To further explain the Bell/Giro aero helmet position, this is an email I received from Bell on their safety standards.
[quote]Dear _______,
Thank you for your e-mail. I wanted to write to you to in regards to your inquiry about the article in Cycling Plus. First of all, we thought it was a great article, and we appreciate the work the author put into it to educate people about helmets and head protection.
The author of the article expressed concerns that as the Snell standard is no longer commonly used, consumers are now at a greater risk as the quality and conformity of helmets is no longer watched by an independent body. I would like to explain why Bell Sports, owners of the Bell and Giro helmet brands, certify our helmets to the CE standard, why we no longer use the Snell standard and then take you through the steps, processes and procedures we have undertaken to ensure our helmets strictly conform to the standards.
Bell and Giro helmets are certified to the CE standard as it is required by law. If one of our helmets is certified to Snell, but not CE we could not sell it in the UK or Europe. While we feel CE is a good standard, in some cases we go beyond what the CE standard requires. For example, we require that our visors meet requirements in material properties, shape, etc. We have a team of employees who focus on nothing but helmet safety and manufacturing compliance. We also participate and fund studies by outside scientists to learn more about how brains are injured, and how helmets can reduce threats not yet addressed by standards.
I would like to offer a correction to the article which we have contacted the author about. The CE bike standard is not a self certifying standard. Each helmet model must pass the CE certification administered by an independent lab (BSI in the UK and TUV in Germany are the two Bell and Giro use) who then issues a certificate to the manufacturer.
Bell no longer uses the Snell certification with its helmets. Snell is a great group of people and has served and continues to serve a great roll. But the Snell standard is a policing body rather than a quality control body. Helmets are typically in the market 6 - 12 months before they are tested by Snell. We stopped using Snell as we did not believe that the certification added to the safety of Bell helmets. We believe our own 3 test labs and the six independent test labs we use to verify our results, offer the best security that our helmets are consistently designed and manufactured. To ensure our helmets are manufactured to meet the appropriate standards, we have the following -
- 6 independent labs to confirm our testing.
- Helmet testing personnel included in our design and manufacturing process.
- We have set up our test labs and trained our manufacturers on how to test helmets. Labs are constantly reviewed by our staff.
- Bell's QC team process checks the quality and conformity of our helmets at the manufacturer and at Bell's own labs, before they are shipped to customers and enter the market place.
- We even test individual component batches, for example helmet webbing, to ensure they pass the internal standards .
While the Snell certification has served a great roll in the bicycle helmet industry, no study has ever shown that a Snell certified helmet protects the wearer better than any other standard.
Bell Sports has been manufacturing helmets for over 50 years and throughout our history we have been dedicated to improving the safety of helmets. I can assure you even in today's tough market environment we still take helmet safety very seriously. Each year we test over ten thousand helmets to ensure they meet the appropriate standard. These helmets are randomly pulled from production and are not special builds. Bell has developed additional internal safety standards. No other helmet manufacturer has as much bicycle helmet expertise and spends as much time and money on bicycle helmet safety as Bell.
Sincerely [/quote]
[quote]Dear _______,
Thank you for your e-mail. I wanted to write to you to in regards to your inquiry about the article in Cycling Plus. First of all, we thought it was a great article, and we appreciate the work the author put into it to educate people about helmets and head protection.
The author of the article expressed concerns that as the Snell standard is no longer commonly used, consumers are now at a greater risk as the quality and conformity of helmets is no longer watched by an independent body. I would like to explain why Bell Sports, owners of the Bell and Giro helmet brands, certify our helmets to the CE standard, why we no longer use the Snell standard and then take you through the steps, processes and procedures we have undertaken to ensure our helmets strictly conform to the standards.
Bell and Giro helmets are certified to the CE standard as it is required by law. If one of our helmets is certified to Snell, but not CE we could not sell it in the UK or Europe. While we feel CE is a good standard, in some cases we go beyond what the CE standard requires. For example, we require that our visors meet requirements in material properties, shape, etc. We have a team of employees who focus on nothing but helmet safety and manufacturing compliance. We also participate and fund studies by outside scientists to learn more about how brains are injured, and how helmets can reduce threats not yet addressed by standards.
I would like to offer a correction to the article which we have contacted the author about. The CE bike standard is not a self certifying standard. Each helmet model must pass the CE certification administered by an independent lab (BSI in the UK and TUV in Germany are the two Bell and Giro use) who then issues a certificate to the manufacturer.
Bell no longer uses the Snell certification with its helmets. Snell is a great group of people and has served and continues to serve a great roll. But the Snell standard is a policing body rather than a quality control body. Helmets are typically in the market 6 - 12 months before they are tested by Snell. We stopped using Snell as we did not believe that the certification added to the safety of Bell helmets. We believe our own 3 test labs and the six independent test labs we use to verify our results, offer the best security that our helmets are consistently designed and manufactured. To ensure our helmets are manufactured to meet the appropriate standards, we have the following -
- 6 independent labs to confirm our testing.
- Helmet testing personnel included in our design and manufacturing process.
- We have set up our test labs and trained our manufacturers on how to test helmets. Labs are constantly reviewed by our staff.
- Bell's QC team process checks the quality and conformity of our helmets at the manufacturer and at Bell's own labs, before they are shipped to customers and enter the market place.
- We even test individual component batches, for example helmet webbing, to ensure they pass the internal standards .
While the Snell certification has served a great roll in the bicycle helmet industry, no study has ever shown that a Snell certified helmet protects the wearer better than any other standard.
Bell Sports has been manufacturing helmets for over 50 years and throughout our history we have been dedicated to improving the safety of helmets. I can assure you even in today's tough market environment we still take helmet safety very seriously. Each year we test over ten thousand helmets to ensure they meet the appropriate standard. These helmets are randomly pulled from production and are not special builds. Bell has developed additional internal safety standards. No other helmet manufacturer has as much bicycle helmet expertise and spends as much time and money on bicycle helmet safety as Bell.
Sincerely [/quote]