I agree, but next time you go racing and the inspect your helmet and refuse you the right to race then feel free to tell them as well!
Alternativey ask Climbo who has a couple of nice lids from his time in the USA which are now no-good for Aus racing.
I was just about to buy 2 top of the line helmets before I realised I couldnt wear them in a race. (I have been checked before).

Good job my LBS are cool and cut me a mega deal (which is still $100 more than I could have paid in the interweb)

Just thinking out loud (so to speak) but ..... If one was particulary enterprising, one might be able to remove the llittle sticker from an old helmet and attach it to the new helmet.

I believe they are coded in terms of manufacturer/model etc but happy to stand corrected.
I'm sure you could bluff your way but if you race and crash and get hurt/claim insurance etc you will not be covered. How important is this anyway?

Happy to stand corrected...?

Jeez, sounds Oz commissaires are right little totalitarians compared to here. I've never had my lid checked at a race, but I'm sure I'd get jumped on if I turned up without one.

In summary, it appears if you race in sterile conditions (crits/xc/closed road/track) you are exempt...

Bicycle Helmets Regulation
At the last meeting of the Cycling Australia Board of Management the Technical Regulations relating to the use of suitably approved helmets in cycling events were reviewed and have been amended accordingly. The review included reference to the Australian Road Rules, liaison with the respective road and traffic authorities of NSW, Victoria and South Australia and a number of bike helmet importers. Liaison also took place with Standards Australia and SI Global.

The Australian Road Rules clearly demand that a bicycle helmet must meet the Australian / New Zealand Standards. The AS/NZ 2063 Standard does not recognise any other standard helmet from any other country. Accordingly, only helmets that meet and carry the AS/ NZ Standards approval are permitted for use on Australian Roads – including road races conducted under the auspices of CA and its affiliates.

The revised Rule 3.5 below now reflects that in general road racing conditions the mandatory wearing of helmets that comply with AS/NZ 2063 must apply;

3.5. HELMETS

3.5.1. An approved helmet shall be worn at all times during competition, warming up for an event or when riding on the road at a race meeting.

3.5.2. In all Road events conducted by Cycling Australia and its affiliates, subject to rules 3.5.3 and 3.5.4 below, helmets must meet the requirements of the Australian Standards Association AS/NZ 2063.

3.5.3. In any International event where overseas or professionally contracted riders with a UCI registered team are competing, these cyclists must wear a helmet that meets the requirements of the Australian Standards Association AS/NZ 2063; or can be identified as a UCI approved helmet or an equivalent Standard Type Approval of another country.

In such events, the promoter must apply to conduct the event under an exemption permitting the wearing of non-Australian Standard helmets. Such an application must be made under the special events legislation of the respective State in which the event is being conducted.

The events for which such an application may be sought include, but may not be limited to;

UCI RoadWorld Cups (Men and Women)
One-day Road Races or multi-stage Tours which have been approved for inclusion on the UCI calendar.
The Australian Open Road Championships or similar event, whereoverseas or professionally contracted riders with a UCI registered team are competing and the results contribute to UCI ranking points.
3.5.4. In all Track, Mountainbike Cross Country or Road events conducted in fully sterile conditions by Cycling Australia and its affiliates, helmets must meet the requirements of the Australian Standards Association AS/NZ 2063; or can be identified as a UCI approved helmet or an equivalent Standard Type Approval of another country.

The amended technical regulation (Rule 3.5) listed above will become effective from 1 September 2005. However, commissaires are encouraged to operate under these conditions immediately and issue warnings to riders found with unapproved helmets up until the above date.

Failure to comply with this regulation will result in exclusion from starting in an event. It is also important to note that the wearing of a non-compliant helmet may result in the voiding of insurance cover for any injuries received in such circumstances.

As you will note there are only two cases for exemption to the wearing of helmets compliant with AS/NZ 2063:

1. Sterile Conditions

Where a cycling event is conducted under fully sterile conditions – track racing, closed circuit road or criterium circuits, off-road MTB XC – the application of AS/NZ 2063 does not strictly apply. Nevertheless, the wearing of a helmet with either an Australian or international standards approval remains a mandatory requirement. It is important to note that a ‘rolling road closure’ is not considered to be ‘sterile conditions’ as the supervision of police or local road & traffic authority is still required. However, CA would encourage all participants to use a common AS/NZ approved helmet for all cycling disciplines.

2. UCI Calendar Events

An exemption may be sought for UCI calendar events where international and pro-contract riders wearing helmets approved in other countries, may be worn. The helmet standards recognised by the UCI include EN1078 (Europe), ANSI and SNELL (USA).

The use of helmets which do not comply with Australian & New Zealand Standards on Australian Roads is covered under Special Events Legislation, and while this process may vary slightly from state to state, essentially all states have a process for the approval of helmets which do not comply with AS/NZ 2063.

The Promoter of an international event (refer 3.5.3) is required to write to their respective State Authority and provide the following information for seeking an exemption from compliance with Australian Road Rule 256 – Bicycle Helmets. The exemption should address the following criteria.

