Cyber Greg

My old helmet is starting to hurt my neck due to the weight. Looking to buy something in Carbon Fiber like the Simpson Carbon Fiber Devil Ray SA2010 Racing Helmet. This seems like a decent priced helmet and at less than 3 lbs I know my neck will appreciate it a lot. Any other suggestions? Thanks!

63Corvette

http://www.saferacer.com/auto-racing-helmets

FAUEE

If you want to spend a whole lot of money, by all means go for it. I'd check out Stilo if you'd like to spend even more money, Bell also has some great carbon fiber models as well.

I use an HJC Si-12, it's a carbon and Kevlar hybrid, and extremely light, while being MUCH cheaper than a full carbon fiber helmet. The story I'd always heard was basically they just don't make the stuff pretty, and use Kevlar in some areas, so they cover it all up and it's cheaper. I'm very happy with it, it's super light and they can be had very reasonably. My father has a much more expensive OMP that is not carbon fiber or special at all, and he is continually jealous of mine.

The biggest complaint I have with mine is the padding and such isn't removable to wash/replace. A guy I track with has been using this same helmet for 4ish years and his is starting to wear out. He's on the track multiple weekends a month, and instructs as well, so his helmet sees a good amount of wear.

HJC also makes a full exposed carbon fiber version. I tried both on and the Si fit my head better, and frankly felt just as light. The specs say it is slightly heavier than the carbon fiber one, but my neck couldn't tell.

skxf430

I would recommend trying a number of different helmets on at a shop. Each manufacturer fits different from one to another.

Since you are in Los Angeles, I would go and visit a shop like Subesports or Werks II. They are fairly close and have a number of different helmets to try on. Simpson has a showroom in Torrance so you can try them as well.

There are a wide variety of makes like Arai, Stand 21, Stilo, Bell, Simpson, etc. and they come in all different budgets. Get what fits best for you and your budget.

SouthernSon

I have the Devil Ray and like it but a friend showed me the Stilo that has integrated mic and earphones complete with sound deadening muffs that is the Cat's meow. Expensive, for sure, but if you need earphones/mic and sound suppression, it is hard to beat.

Cyber Greg

Good food for thought gentlemen, thank you.
Sparco has a model with a removable liner. I'll check that one out too.

rocsvette

I too have an HJC carbon-Kevlar helmet and same problem especially the cheek pads which I just had replaced. I may start wearing a balaclava to reduce the wear on the new pads. Other than that I really like the light weight.

chetly

I have the Carbon Devil Ray also. I ordered it with ear cups. Its an option if your dealer calls Simpson. $60 I think. I was also looking at some Bell carbon helmets but all they were was a fiberglass shell with a carbon overlay. Not full carbon like the Simpson. Not any lighter than their fiberglass models either and didn't fit my head like the Simpson.

Either way, like others have said, best thing to do is to try on multiple different helmets and see what fits best.

Cyber Greg

My current helmet is an HJC but it is HEAVY. I see they also have an all carbon model that weighs in at 3.0 lbs. I always wear a balaclava, I even wear a skull cap with my mountain bike helmet, but it still gets sweaty.
Thanks for your reply.

Bill Dearborn

Going to a shop that has a selection of various products is the best thing to do. They all have to be tried on for fit and to make sure they will stay on your head when the **** hits the fan. A large from one supplier may fit well while a medium from a different supplier may fit equally as well.


If the shop owner/clerk is knowledgeable they should be able to help you get one that fits correctly. Look at Impact helmets as well. Impact is the company that is now owned by Bill Simpson. The lower priced helmets come in small, medium and large while the higher priced helmets come in regular hat sizes.


Bill

63Corvette

In addition to the above.....................I would recommend that if you intend to wear a balaclava, then by all means wear the balacalva to test the helmet!!!
If possible, set out an hour or so to test wear your proposed helmet purchase, by going to a store and reading a magazine or book for an hour. The helmet should fit tightly enough to NOT turn on impact, but not so tight that it is painful to wear

Werks

+1 on the issue with the padding not being removable with mine too. Have recently read though that there has been a rolling production change and that the version shipping now does have replaceable padding Thinking about picking up another one just for that as they are great helmets!

FASTFATBOY

http://blackarmorhelmets.com/

rfn026

Here's an article I wrote about helmets last year.

Keep in mind that spending more money doesn't get you a safer helmet. More money though will get you a much lighter helmet.

Richard Newton

Bad Karma

I'm using a G-Force Carbon Fiber helmet, a few hundred bucks, it's light and has HANS attachment points.

Helmet is one things you definitely want to try on before buy, and perhaps after. My buddy actually bought one and was deciding between two sizes, he went with the smaller one. He smartly wore the helmet for a while after getting home (his daughters got a kick out of this) and found that after a while the smaller size put too much pressure on the side of his head and gave him a headache. Thankfully he did this and was able to go back and return it right away and get one that fit him better.

21STCENTURYMUSCLECAR

.

Stilo all the way and I have used about every brand out there. You might try the non carbon model and buy an inexpensive Alpinestars neck roll

Works like a champ for me and my sore neck

Shrek

I'm not sold on CF!

My wife's carbon fiber bucket after a crash at VIR on Turkey Day weekend. Out lap with cold tires/cold track exiting turn 6 where speeds are not that high, comparatively speeking to the rest of VIR. But the tire wall is right there!

Vertical and horizintal crack on the back side. The vertical fracture is right on the molded ridge contour.

Mild concussion!

Cyber Greg

It looks like the helmet did its job to me by absorbing the hit and not transferring the energy of that hit to your wife's head.. If she hit hard enough to cause a concussion then she hit pretty hard. Are you thinking the helmet should not have cracked under that level of hit or that it should have saved your wife from a concussion?

Cyber Greg

Good idea! Thanks!

Cyber Greg

Very good article Richard. Thank you for posting.