slide with a bag on my back. sort of one hand superman with legs and bike in the air. My helmet barely has a scratch on it but it definitely tapped the ground at the side/back, just not the initial impact. i feel i took most of that!

i can't see any sign of stress fracture, plastic damage or anything on it that would indicate much, so i'm thinking it's safe.

what would you do? bear in mind i can't afford to spend money on a shiny new ionos or whatever, so the 'buy an awesome new expensive super helmet' argument is null.

its a good run of the mill giro transfer, about 2 years old. its never been dropped or anything, i'm always pretty fastidious about where i leave it. keep riding it 'til it crumbles in sunlight? (i know i know...)

JustinHorne

I think the general rule of thumb is if it has a hit, replace it.

If it's got an outer plastic cover that only shows a scratch, who knows, maybe the inner foam got compressed a half inch.

roadwarrior

The "rule" is it's good for one impact. However, there are no helmet police. It's your brain. If you feel that taking a chance is worth your brain function, then keep using it.

However, you can't always see hairline cracks and things like that. If it's me, I am getting a new one. You might check with your LBS about crash replacement (the pricing is discounted, but I can never remember how much). You, however, must have your receipt (which is why I always tell people to KEEP THEIR RECEIPTS), but you can get a helmet at a discount and you must give the crashed one to the LBS. That's to prevent you from using it again, and the manufacturer's like to see them afterward.

Like I said, it's your brain.

carpediemracing 

+1

What's your brain worth to you?

Ford put a price on a life at $10,000 back in the 70s. That's what got them in trouble with the Pinto. At $10k per life, so many hundred lives lost per year due to faulty design, Ford's management decided that it would cost less to let a few hundred people die due to their poor design versus installing a one dollar plate in the car (4 bolts would puncture the gas tank; the plate would prevent that from happening).

That's assuming you're lucky enough to die. If you get crippled...

I have a stack of helmets that I've saved, from 1983 on, all foam lined helmets that have sacrificed part of their structural integrity absorbing impact my head would have taken. I probably had two minor concussions; the rest weren't bad as far as my head went. Some of the helmets look usable; some of the damage I didn't discover immediately.

Replace your helmet. It shouldn't be a question.

Or, like the guys that fell out of the bus at 60 mph, let Darwin's theory do its thing.

pallen

I depends on how much of a bump it took and if you know how much of a bump it took. Think about how many times you dropped your helmet on the ground while putting your gloves on and other such bumps you helmet takes. Obviously slight bumps aren't going to be an issue. If there is any possibility that the strength of the structure was weakened, replace it.

Looigi

I generally replace a helmet when my lust for a new one overcomes my fiscal conservatism...or after the helmet sustains damage that I deem warrants replacement. It's certainly not black and white. You can choose to ride with only a new untrammeled helmet, a crashed helmet, or no helmet at all.

topflightpro

I crashed while mountain biking last summer and my head hit a tree. Fortunately, I was using my back up helmet - an older helmet I retired because the plastic lock system was pretty much worn out.

I did not notice any damage to my helmet at first. A couple weeks later, I did notice a hairline crack that only revealed itself when pushed in a particular direction - otherwise, it was invisible. That helmet was soon tossed.

That said, I suggest getting a new helmet. In addition to having been in an accident, you say your helmet is two years old, and many manufacturers suggest new helmets every two years due to the foam degrading (I'm not saying I believe that, but coupled with you accident, it's notable).

You can either keep the helmet you currently have as an emergency back up or take a hammer to it and smash the crap out of it - you want to fully destroy any helmet before throwing it away so no one pulls it out of the garbage to use.

And remember, new helmets are a lot cheaper than medical bills related to head injuries.

Nachoman

I'd like to see some empirical testing on what percent of helmets fail and need to be replaced after being dropped onto concrete, from say 3 or 4 feet above the ground.

pallen

Hopefully, not many are damaged by that kind of thing (with no head in them anyway). My kids are always dropping theirs or trowing them down.

Brian Ratliff

Everyone is going to tell you to replace it. I'll do the same. I have used, for a winter anyway, a helmet that was involved in a crash where there wasn't much damage to it other than cosmetic. With the in-molded shells they have nowadays, helmets are much more durable. Even a crack in the foam doesn't do much to the structural integrity because the shell isn't just taped on anymore, it's effectively welded to the foam keeping everything together. Modern helmets don't shatter into a zillion pieces when absorbing a blow like the old ones did.

