Don't want to bring up the protection issue again.

I got three helmets and my wife has one helmet that shows wearing one is worth it... Its like car insurance. How many times has your airbag gone off? Fall on your side or back and your head will smack the pavement. This is a low risk of breaking your neck but just imagine gliding the back of your scalpe or your ear along the asphault! Not me!


Now for the design stuff... I agree that the Giro Pneumo is a hot helmet. Own two of them!

Things I like... I like the design of the head-lock system. It is not too large or cumbersome and can be adjusted while riding. Some of the "dial" types seem too cumbersome to deal with.

The helmet is light and comfortable.

Offers lot of ventilation.

Pluses/minus:
+ the air-vents along the front are designed perfecty for Oakley or Performance Vector glasses to be pressed into. Sometimes, like in rain or in the early morning, I start to the ride with my glasses mounted into the helmet.. Or at the store when chit-chating and don't want to mis-place them.

- The Giro Pneumo's front two pads will press into my fore-head and over very long rides I end up with two depressions on my brow that will remain for a few days.

From a design consideration I like helmets that are not so thick on the top or look like a mushroom sitting on my head. The sides should taper as they come around to the ears so it has a smoother transition as it reaches the sides of the face.

Pads: Pads should be comfortable, last a long time and should be replaceable if they do fail (or get too stinky). One of Giro's problems has been the pads... They tend to seperate from the inside foam and a lot of the time the little velcro dots used to hold the pads to the helmets will come unglued from the helmet...

Buckle... I would like to see a buckle that is not so much velcro like the motor bike design, but at least one should be able to close the buckle with one hand. A time or two at a rest stop I got caught out and slapped the lid on my skull and took off... I found that it was difficult to try to close the strap/buckle while I was riding (using one hand)

Perhaps for the design of the foam pads that may be neat is if you could design the pads in such a way they direct sweat away from the forhead and to the sides. Sometimes when I really sweat the pads saturate and then the sweat just runs down my face... Would be nice it it would wick away and run down the chin strap or down the sides near my ears.