Sharp Helmet Test Results

[RodH]

Originally Posted by Douglas

Sorry RodH, but I think you are far too willing to believe and defend anything that the Arai marketing department........

Gosh Douglas what an imaginative reply .............actually I'm not that willing to believe or defend anything marketing departments feed me, and neither have I said anything that suggests that I am............but neither am I willing to believe everything that governemnt departments feed me

[Cess pit]

Well said Herb
Both MCN and RIDE mag have carried out thier own tests over the years and the top branded makes..inc ARAI were consistently considered the safest.

The Gov still insist that 35% of accidents are caused by speeding above the limit, in spite of their own evidence to the contrary. Why should I have faith in a test programme they sponser. (I still believe there is some ulterior motive).
I'll stick by my own experience and the endorsement of the racing industry thank you very much.

[andyrh]

And I thought the only important factor with a lid was

"does this lid make me look like a speed god"

As far as I am concerned I cannot believe a professional rider would wear a lid based on the big bucks he would get paid regardless of the quality of manufacture.

The likes of Aria, Suomy, AGV & Shoei do support the race scene and therefore incur significant cost, which will be reflected in the price use punters pay. But of course the major cost element in any helmet will be the R+D in the construction and design.

So would I wear a £60 plastic construction helmet that maybe has £24 worth of R+D

No!

But that's my choice.

[biglockie]

As a first time helmet buyer reading all of the post here and the articles on the net and in MCN it has become confusing when trying to select which helmet to purchase, But i did take once piece of advice from a friend who has been riding for over 14years, go for the best fit and the most you can afford, I did this and eventually settled on the Shark RSR2, which by chance achieved five stas in the sharp test, its all become very confusing in the helmet selection process and I feel this may be how other riders just starting out liek myself may feel, the test is showing certain lids have five stars and this is to be used as a guide then there are others saying that the tests are no good. What do we do????????

[lokyc]

A standardised test in principle is good. However, the test itself has to be validated. The motives behind SHARP are admirable. The test itself however is far from perfect. MCN a couple of weeks gave a good and balanced view about it. Main thing is that manufacturers should work with authorities to refine the test rather than rubbish it outright. and the government should involve the manufacturers in developing these tests. After all, it is true that all the big brands have been studying and researching helmet development for all these years.

One observation was that the 5 star helmets tend to have a deeper chin guard which obscures peripheral vision. So while it was safer if crushed, its actually safer not to be in an accident caused by impaired vision/discomfort in the first place. The commenst from an ex-Arai engineer make sense too. The Sharp test looks at side impact, which may not represent real-world impact in a crash. Else Dainese and Alpinestars would not be developing airbags which protect mainly the shoulders and neck.

Also, the Sharp test does not test what happens to the head of the wearer, unlike Euro NCAP which uses crash dummies to check damage etc. Rigidity is not the last word in protection. The key here is energy transfer. A rigid shell transmits energy to the contents inside. For a shell to be protective, it has to dissipate this energy as well as prevent intrusion. Hence in cars, there are crumple zones to absorb the shock and a rigid passenger shell to prevent intrusion. Look at Robert Kubica's horrific crash earlier this season (or was it last season). The nose cone, wheels and everything gets stripped away but the carbon fibre driver seat unit remains intact. Not a scratch.

Verdict's out there, but my Arai really fits well. Better than my old AGV. The venting's better, so the visor doesn't mist so much. Build quality overall is better. and i can wear sunglasses!