5 year helmet replacement scam(?)

[abeer]

I highly doubt I am the only one who is a bit annoyed by the Snell and Helmet manufacturers agreement to promote all helmets be replaced after 5 years. Anyone here like me who dug up an old helmet from early 2000 and poked around?

Cheek pads and liner, certainly a bit funky... but the shell? PRISTINE! The EPS? FLAWLESS! No cracks, just as firm as my 2013 Schuberth or 2014 Bell. I really don't like the flagrant conflict of interest going on with a safety rating organization backing the 'research' of a helmet manufacturer who stands to gain immensely by everyone buying new helmets every 5 years.

Pisses me off actually. Knowing full well it's a load of crap. If the UV coating was really going off after 5 years, the paint would fade. If you sweat enough or wear makeup that eats away at an EPS liner, you are probably one of these...



Has anyone heard of any REAL research into the question of helmet life span?


edit: By the way, I realize I sound pretty snarky and sure of my self on this. I assure you, I am just skeptical. And would happily accept valid (UN-BIASSED) research into the lifespan of materials like EPS foam liners and composite shells.

The best I can find...

Motorcycle Helmet FAQ - webBikeWorld

[Garandman]

I have a Shoei I bought in 1985. It was stored 1990 to 2005. I wear it on occasion (it's at a remote office) and don't think a thing about it. I crashed a Shoei in 2007 and replaced it, and replaced the next one after five years because it was beat up.

The same argument likely obtains as for the different helmet standards: there is no discernible difference between different helmet standards in actual crash data. In other words, based on actual accidents no one can prove that Snell is better or worse than DOT, ECE, or SHARP [British] certification.

All that said, I look at it from the completely opposite perspective. Compared to even the most minor hospital visit, protective gear and helmets are so cheap you are crazy not to avail yourself of them. I got hit by a car in 2007 while wearing $400 Daytona RoadStar boots. I had a sprained ankle and just the phyiscal therapy for that and my knee was a few thousand. I'd just replaced some cheaper boots with the RoadStars and a broken ankle or worse might have been the result.

[Stromper]

I don't listen to the safety nannys

I roll over a shoei about every 7 years, I was the whole thing in shampoo about once a year

The real thing is WTF is 2 pounds of plastic worth $600 or more

[Chippertheripper]

The high density stuff compacts with wear and helmets loosen over time, regardless of uv Rays, or crashing or not. So if you actually wear a helmet, it's a good idea to replace it.

[Kurlon]

Sweat breaks down the eps in the same way it'll trash leather over time. As it dries it crystalizes, those crystals cut up whatever they're riding in.

[Garandman]

Sweat breaks down the eps in the same way it'll trash leather over time. As it dries it crystalizes, those crystals cut up whatever they're riding in.

On a helmet with a removable, washable liner?

It's a total CYA. No organization is going to risk going against the certifying agencies.

[Kurlon]

You think the sweat stops politely at the removable liner?

[Chippertheripper]

I don't see the salt doing that much damage. Squashing your melon in and out of said helmet on the other hand, and strapping it in tightly...

[abeer]

I am not sure I buy the crystallized sweat argument. If that were true, helmets used for jet ski races would be getting tossed every week.

The one I DO buy is the compression issue. The more you use your helmet, the more it wears in (and out). The shell gets flexed over and over, and the EPS maybe gets slowly more and more squished. VERY Slowly.

But saying 5 years arbitrarily seems overzealous based on the technology and materials.

I too subscribe to the "Cheap insurance" mantra though. No doubt, it's always better to be safe than sorry. But that is what is so infuriating about it. Without an objective 3rd party source doing any research, all we have to go on is the word of the guys who stand to profit from the shortest possible lifespan of a helmet.

[R7]

I know when I was riding/racing every weekend/every chance I got, my helmets needed replacing before the 5 year mark. Not from abuse and lack of cleaning, they just got loose and didn't fit properly over time. Even with an Arai, you can only pull the liners out and wash them so many times before the snaps start to loosen up. I have in the past and always will replace them as needed, not by some time frame dictated by others...but it's usually less than the 5 years of use mark

[sedanman]

If you ever bring your car to a dragstrip you'll love the seatbelt logic as well. Factory installed seatbelts are good for life. Aftermarket SFI approved seatbelts expire in 5 years.

[cdovego]

haha, the jig is up! abeer does not abide!

[Pittenger5]

And oil change places recommend 3000 mile oil changes. Manufacturers recommend ~7000. Most racers change it after every weekend or two. Its a scam!

Make your own decisions based on risk/reward

[TheIglu]

Spends $16k+ on Multistrada, complains about spending a few hundred every 5 years on a helmet.

[xrocket21]

Kind of related, I went to my first track day after years of auto-x where I used some 3 point harnesses which were out of date. I was worried that I would get crap about them at the track day, even though I didn't intend to use them. Instead, my instructor went on a rant about how strong belts like that are, and with no visible damage, there really was no way harnesses were no good after a few years and how he thought the whole thing was a scam to sell more harnesses. I agreed.

[nick5446]

I work for a major motorcycle helmet manufacturer...long story short, it's 90% a lawyer issue, 10% an actual issue. Sweat, UV, heat cycles and wear and tear all do their part to break down the components of your helmet (mostly the glues and resins) and eventually make it less safe. If you had the same impact to your head in a brand new Shoei and a 15 year old Shoei, the forces your head would feel would be 99.999% the same. Can't say the same for an off-brand helmet.

Peace of mind is worth something though.

[PhilB]

I do replace my helmet about every 5 years, on the general principle of wear and being on the safe side. But I also use my helmet more than most -- I ride daily for as much riding season I can get in, and am doing about 17K a year these days. That's a lot of helmet time.

PhilB

[aldend123]

So is it a bell curve, where maybe 70% of helmets are fine well beyond 5 years (lets say 15 or 20). But to achieve 0% failure rate, even for those helmets that see unusually harsh conditions, it becomes maybe 6-7 years. And no helmet manufacture is sad to take another year off the top for another standard deviation of safety-and-profit?

[scottieducati]

[RandyO]

I've said it before and I will say it again, I don't believe helmet life has anything to do with age, it is completely a mileage or use issue,

if you ride 75,000 miles a year, you can easily wear a helmet out in a year, if you ride 500 miles a year a helmet can last 20 years or more

[nick5446]

I've said it before and I will say it again, I don't believe helmet life has anything to do with age, it is completely a mileage or use issue,

if you ride 75,000 miles a year, you can easily wear a helmet out in a year, if you ride 500 miles a year a helmet can last 20 years or more

I'm not a safety nut or going to tell you what to do, but that's just not true.

[caloots]

if aliens played hockey, would they need to wear a helmet and 2 mouth guards?

[Stromper]

You also produce oils from glands in your skin which may compromise the EPS

Some more than others, damn PC , no more obvious jokes

[markbvt]

I do replace my helmet about every 5 years, on the general principle of wear and being on the safe side. But I also use my helmet more than most -- I ride daily for as much riding season I can get in, and am doing about 17K a year these days. That's a lot of helmet time.

+1 -- about 20k/year for me. I got a new Shark helmet two years ago, and while it's still in great shape (aside from some sun-faded paint), I'm already thinking that it might be time to replace it next winter when this season's helmets go on closeout. It already fits looser now than it did when it was new.

--mark

[RandyO]

You also produce oils from glands in your skin which may compromise the EPS

Some more than others, damn PC , no more obvious jokes

a balaclava will protect the EPS from exposure to sweat & body oils , ultraviolet light never hits the inside of a helmet, and most people don't store their helmet in a closet with caustic fumes

a helmet rarely worn rarely has compressive forces