Video: When Does Your Helmet Go From Functioning To Failure? | Pinkbike Weekly Show Ep. 13
This week on the Pinkbike Weekly Show, Christina and Henry catch you up on the latest news stories, including team changes and tech. Then they touch on the Pinkbike Podcast episode where the guys talk about their dream bikes, and round it off with Recreational Wrecks, aka helmet lifespans, and 2 Min of Tech where Henry shares his current bike in for long-term testing.
0:18 - Latest News
3:21 - Pinkbike Podcast, tech editors edition
5:42 - Recreational Wrecks
8:53 - 2 Min of Tech
Let us know what your dream bike was when you first go into mountain biking or even what you're drooling over now!
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link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10439-017-1842-4
To quote the abstract:
"The age-related differences were also less than the variability observed between different helmets after accounting for style, size and certification effects. These findings mean that bicycle helmets (up to 26-year-old traditional helmets and 13-year-old BMX helmets) do not lose their ability to attenuate impacts with age"
AKA, you will see greater difference in the performance of different styles of helmet than the difference attributed to aging.
My take, if the helmet shows no signs of degradation AND has not had significant impacts, it hasn't gotten much worse than it was when you bought it. It's possible the performance of an old helmet was just not very good to start with and upgrading to newer would yield better saety..
There should be some real world testing of helmets from 3,5, and 10yrs ago, properly used, to today's standards, to take the guessing out.
Helmets I bought often were 2-3yrs old when I bought them new - sat in a shop on a shelf or whatever. If they would degrade so fast that they wouldnt protect after 5yrs, then I would have to bin them every 2yrs - with new helmets around 100 - 250€ this is unrealistic.
Interestingly, an independent testing unit (think it was in Austraila) did a lab test of brand new, 5 year, 10 year and 15 year old used harnesses - and could not find any degradation whatsoever.
I'm a lot more worried about mech sloppiness. Dropping it on the floor, scuffing with tools, cleaning with solvents etc. All of those can degrade the gear just as much as a crash. For MTB, I change my lids every 2-3 years if no crashes. I do have a full face which is 5 years now, but I've worn it 5-6 times and never bumped it. I still think it offers better protection than a brand new XC helmet.
Seen my share of tech inspectors obsessing over date stamps, not giving a lot of attention to other far more potentially serious issues.
- I keep my helmets 2-3 years (Daily Driver), if a mayor crash happens the is done.
- I have a DH that is 5 yrs old only used occasionally.
- When I started riding in 2015, I drool over the SC bronson in a tennis green
Pointing downhill the suspension advantages may or may not make you faster.
Sprinting has the gearbox at a disadvantage as friction increases the faster you pedal . But for normal riding does the difference make a difference.??
For some, the low cost and ease of maintenance will make a big difference. And will be more appealing now a non grip twist shift is available.