But I'm not going to sit here and tell you that it's okay. I kept using my helmet because I inspected it minutely and I've crashed and destroyed enough helmets of the same type (three before it) to know more or less what kind of damage that particular helmet can take before falling apart. I used it only for 'cross and the winter season where bad crashes are less likely and replaced it once the race season started. Professionally, I am a mechanical engineer and have studied structures and have some confidence in my ability to judge the situation.

Bottom line, replace it. You are here on the internet asking the question, which means you don't trust your own skills in evaluating the helmet's damage and are looking for the consensus answer.

The consensus answer is to replace it.

GirlAnachronism

Giro has a good crash replacement policy--30% off if memory serves (it might be failing me here, due to having had to exercise said policy), and it's quick and easy. Give them a call and get a new helmet.

jr59

I would like to see ANY empirical evidence on when to replace your helmet! Not sponsored by a helmet co.

Brian Ratliff

Be you gone, troll. There are enough threads where you can play the silly should-you-or-shouldn't-you-wear-a-helmet political game. There is a whole epic thread over in A&S for that BS. The OP has a serious question.

EDIT: I'll let comment #14 slide. Too easy. Short answer, yes, I have a serious answer to a serious question. You should read it. I'd just hate to see this turn into another stupid back and forth about helmet politics. Save that for the A&S thread.

jr59

Sorry no troll here. Just responding to Nachoman's comments.

There is NO serious answer to the OP's question.

Or maybe you have one, instead of calling people names!

wangster

Not empirical, but I've never crashed with my atmos but have dropped my helmet several times and recently discovered several cracks throughout the helmet. Not tiny fractures but full on split through the foam to plastic shell. I'd say dropping your helmet to the ground could very well damage it enough to render it useless.

island rider

+1 for replacement. When in doubt, replace.

That said, I would be interested in finding out what a 3 foot drop to concrete would do. I seem to recall reading somewhere that you should replace a helmet if you drop it on the ground. Not that I would, but I seem to recall...

himespau 

+42

thedeadone

if dropping your helmet on the ground destroys it - I say we are all getting ripped off by helmet companies. Cant one of you genious engeneer types develope An helmet that can take a 7 ft fall to concrete with out damage? I say a plastic mesh intergrated into the foam- kind of like the rebar in a foundation. thats the ticket.

himespau 

if it can't handle a small fall, how protective is it really?

novacoke

The design of the helmet is to absorb and spread the damage, so I don't think there's a way around this. Ripped off or not, it does its job in the cases where it has to... you don't want that impact damage going to your skull since its soft, you want it being dissipated elsewhere. Similar to a bumper on a car.

In my opinion - the instances where small damage occurs to the helmet (ie. dropping it to the ground), it may cause plastic deformation in the helmet, reducing its effectiveness if you perhaps take a large impact in the future. Lots of unknowns in evaluating damage, so the stance most helmet companies take is probably the safest and most liable adverse route.

Psimet2001 

Replace and move on.

If you didn't think it might be an issue you wouldn't have made a thread about it. That in and of itself expreses that deep down you think it needs replacement. Replace it.

Replace it. It's just a helmet.

Replace it.

Brian Ratliff

Nothing survives a seven foot fall to concrete without damage.

My pencil lead breaks when I drop it on the floor. How can I possibly use it to write with?

merlinextraligh

Wait, why replace it at all? didn't you guys know, they're of no value in the first place?

https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...Style-part-n-1

pallen

I would expect that they can handle being dropped empty almost an infinite number of times. Its thick foam the impact from being dropped alone vs with a head in it is a VERY different thing. Obviously, if you see cracks, you should replace, but I would be pretty surprised to see one crack from simply being dropped.

himespau 

That's sort of what I was getting at. If an unweighted fall of 3-4 feet (say accidentally being knocked off the table/bike saddle) is enough that it breaks, I'm just not sure how much energy of a high impact would be dissipated by the breakage given that low energy impacts are enough to cause the breakage. Pencils are a different matter as their entire job isn't to dissipate the energy of a collision by breaking strategically (or not for lesser impacts).