For a $50 head?

Seriously, while there may be a good fitting helmet for under 50 bucks, your first priority should be FIT, as others have already mentioned. About 2 months ago, I bought a L.A.S Istrion helmet for quite a bit more than 100 bucks, because it fit better than the 80 dollar helmet I had (a Giro). Well, I crashed two weeks ago, breaking my frame (Specialized Ruby) and banging my noggin on the concrete. While the helmet looked ok, I smashed it up, and bought another. I don't worry much about the cost of the helmet because I am not in the hospital now. Everything is perspective, and being ambulatory is a very good perspective to be in. If you find a good helmet for under 50 bucks, great! But price should be secondary to good fit and quality (as others mentioned, the molded-in design being better than a taped on cover). Always buy from your LBS unless you did what I did and replaced a known good fitting helmet with another of the same. If I could buy a good-fitting comfortable helmet for under 50 bucks I would- but the ones I saw and tried on just were not comfortable. My Giro fits, but the straps would turn sideways and rub on my temples and hurt, and the front would press on my forehead and make it ache. The next size up was too big. And the airflow was poor.

Tzvia