My Giro Pneumo is probably 6-7 years old. I’m wondering what the lifetime of a never-crashed-on helmet is. I can either buy some replacement pads for the ones that are failing or get a new Atmos for about 10x that amount of $$ (lemme know if you have an unused one for sale BTW).
I’m sure the manufacturers would insist the foam breaks down over time, sun, weather, heat, etc. and that helmets should be replaced regardless of crashing or not…but what’s the concensus here for us cheapskates? Unsafe to stretch it out a few more years??
Every 3-4 years, replace it. Having been to the factories that make your helmets and seeing how it’s done, I wouldn’t go past 4 years. The “foam” does break down and doesn’t offer the same protection as it does when it’s new.
It’s your head so I would use that advice as much as you value your noggin.
I think I’ve heard somewhere that some of the bike helmet manufacturers recommend less ( I seem to recall 2-years floating around), for “heavy usage”. It would make sense - all that sweat, and time in the sun, or wild temperature swings from being in smoking hot cars, to freezing cold temps, does a number on the foam, to degrade it somewhat to a lot and thus their ability to perform optimally and protect as much as they can in a crash.
Yeah, I’m a more than a little skeptical of replacement advice given by people who have a vested interest in that advice. Of the person in an accident I’ve yet to hear, “Too bad the poor bastard wasn’t wearing a new(er) helmet.” I would happily put my ten year old helmet up against some new ones in an independent test. I realize I’ll probably get flamed on this one. “Dude it’s your f-ing head.” Feel free to get it out of your system…
I’ve been wondering the same thing. I’ve got a four year old Rudi Wingspan. I crashed last weekend at Boise. For better or worse, my body took the blow not my head. That said, the helmet is scraped and there is a pavement strike indentation in the cover that is about the size of my fist right above the left ear.
Every 3-4 years, replace it. Having been to the factories that make your helmets and seeing how it’s done, I wouldn’t go past 4 years. The “foam” does break down and doesn’t offer the same protection as it does when it’s new.
It’s your head so I would use that advice as much as you value your noggin.
I’m very curious, what was it you saw at the factories which led to your recommendation? What about the way it’s done brings you to a different conclusion than the helmets.org page cited above?
By no means am I the expert. I designed helmets for a few years. I’m simply telling you what the helmet factory engineer told me. The “styrophome” breaks down and doesn’t absorb as much impact.
All I know is he was smarter than me so I take his advice.
as others have said, replace every 4-5 years and also get a new helmet every time you get a new bike.
New bike = new colour scheme = new riding kit = new helmet.
In graduate School @ USC, I was in the school of safety & systems management. A lot of our funding came from the department run helmet crash test lab. Mostly motorcycle helmets, but we did do some work for Bell on their cycling helmets. Its well documented in lab testing that helmets made from expanded bead polystyrene (bike helmets) degrade over time with exposure to heat, UV rays and just plain old oxygen. A 5 year old helmet has about 60% of the crash impact resistance of a new helmet. (Edit - I thought my recollection was a bit high so I asked a few folks I know who are more tuned into this and I was corrected. The 60% lower impact resistance was @ 2 times standard deviation so 95% did better than that.) That being said, we all replaced our helmets every 3-4 years, never longer than that.
In graduate School @ USC, I was in the school of safety & systems management. A lot of our funding came from the department run helmet crash test lab. Mostly motorcycle helmets, but we did do some work for Bell on their cycling helmets. Its well documented in lab testing that helmets made from expanded bead polystyrene (bike helmets) degrade over time with exposure to heat, UV rays and just plain old oxygen. A 5 year old helmet has about 60% of the crash impact resistance of a new helmet. We all replaced our helmets every 3-4 years, never longer than that.
Could you provide some of these documents? The folks from MET cited on helmets.org claim 8 years showed no degradation. They provided no info on temperatures or UV exposure.
The search feature will show you this subject comes up every year. If anyone has any new actual data, please point to it. Otherwise, the experts say these fear mongers are full of crap. Snell says helmets basically last forever.
Polystyrene lasts decades. According to the Bicycle Helmet Safety Institute a helmet from the 1980’s doesn’t need replacement if it was certified to modern ASTM or Snell standards and hasn’t been crashed or show visible signs of damage. http://www.helmets.org/replace.htm
“Occasionally somebody spreads rumors that sweat and ultraviolet (UV) exposure will cause helmet degradation. Sweat will not do that. The standards do not permit manufacturers to make a helmet that degrades from sweat, and the EPS, EPP or EPU foam is remarkably unaffected by salt water. Your helmet will get a terminal case of grunge before it dies of sweat. Sunlight can affect the strength of the shell material, though. Since helmets spend a lot of time in the sun, manufacturers usually put UV inhibitors in the plastic for their shells that control UV degradation.”
Many helmets decades older than 5 years are still going strong.
Neither time nor the heat of being left in a car damage helmets substantially. EPS is a long-lived material little affected by normal environmental factors. The Snell Memorial Foundation tested helmets after 20 years and found that they still meet the original standard.
With all the lawyers involved you won’t find very much data that’s publicly available.
The failure rate is a bell curve graph. I do not prefer to be at the tail end (2+ SD) if I can help it. With wear on the buckles, straps and an occasional drop here and there, I tend to err on the side of caution.
The functional part of the helmet is made from EPS (expanded polystyrene). Being an aromatic polymer, polystyrene is very UV sensitive: basically the UV attacks the chain structure which weakens the polymer.
Here’s a chart for reference -
Replacement Interval ANSI: After impact, unless returned to manufacturer for “competent inspection” (and presumably found still sound or repaired). ASTM: After impact, unless returned to manufacturer for “competent inspection.” Australia/NZ After severe blow, but labeling to note that helmet also has a limited life in normal use. BSI: After a few years careful use, after crash, after bad knock or squashing, after badly scratched, if it does not fit any more. Canada: After severe blow. CPSC: After severe blow. Europe: After a severe blow.
**Europe-Child: **After a severe blow. Japan: After severe blow. Snell B90: Recommends replacement after 5 years, or after severe blow. Snell B95: Recommends replacement after severe blow, or after five years (or less if shorter time recommended by manufacturer). Snell N94: Recommends replacement after severe blow, or after five years (or less if shorter time recommended by manufacturer). Sweden: After violent impact.
