every 3-5 years is what I've read.

So you're saying I should probably replace my 20 year old Giro then?

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Swimming Workout of the Day:

Favourite Swim Sets:

2020 National Masters Champion - M50-54 - 50m Butterfly

I’m sure it’s fine to use. Now if you land on your head it may not be okay. But until you do land on your head I’m sure it’s fine to use.

Oh I’m sure it’s fine. That old tech is made to last /pink

I'm not planning on landing on my head, so I think I'm good to go for another 10 years at least..

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Swimming Workout of the Day:

Favourite Swim Sets:

2020 National Masters Champion - M50-54 - 50m Butterfly

Sounds like you may have already landed on your head?

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I'm closer to the feathered end of the spear than the point.

There was a recent study that collected a whole bunch of old helmets. Setting aside those with physical damage, the rest were absolutely fine.

On one hand, I'd like to believe that the 3-5 year 'rule' assumes that by that point, all helmets have picked up enough small knocks to equal a hard hit, to warrant replacement. On the other, perhaps this industry thinks it can make $ by getting people to replace their perfectly good, but old, gear...no way.

Here’s a good article

https://helmets.org/replace.htm

Met had an article (I'll try and find it and post a link) but im fairly sure that they concluded 7 or 8 years.
It was defo more than the 3-5 that is oft trotted out.

My 30 year old helmet has this hard foam on inside. I would much rather crash with the newer stuff that is more like floral foam.

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They constantly try to escape from the darkness outside and within
Dreaming of systems so perfect that no one will need to be good T.S. Eliot

Its kinda like asking how long can you leave leftovers in your fridge before you should throw it out. The "experts" will tell you 1-2 days (just to be safe), and yet you've probably eaten food after a week that was perfectly fine. You start to wonder if its some big companies calling the shots, trying to make people purchase more items more frequently or maybe its more about the "experts" not wanting to get sued. Better to be on the safe side I guess.

Sitting on shelf, I'm dubious as to how much degradation there is. So for 'race and race simulation' aero helmets then I'm expecting a long life. In reality then I've had to bin more of these than commute helmets as they have been bashed as the transition volunteers have not realised how fragile the contents are when they have been moving them around (ie throwing) after T2.

Commute helmets normally get pretty grotty and the straps / pads give up the ghost before the 8 years. Or I catch the clip in a door, or I drop it on concrete when juggling gloves, bag, cycling glasses and keys.

Where I am with my road helmet is seriously considering replacing for no obvious reason at all, other than the number of hours of sun exposure that the shell has had. Same with my motorcycle helmet where the once fluro yellow is now a really pale lemon. Reason this worries me more than the aesthetics is that loads of plastic furniture, hardware and other stuff around the place that's been outside in the sun has gone really brittle with exposure, and I'm not confident it's a risk worth taking. NZ$400 for a replacement is not to be sniffed at, but in the grand scheme of things (2 months coaching, 4 physio sessions, 10 weeks training gels) then as a consumable that helmet has easily given value over the last 5 years.

While I replace a helmet every 3 to 4 years it really depends on how your helmet is treated.

Used almost every ride, 3 to 4 years. Sitting inside and used only for races, a bit longer.

With that said, a number of years ago I gave 3 old helmets to a friend that worked with Bell. They wanted old helmets to test and asked me for a short history on each helmet. The youngest one was 3 years old and the oldest was about 7. They all passed.

Yup.

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http://www.jt10000.com/

I didn't plan to land on my head at any point either.

June 20th, 2016 I replaced my 12 year old Girl helmet with a new Kask.

June 21st 2016 I was hit by a car while on a ride. From what I'm told, I basically did a swan dive at 30 miles per hour into the pavement.

I woke up about 4 hours later after a helicopter ride to the trauma center and a bunch of cat scans etc.
Bad concussion, broken bones in my face and tons of road rash.

I am pretty sure replacing my helmet saves my life.

From what I have been told now, the foam in helmets degrades over time and becomes more brittle and less absorbent of shock.

A couple hundred bucks is a low price to pay for what they can do in my opinion.