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I wear a Shoei helmet and my wife wears an Arai. We both assume 5 years of wear. We don't wear the more expensive helmets because we think they protect us better -- we assume that any helmet badged with a Snell or ECE rating is no better or worse than any other helmet similarly certified.
The $75/year (per helmet) premium we are paying is for the comfort of the helmet, not for the safety of it. I wanted a more aerodynamic helmet (Shoei X14) because I don't have a windscreen and I thought it would help reduce wind-lift while riding at highway speeds. My wife wanted a very quiet helmet with great ventilation and opted for the Arai SomethingICan'tRecall. For us, it's worth the extra cost, but I understand that others might have a different opinion.
I keep my old helmets (I cut the strap off of them) for display in my garage. Sometimes, I'll put mc related stickers on them, but my brother is an artist so I"m thinking of having him paint a couple of them for me. Incidentally, none of them have disintegrated yet, but then again, I haven't tried to wear them either.
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My first helmet, Arai Vector 2, is now 9 years old. I was keeping it around as a backup, but now it's going in the rubbish bin.
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Makes me wonder. Surely, if all that’s disintegrating is the lining, it could be replaced? Or is there disintegration in the harder structural material?
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(06-14-2021, 08:32 AM)Cormanus_imp Wrote: Makes me wonder. Surely, if all that’s disintegrating is the lining, it could be replaced? Or is there disintegration in the harder structural material?
I reckon most are referring to the open cell foam padding. The superstructure ought to be intact (assuming no impact events). One might be able to source some new padding, but the helmet interior will become "customized" and could be an unintended liability. Might be easier to simply replace the entire unit.
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(06-14-2021, 08:32 AM)Cormanus_imp Wrote: Makes me wonder. Surely, if all that’s disintegrating is the lining, it could be replaced? Or is there disintegration in the harder structural material?
That was my first thought but I doubt there would be much saving against a new helmet if it was even possible to obtain a new lining.
Also what came to mind was how some plastic goes very brittle with age, not the same material as helmets but buckets seem to split and crack quite quickly even if not used.
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(06-14-2021, 04:12 PM)Mixagon_imp Wrote: (06-14-2021, 08:32 AM)Cormanus_imp Wrote: Makes me wonder. Surely, if all that’s disintegrating is the lining, it could be replaced? Or is there disintegration in the harder structural material?
That was my first thought but I doubt there would be much saving against a new helmet if it was even possible to obtain a new lining.
Also what came to mind was how some plastic goes very brittle with age, not the same material as helmets but buckets seem to split and crack quite quickly even if not used.
That was my first thought but I doubt there would be much saving against a new helmet if it was even possible to obtain a new lining.
Also what came to mind was how some plastic goes very brittle with age, not the same material as helmets but buckets seem to split and crack quite quickly even if not used.
Not only that, but also that for helmets, the answer will probably be "nobody knows" (except of whatever says the manufacturer of material's life expectancy)
As far as I know, old helmets are not tested, so they are not certified. Also, there are different technologies and materials used on different helmets, so there is no general answer: How fast or slow the shell will degenerate is an unknown.
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I don't think, for example, Arai fiberglass-based shells degrade. Not sure about older (and maybe current) generation polycarbonate shells though.
The other thing to consider are the rubber-based components like seals, and the vinyl wraps around the straps and mouth guard area, if applicable. I had the vinyl strap wraps crack and crumble with bits of black clinging to my mug. Again, another helmet area heavily exposed to skin protein and uric acid excretion.
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(06-14-2021, 09:37 PM)GoldOxide_imp Wrote: I don't think, for example, Arai fiberglass-based shells degrade. Not sure about older (and maybe current) generation polycarbonate shells though.
The other thing to consider are the rubber-based components like seals, and the vinyl wraps around the straps and mouth guard area, if applicable. I had the vinyl strap wraps crack and crumble with bits of black clinging to my mug. Again, another helmet area heavily exposed to skin protein and uric acid excretion.
Honestly, I don't know. Fiber glass is only part of the composite. The other part is usually epoxy resin, which is very tough.
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Well, having fully checked my other 3 helmets they are all suffering from the same under lining degrading foam with dust everywhere.
Picked out 3 choices of new helmet either 2 hjc models or 1 caberg as possible buys and went out to buy one but non of my size of any helmet in stock in my three local shops, none on line either. Its a delivery/supply problem maybe covid and brexit related.
So as temporary fix I've scraped all the old foam out and fitted new foam in one old helmet, took me 3 hours but it feels ok and I can still ride until I can get a new helmet.
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