Originally Posted by
Lenton58
For about 18 years I wore a
Specialized that you see in my avatar. Aesthetically it looked like a peanut, and I never really liked it. A dork helmet, but not as bad as many others. I even painted it yellow!
In recent years I tried on all sorts of new helmets. They all were like wearing a torture implement and cost more than my wife's wedding ring. Anyway, most of them made me look like a wanker-racing-wannabe. One day I grabbed a
Bell Solar and tried it on for feel —
SOLD! It's a boring silvery white cuz I often ride in the dark. I don't look too much like a dork in the thing. I strap twin diode lights to it so I can stare down attacking cagers. A friend has the same model in yellow/black that looks downright appealing — but then she's a girl, and most helmets might look more appealing on her anyway. I don't even remember if it came with a visor. To me,
all visors look dorkish. I wear polycarbonate wrap-around lenses.
I vote for that. My son almost stole mine, so now there are two in the house. As long as Bell designs to the same skull shape I will probably buy their products. Besides being almost white, the Solar also has the advantage in my opinion of not having too long an extended pin tail. The long tail of some helmets just appears to me as being a point to pivot on in and hold your head in one place while the rest of you in a fall continues on. I don't consider that too great an idea for the neck and spine in case of a wreck. No visor on the Solar.
I have an older Bell that has no tail, I kept it in reserve, probably a good time trial helmet actually, most of us look down from time to time, a round or simple ellipse is probably faster with few vents, not cooler, but faster. Note the work of Giro for the pros lately.