Skate Helmets for commuting
 

Hi,
Considering a homologated look alike skate helmet, would it be good for commuting? Does it fit firmly?, Hot?, safer than a regular helmet?
Concerns, please. I am very commited with safety. I also consider a Giro Semi MX helmet for a everyday commuting, what means jump over the 100's in summer. But I think that I can suffer it if it is safer for me.

Thanks.

They're hot. I have something similar, a Protec Ace Dig that I only use when it's way below freezing. A bike helmet w/ all the vent holes is still safe although it needs to be replaced if you're in an accident and the helmet takes a blow to protect your head.

The reason that bike helmets are better for cycling.

One: Bikes move faster then stakers. It only takes a 12 mph head strick to kill you. On Stakes most people only run at 12 to 14 mph. on a bike it's more like 15 to 25 mph. So Bike helmets have to be able to take a blow form a ridder hiting the ground at 25 mph. So there are thicker and will take a lot more then a stake helmet will.

Do all stake helmets come w/ wooden stakes or can you get carbon fiber stakes instead? ;)

Perhaps magnesium or titanium stakes may yield better results. :D

I've got that same helmet, I wear it in cold weather or really rough offroad conditions because it covers more of my head. Looks silly, works well. I'm not a fashion model.:D

Further ahead
 

Thanks for your answer, but I was thinking on skating look alike helmets for biking, not simply skating helmets, in which case you would be abssolutely right. I think that such a bike homologated skate look alike helmets like the said Pro Tec Ace Dig or a Giro Semi MX are safer and protect more and better than light and fully ventilated helmets. So, I think of a really protective helmet for commuting.
Regards.

A skate helmet is much heavier because it also has to protect you from side falls. A bike helmet will only protect you from forward ejection. (IE your head through a car window). If you don't mind the heat (they rarely have more than a couple vent holes) a skate helmet would offer much more protection.

Personally I think they look better and have more places to decorate, but some of the Giro bike helmets are very nice looking too with their sculpted air vents...

Hot weather
 

Does any of you use this kind of helmets over the 100's in summer? I am ready to.

Another is that probably most skate helmets are designed to take multiple impacts, like a football helmet. Bike helmets are designed to take one high speed impact.

What makes you think that a bicycle helmet is designed to protect against a 25 MPH impact? A helmet is unlikely to prevent serious injury if you suffer a direct head strike at that kind of speed. Of course, a fall at 25 MPH rarely involves a head impact at that speed, which is why a helmet is able to do any good at all, but they are certainly not intended to protect you from an impact at that speed. As for whether bike helmets are thicker and are better able to absorb a high-speed impact than a skate helmet, well... I rather doubt that.

A skate helmet is a poor choice for cycling, but not because a bike helmet offers more protection. They're just plain hot and uncomfortable when the going gets sweaty.

Back when I lived near Palm Springs, the summers regularly got into the 115-120 F region. Back then I wore a Bell Biker old white helmet for commuting. It actually kept my head cooler because it provided shade and it took a while for the air to warm the helmet up.

Skate BMX helmets are a lot tougher than regular bike helmets. But I wouldn't go as far to say that they are made to take multiple impacts. If you have a serious crash, the foam is going to be damaged. The hard shell does however make it a very practical helmet, that can take many minor scrapes as well as being thrown into lockers and generally dealing with the rough and tumble life of a commuter.

If you get creative with padding, you can enhance the airflow in skate helmets a great deal. I used velcro dots to better secure the forehead foam pad which then let me cut an air channel in the center. Then I used 6 stick on foam pads about the size of a quarter to replace the top of head pad, which cut down on pad to head contact a great deal while still holding the helmet off enough to increase airflow.

Before anybody freaks, the soft foam pads secured with velcro are for comfort only. It is the crumpling of the hard polysyrene foam that absorbs any serious impact force. Try holding a bit of padding material over your forehead and banging your head into the corner of a door, then repeat with no pad. See. The soft pads don't do anthing except absorb sweat.

It is a sad and very poorly advertised truth that some, if not all, styrofoams get pretty rigid when temps drop below 50 degrees F. I learned that when I was with a Federal Safety Agency and went digging thru some old Tank Corp files.

I wear this one, a Bell Faction Mirra. I bought it for something like $6 on closeout at a Dick's. I actually bought it to wear when I ride my cruiser... But I start using it on my road bikes around this time of year; it's warmer :)

It's CPSC bicycle standard certified, and to be honest, I bet would protect my head a whole lot better than my airy road bike helmet. I recall reading an article about very veltilated helmets that stated they have to have stiffer styrofoam because there's less of it. Not as cushioning.

Dunno, I actually like wearing the BMX helmet. Another bonus? I don't get weird cycling-helmet helmethead from all the vents. You know what I mean. Lumpy helmethead. :)

I've been hard-core commuting for 3 years, and I also skate a lot, so here is the skinny. I wear nothing but "skate" lids (Pro-tec Ace, Giro Semi, bunch of no-name skate crap) because to me, "bike helmets" are way too fussy and fruity, and I need them to do double-duty.

"Skate-style" helmets come in three flavors: soft foam, hard foam, or SXP liners.

The most common, and what you will get if you ask for a skate helmet is a hard shell with a soft foam liner, and is basically a skid lid--pretty useless in preventing impact trauma at speed.

Skate helmet manufs also put out hard foam (expanded polystyrene) helmet liners that function identically to bicycle helmets. One hit, foam crushes, it's toast.

Pro-tec has recently come out with SXP, which protect like hard foam, but can take multiple impacts--the best of both worlds.

edit: forgot to say: if you are buying a helmet for biking, look inside. To meet the minimal standards for protection in bicycling situations, it has to have a CPSC or Snell sticker. If it doesn't, don't buy it.

Pros of skate lids: best looks (to me), are round, and don't have facets/projections that can catch and torque your neck around. Functions like a helmet, not some designer's interpretation of "wind".

Cons: hot (don't know if that's true--I commute year-round in DC, including summer), -10 OCP/Lance factor.


To the folks who want to bike without a helmet, I say go take a couple runs in a concrete bowl with a helmet until you slam on your head, do the same without a helmet, and I think you will agree with me:

helmet good.

A skate-looking bike helmet? What about a rock-climbing helmet? It should be a step above a skate helmet, could be a step above a bike helmet, but doesn't go the all-out motorcycle helmet route.

I agree with everything Comradehoser has to say on this subject.

I currently have a soft foam Protec Classic. Its taken many hits (I ride street BMX), and held up quite well.
I'm quite sure it has stopped me from recieving multiple concussions.

I also have a Giro bike helmet which weighs about 1/4 as much as the Protec, and offers MUCH more ventilation, but I only wear it when I'm on the road bike and less likely to fall and bonk my head.

I just switched to a SK8er lid. More out of a sense of fashion. Have taken to wearing baggy shorts and t-shirts when riding. The old aero bike helmet was fine for Lycra and multi coloured jerseys but like the "urban" look of sk8er helmet. Had no problems with the heat but have not found a visor that would work for in rain. Am going through midlife crisis after having heart attack. Getting tatoo and dressing like a sk8er punk is my way of dealing with need to change life style.

I ride with a shiny black Bell Faction helmet and thought it made me look pretty cool until I saw the same model and color helmet on the head of one of those kids who fall down a lot, a recommendation of sorts, I guess.