Interesting. Thanks. But you're probably giving me too much credit. As much as I try to sit back and reply thoughtfully, attempting to convey something without the need for those stupid little emoticons, I still come up short oftentimes and it just turns into a mess.

No worries.

Don't feel obliged to have to answer every time you are quoted. Sometimes you just have to let it drop to the obscurity of time. I know it's hard not to want to have the last word.

It's a problem I admit I have too. <grin>

POC Spin helmet & life expectancy
 

i have two (2) - one dated manufacture spring 2020, the other fall 2019.

the '20 gel cushion has opened in one place, prompting me to investigate their mfg dates.

i can buy aftermarket cushions on Big A.

Q: is it time to toss the helmets & get new?

neither have been crashed, but i've also read 5 years is the lifespan.

what to do?

thanks

sid

sidcharles

There is no definite answer. Just suggestion and opinion. I'd recommend you buy a new helmet. That said, the last time I crashed and the only time I wound up in the ER, my helmet was 11 years old. Perhaps if I'd had a newer helmet I wouldn't have gotten a cracked skull and severe concussion. But maybe it will have made no difference what so ever.

So do what feels right for you.

i'm just about touching 73, so i certainly am not looking for trouble. i ordered a new POC Spin figuring $225 was cheaper than the co-pay at the accident room.

thanks

sid

72 and never without.

so after sending back (2) new POC helments (sic @ BSNY), i ended up getting (2) Specialized Loma helments from the LBS*

the POCs were too small (medium; size i wore for 5 years) and too big (large). in the interim, i emailed POC asking for help. POC has discontinues the model i had.

the Specialized (a company i loathe btw) helments are lighter and cooler than previous. only required a slight strap adjust to get it sitting squarely in my round head.

glad that's over for another couple of years, anyway.

*also a perfect reminder why i do not go to bike shops.

win/ win

You don't go to bike shops because you found helmets that fit? That is a new one. I hate going places where I can try something on and make sure it fits? I went to a restaurant last night and ate food I enjoyed, a reminder of why I don't go to restaurants I can make burnt toast at home which tastes terrible.

Curious why you loathe Specialized, I do to a small degree as well on certain things (and I am a dealer) but rare to hear it from customers whom they treat pretty well. If you were a dealer I get it, but customers they generally are good too.

Glad though that you found helmets that fit and are comfortable. POC makes some nice stuff but everyone's head is different and fit is so important to helmets trying them on is crucial before purchase.

What was the reminder of why you don't go to bike shops? Though apparently you did go to a bike shop.


I'd only order helmets online if I knew what the helmet fit like from previous experience with that model. Like shoes for my feet, some helmets don't fit well on my noggin. So I enjoy going to the bike shop to try them on. Also gets some person to person conversation with others that enjoy cycling.

so i don't have to listen to people like you guys.

You don't like to socialize and share thoughts?

You haven't met me and are already casting aspersions. I invite you to my shop you can come hang out and we will chat probably for an hour and have a good time talking about bikes and other stuff and just laughing. We will invite you out to our shop ride, We will probably invite you out to our next bike packing trip and stuff like that. You can relax and watch cycling videos (or one of those folks building ridiculous vehicles or something to do with snowboarding or other adventure sports) and heck if I am going to get drinks for my staff I usually will offer any customers nearby as well. I know 100% you have the wrong idea about myself and I would say Iride01 as well (though I don't know them in real life). Sure online we might be a little more direct and to the point and rougher around the edges but I am not selling anything here I am having fun talking about bikes but I don't generally suffer fools but in regular life I am a happy fun loving person who will chat for hours with you if I didn't have a billion tasks to do. Heck even if you don't come and buy a bike or whatever and just want to hang I want to hang out and down the road you will probably come back for service or to buy something because we have had such a good time and if not no worries I am happy to just help someone with some air or a quick turn of screw.


Maybe you had a bad day or someone else had a bad day or something and you blame a place you were able to test a helmet and get one that fits but that is just not fair. It is like walking into a single restaurant and saying they were out of one dish and someone pooped in the bathroom so all restaurants are bad. Sure there are always going to be a few here and there or maybe you run into one and the server is having a bad day or you weren't nice to them or their boss said something or a co-worker or whatever but you cannot just blame everyone because of a little experience.

Humans can go through a wide range of emotions all the time and you might catch someone in a low point in their emotions or you might be that person and you just all need to reset and try again.

no; i simply recognize the year, make, and model.

i don't blame anyone for my actions.

Huh? Is that you saying I am prejudiced because I am thinking that is what you are saying. Otherwise you are making no sense in the context of what we are talking about.

You found a helmet that you got to try on and it fit and you were able to walk out with it yet you have an issue with bike shops, really really really really really extremely super strange. I generally like a place I can go in and try on a crucial fit item and walk out with it. I try to go in with a good attitude and usually I get the same in kind and if not I don't go well the whole industry is bad I give them another chance (unless it was so abhorrently bad that I couldn't stand to go back) or I would at least recognize it was that one interaction and move on.

If I consistently had the same issues at different places I would first look inward and see if it was me because that is the commonality in those interactions and some people can be abrasive or have some quirk to them that just makes it hard for interaction with some other humans. I have a friend who is a milder case on the autism spectrum but has it none-the-less and he has some trouble interacting sometimes and it is not because he is a bad person or it is intentional it is just how his brain is wired. There are some individual places where people are just not nice or have some issues but those are individual stores not all the stores.

Prior season helmet sale question
 

Anyone know what year these TLD Flowlines are from? They are on sale, but from what I recall, helmets, even if unworn, are wearing down with time.

TLD Flowline on sale at EVO

I was told at my LBS that "helmets age differently at the store and after you buy them". :lol: :lol: :roflmao2:

Age & deterioration study: https://helmets.org/replace.htm

Thanks. There will undoubtedly be no more posts arguing the topic.

Why not email the question to the seller?! No arguing here. My opinion, nothing to be concerned about.

No need to question the seller. The posters who act as if they were shills for LBS or bike component/accessory retailers can provide their rote answer. "Upgrade and spend your money on a newer, latest thing, you will be safer, faster, and look better!" ;)

Some people have something to protect and others don't it is OK. You don't have something to protect don't protect it just please make sure you leave enough money to pay for all the cleanup and hospital fees so taxpayers don't have to foot your bills.

Learned to ride back in the 1980-90s. I think i might have seen a bike helmet on tv. Also crashed a bike on pea gravel bad enough that i didn't want to ride it for a couple years. Helmets weren't a thing, kid-size gloves weren't even an idea!

I like mountain bikes, so Helmet and Gloves for all the rides. Maybe going without one for something like an around the block test ride, or if we rent bikes somewhere.

Do what you want, i do not care. However i believe you take ALL responibility for your actions so if you get hit without one, the TBI is on you instead of the driver.

Just don't be THAT GUY who gets a trail system closed for getting badly injured riding without a lid.
* * * I do not want to be a Meat Crayon. * * *

Helmet
 

Going to a bike shop tomorrow to see what size bike will fit me. Suggestions on what type of helmet to get.

MIPS is the new thing, though a helmet you wear is better than not wearing a helmet so if you can't find a MIPS you like a non-MIPS helmet is a lot better than nothing.

Virginia Tech's helmet ratings are often recommended (it's how I picked my last two helmets); they're ranked according to score, with retail price listed. A good method is to start at the top, skip over the ridiculously priced helmets, find one which looks good to you, then research it further (especially if you think you may have fit issues, a large head, etc.).

Good recommendations. (But, MIPS has been around for almost two decades.)

Get one that fits your head shape.