Full face helmet advice
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 952
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From: Morgantown,WV USA
Full face helmet advice
Gang,
Are all full face helmets approximately the same size? For example, Does a 7 3/8 size Bell full face helmet the same have the same exterior dimentions as another brand in the same size?
I had to replace my old Snell M85 helmet with a newer model (can not recall the brand name.) and it seems to be much larger than the old one. Head room in the car may be an issue.
Silly question- but I would appreciate any advice on this.
Dan
Are all full face helmets approximately the same size? For example, Does a 7 3/8 size Bell full face helmet the same have the same exterior dimentions as another brand in the same size?
I had to replace my old Snell M85 helmet with a newer model (can not recall the brand name.) and it seems to be much larger than the old one. Head room in the car may be an issue.
Silly question- but I would appreciate any advice on this.
Dan
Race Director
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 15,344
Likes: 4,009
From: Texas
They're pretty close in size, but they'll vary a bit. On a full face, it's the face part that will vary based on shape and accessories (cooling vents, aero devices for the open wheel guys, etc)
My guess is that your previous helmet was so old the foam was degraded/crushed and therefore the helmet sat lower. FWIW, I have to tilt my seat back a little to fit. You're 3" taller than me so I'd think you'll have to do the same thing.
My guess is that your previous helmet was so old the foam was degraded/crushed and therefore the helmet sat lower. FWIW, I have to tilt my seat back a little to fit. You're 3" taller than me so I'd think you'll have to do the same thing.
Instructor
Joined: Sep 2004
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Originally Posted by RedZR
Gang,
Are all full face helmets approximately the same size? For example, Does a 7 3/8 size Bell full face helmet the same have the same exterior dimentions as another brand in the same size?
I had to replace my old Snell M85 helmet with a newer model (can not recall the brand name.) and it seems to be much larger than the old one. Head room in the car may be an issue.
Silly question- but I would appreciate any advice on this.
Dan
Are all full face helmets approximately the same size? For example, Does a 7 3/8 size Bell full face helmet the same have the same exterior dimentions as another brand in the same size?
I had to replace my old Snell M85 helmet with a newer model (can not recall the brand name.) and it seems to be much larger than the old one. Head room in the car may be an issue.
Silly question- but I would appreciate any advice on this.
Dan
The current snell 00 (soon to be 05) ratings require the helmet to absorb much higher impact than the older 85 standard did. The newer helmets do this by using a thicker styrofoam liner which permanently crushes in an impact. This means that in general a helmet that meets the newer standard is going to have a larger external size than an older helmet.
That said, different helmet manufacturers go about sizing their helmets differently so all 7 3/8 helmets are not the same size. For example, two manufacturers may make helmets in Medium, Large, and X-Large. The first manufacturer makes only one shell and styrofoam liner in X-Large and for the Large and Medium sizes use thicker soft padding to make up the difference. In this case the Medium and X-Large helmets will have the same external dimensions. Another helmet manufacturer may actually make a unique shell and styrofoam liner size for Medium, Large, and X-Large so the Medium will have smaller outer dimensions than the X-Large.
The challenge is finding someplace that has helmets in stock from several manufacturers that you can try to find the one that fits and gives you the most head room. I don't believe that many (if any at all) publish their helmets external dimensions.
Cheers,
Lawrence
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 952
Likes: 0
From: Morgantown,WV USA
Full face helmet advice Reply to Thread
Originally Posted by TrackDayLT4
The current snell 00 (soon to be 05) ratings require the helmet to absorb much higher impact than the older 85 standard did. The newer helmets do this by using a thicker styrofoam liner which permanently crushes in an impact. This means that in general a helmet that meets the newer standard is going to have a larger external size than an older helmet.
That said, different helmet manufacturers go about sizing their helmets differently so all 7 3/8 helmets are not the same size. For example, two manufacturers may make helmets in Medium, Large, and X-Large. The first manufacturer makes only one shell and styrofoam liner in X-Large and for the Large and Medium sizes use thicker soft padding to make up the difference. In this case the Medium and X-Large helmets will have the same external dimensions. Another helmet manufacturer may actually make a unique shell and styrofoam liner size for Medium, Large, and X-Large so the Medium will have smaller outer dimensions than the X-Large.
The challenge is finding someplace that has helmets in stock from several manufacturers that you can try to find the one that fits and gives you the most head room. I don't believe that many (if any at all) publish their helmets external dimensions.
Cheers,
Lawrence
That said, different helmet manufacturers go about sizing their helmets differently so all 7 3/8 helmets are not the same size. For example, two manufacturers may make helmets in Medium, Large, and X-Large. The first manufacturer makes only one shell and styrofoam liner in X-Large and for the Large and Medium sizes use thicker soft padding to make up the difference. In this case the Medium and X-Large helmets will have the same external dimensions. Another helmet manufacturer may actually make a unique shell and styrofoam liner size for Medium, Large, and X-Large so the Medium will have smaller outer dimensions than the X-Large.
The challenge is finding someplace that has helmets in stock from several manufacturers that you can try to find the one that fits and gives you the most head room. I don't believe that many (if any at all) publish their helmets external dimensions.
Cheers,
Lawrence
Dan