1. The event for which an exemption is being sought.
2. The scope of the exemption dates and time.
3. The reasons for the exemption – International cyclists with professional contracts / sponsorship
4. Why it does not constitute a danger – refer to UCI approved helmets which are recognised in other countries
5. Any other reason

Anyone seeking further information on this matter and for promoters requiring contacts for appropriate State Authorities, please contact Ron Bonham (National Technical Director) or Graham Fredericks (CEO) at the CA office.

Yours sincerely,

Graham Fredericks

No idea re: the coding, will check in the morning, we have 3 different brands of helmet so should be able to work it out.

Anyone know how the Australian standard differs from the EU and US standards?

It doesn't. Manufacturers and importers are a benevolent bunch and love spending $30-50K on retesting helmets to get a nice shiny sticker from the Australian Standards nazis.

However, in the event that my head was being run over by every wheel of a road train you can be sure that I'd only trust an Australian Standards certified helmet

[EDIT]However there is a claim on the Bicycle Helmet Safety Institute website that the Oz Standards testing is superior to US testing in a number of areas, but it does not elaborate

[ANOTHER EDIT]Deep in the bowels I found this unvalidated comment relating to the recent recall of Trek helmets: "Opening up huge vents automatically means reducing the impact foam, and that in turn requires making the foam that does remain very dense and hard. It becomes brittle, and must have internal or external reinforcements to hold together. The hard foam spots can put more localized load on parts of the skull as well. The Australian standard tests for that, but we do not in this country (ie. USA)."

[FROM WIKI] "The CPSC and EN1078 standards are lower than the Snell B95 (and B90) standard; Snell helmet standards are externally verified, with each helmet traceable by unique serial number. EN 1078 is also externally validated, but lacks Snell's traceability. The most common standard in the US, CPSC, is self-certified by the manufacturers. It is generally true to say that Snell standards are more exacting than other standards, and most helmets on sale these days will not meet them (no current Bell brand helmet is Snell certified, some Specialized ones are - the Snell Memorial Foundation website includes a list of certified helmets)."

https://www.smf.org/certlist/std_B-90...90C_B-95C.html

Man Dave Z is a funny guy, his comments about Antiquing your taint cracked me up (no pun intended)

• Get a boss that'll let you take time off to train and race
• Join a club
• Get a coach
• Train, eat and sleep according to the plan
• Enter every race the coach lets you
• Hopefully get some sponsorship along the way

& jump in a time machine and go back 15 years

+1

In your dreams. Kids these days tend to know now that there most definitely isn't any place like home and they generally hang about way into their 20's and sometimes 30's and just when you think they're off to do their own thang, they come back!
When they finally do get married and have their kids you then become financier, baby sitter, mediator, minister etc etc. All good fun though, most of the time.

You need to hook up with Royale and go riding with him. He's nearly stopped hassling me to go riding with him now, and he's 26-7 and twice as fast as me anyway.

Then we could put you on a mountainbike and I'd be half-way towards putting an enduro team together!

Cunning plan, m'lud!

Welcome to the "we know nothing" club. Thylo knows about frame and materials stuff tho, and Ed knows ppl who lived back in the dark ages.

Anywho, you won't necessarily be able to do anything flash for about 2 years because you need to develop a "cycle racing head". For that you need ultra-natural-talent or accrued experience. For 99.99999% of the population its the second option.

So the idea is to do what others have suggested and get a coach who can adapt your program to your changing capabilities. Along the way you need to have fun. Ride group rides, ride your mountain bike and go OTB into the bushes, race cars, do social/charity rides. Whatever. Just keep enjoying riding until you can start whipping some serious butt. Then get serious.

Along the way you might consider buying a custom Ti Tephra from this guy I know in Melbourne...

This is quickly turning into the TAT joke.
I wonder how many times we can plug Thylacine cycles in random threads before someone gets the ****s.

MD at 26? You're either in IT, a drug dealer, or......self employed.

All all of the above.

Are you kidding Kotter? There's no such thing as bad publicity! I'm up to 100 unique visits a day and 114,620 total hits this month already, and considering I just squandered my yearly promotions budget on beer today, I can't really complain.

I agree, maybe only 12 year back might do.

I think if your not in there as a junior, competing at an international level you don't really have much chance. I finished school in 88 or 89 and went straight to the USA to do sport, I was 16 the first trip overseas. Kept going OS until I was 24 or so, good fun, good way to see the world, just not much future for "pro sport guy that never quite made it", earning enough money to just keep going got boring after a few years.

Having said that, doesn't stop many of us riding every minute we can and racing our guts out for fun every second weekend or so.

I finally made the grade at 40. My aspirations were C Grade club racing. Things changed along the way.

Now I just have to learn how to go faster. And then i have to learn how to go faster still. And then..... etc ad infinitum

This has been a VERY bike oriented day.

Can we laze back into dribble for a week or so to recover pleeze?

yeah, true.

Any one else watching the doco on sbs about Columbia? on right now.

I wish. SWMBO is watching that stoopid hello/goodbye rubbish

just finished, great timing hey?

Why, are you a Serb?

Are you asking me ?

Oddly enough, you can wear any helmet in BMX. I'm reasonably sure I saw a kid in a hockey helmet. But my US spec one was good enough for the track over there. And Oz standards for testing are tougher than the US standards. I didn't read Jock's whole post, but I read about what manufacturers have to do to sell them in Oz, and the testing is a bit more comprehensive than the US standards. Not that it makes any difference at the time of impact.