jhglaw

Why are there not lots of helmets with no or few holes for winter riding?

Machka 

Why not just wear a helmet cover?

Cyclist0383

The Bell commuter line of helmets have inserts to block the vents.

vger285

Because The Bicycle Dosen't Have It's Head On Straight?

vger285

What i mean by that is, the biking industry dosen't do anything to prolong the season,so why would they make helmets for winter use?They are very slow to catch on to what the user wants, thats called corporate guidence!

ghettocruiser

Umm. I'm looking around. I'm not seeing too many people riding even on warm winter days. Just me and that one other guy.

I dont think there are enough winter riders to buy up much in the way of winter-specific product lines.

Have you looked at ski or snowboard helmets?

TRaffic Jammer

You still need to vent your noodle even in the winter. Just wear a thin skull cap or balaclava and you are good to go. You have to be able to dissipates that heat or you will sweat like a pig and risk hypothermia.

barba

There are lots of winter gear options. I am not clear what more you would want to extend the season.

A helmet cover or just some tape will convert a helmet with holes to one without and you can use it in warmer weather.

vger285

Thats true, but you walk into any, i mean any lbs and 98.6 % of there stock is summer/racing gear..If you want anything winter specific you gotta to go online and shop, its like they can't make the switch or don't recon that it needs to be made, then they will turn around and tell you how slow business is?I have two good friends that run two differnent lbs and they are both the same,there way or the highway!

TRaffic Jammer

From a business perspective, just having the shop open in the winter is risky. The number of winter riders (even here in Canada) is a small percentage of spring/summer/fall riders. It's all above layering anyway, so there really isn't that much winter specific stuff out there.

Machka 

I use one of these:
https://www.mec.ca/Products/product_d...=1167936430625


And the LBSs here become LSSs sometime in October. To translate: The Local Bike Shops become Local Ski Shops. All the bicycle stuff disappears, and is replaced with ski stuff. Then in about March, the ski stuff disappears and the bicycle stuff reappears. I use a lot of ski stuff when I cycle in the winter.

chipcom 

You might try Century in Peninsula then, they get it because they ride in the winter too.

mercator

+1 on the ski stuff, especially the x-c variety, very suitable for winter cycling.

On an somewhat related note, now that mec is selling skis, canoes and kayaks, I wonder why they are not selling bikes?

ghettocruiser

Bike sales is a can of worms they don't want to get into at so many levels. They can barely keep stuff in stock as it is. And I'm saying this as a lifetime loyal member.

mercator

True, selling bikes does open up a lot of support issues, but I see that REI is doing it so it isn't outside of MECs business model.

As to the stock issue, the Calgary store seems to be pretty well stocked, although I somtimes have to get them to order some things from the warehouse, takes about a day.

deputyjones

I have had the same thoughts on bike helmets when I was looking for one recently. I went to 3 different shops and saw 6 or 7 different brands and the only difference between any of them was that the more you paid the more holes you got in it. They all look almost exactly the same. The only one that was even remotely different was the Bell Metro. Kind of sad really that the manufacturers could not be a bit more creative.

Phantoj

I picked up a Bell Scuffle from Pricepoint for under $10. The skater-type helmets have fewer, smaller vents.

Then I saw a snow-sport helm somewhere. It used the same shell as my Scuffle, but it had ear flaps, and some kind of fabric in the vent holes.

So get a snowboarding helmet.

TRaffic Jammer

Pryme has some killer lids with very few holes, skater, BMX style brain buckets

Hezz

You do not want to use a helmet with no venting even in winter. Your head will get very over heated and you will have trouble keeping your glasses or goggles from fogging.

What you want is limited venting. Smaller and fewer holes and less of a flow through design.

Also, the standard gore-tex or equivalent helmet cover works wonders with a standard helmet.

The free ride bike helmets or vented multi-sport helmets work perfect for winter cycling. They have less venting and more coverage in the rear plus more forhead clearance for goggles. Plus they are cheaper than regular helmets because they are easier to manufacture. And offer greater crash protection. Since they are made for hucking.

The cost of the molding tooling is very large to make a cycling helmet. Easy 400,000-700,000 or more USD. So the company has to guarantee a lot of sales to justify the cost. Not enough people cycle in winter for the companies to justify the cost but I'm not sure a winter specific bike helmet would be any better than one of these minimally vented freeride/multi-sport designs.

But there are only a half a dozen models so you don't often see them advertized. Try Price Point and Nashbar. They are around 25 USD and can be had for less on sale.

If you go to your LBS these helmets are usually in the area where they have the BMX and kids bikes.

I got one online from Price Point called the GT Ollie for 7 USD. Total with shipping was 12 bucks

Joe1946

I use a Giro Ravine Snowsports helmet with 10 vent holes that could be opened or closed on the fly with just a push on a switch at the top of the helmet.

foolish heart

If the vents are for ventilation, I don't quite understand the logic. Then why do skateboarding helmets have very few vents? Bicycle helmets abundant with vents? And motorcycle helmets ventless?

J.P.

For the three examples you cite it makes sense to me that the bicycle helmet would have the most vents and the motorcycle helmet would have the least (i.e. none). The bicycle rider is generating the most body heat and has the most need for cooling/ventilation. Conversely the motorcyclist has the least need for ventilation.

Joe1946

My two SHOEI motorcycle helmets have adjustable vents.

Hezz

Not only are exercise requirements different, but in high speed crash situations which are more likely to occur in motorized sports, having more coverage for protection is vital.

Also, since most bicycle riding is done in warm and hot weather extensive venting is necessary to prevent overheating.

CBBaron

Several options available:
Bell Metro with winter kit - a nice commuting helmet and the winter kit plugs the vent holes and adds ear flaps to the chin straps. I'm liking mine so far.
BMX style helmet - Most have a few small vents that could be easily covered with tape. Kids will think you look cool (maybe).
Helmet cover
Ski/Snow board helmet - most have closeable vents and ear covers. Do not seem to come with visors or in bright colors.

I think the Metro is the best bicycle commuting option but it is expensive. The other options are nice and can be quite cheap.
Not many cyclist ride in the winter so few stores will market winter gear. Bicycle shops struggle to get by between December (Christmas sales) and April as there is little interest. I know in New England most bicycling stores were also ski shops to have a year round market.

Craig