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Does your helmet fit correctly?

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sickpup
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PostPosted: 10:31 - 15 Sep 2017    Post subject: Does your helmet fit correctly? Reply with quote

Just picked up a new Arai Chaser x to replace my Chaser Samurai and was surprised that after 25 years of wearing Arais they have changed the shell sizes so I now need an XL not a L.
I need to give it time to settle in but may have to get a 12mm interior and 25mm cheek pads to get the perfect fit which made me think about helmet sizing.
Arai believe that around 90% of riders use a helmet that is too big for them so how many of you have a helmet that doesn't fit?

Symptoms include the helmet rising at speed, being able to rotate your head to any degree inside the helmet etc.
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rpsmith79
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PostPosted: 10:41 - 15 Sep 2017    Post subject: Reply with quote

I had a nightmare finding a helmet that fitted my weird shaped head, when i first started riding earlier this year, i was using a unnamed helmet i bought a few years back for doing trackdays in my old Celica, but that was only ever short stints on track, and wearing it for anything longer than about 30 mins give me headaches, so i went to a CMC in Chesterfield and had one of their sales staff fit me for a helmet, we tried on about a dozen different helmets from many different brands and in various sizes, and the only one that fitted and felt snug with no pressure applied to my forehead was a Shard SKWAL/D-SKWAL

As a 2nd opinion i went to a different shop and got the same result, albeit using a smaller but different range of helmets

I was shocked at how different all the different brands were (and how different same brand/different models were), both in fitment and in sizing, some brands XL was the perfect size, some L, and some XL's i couldn't even get my head through the opening

So i am pretty confident i have a correct fitting helmet, but my choices are fairly limited due to my oddly shaped noggin
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thx1138
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PostPosted: 10:43 - 15 Sep 2017    Post subject: Reply with quote

depends on helmet, and my current hair cut

If I shave my head, which I normally do, I often wear a tight fitting beanie hat under my helmet

Got one helmet that is 8 years old, and I probably ought not to use, but I still do sometimes, as it's the only one with a pin lock
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Wonko The Sane
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PostPosted: 10:47 - 15 Sep 2017    Post subject: Reply with quote

I probably should replace my cheek pads
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Landy10
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PostPosted: 11:16 - 15 Sep 2017    Post subject: Reply with quote

I find that only AGV really fit my head, HJC is close but in XL which I need it feels a smidge loose compared to the AGV.
Currently wearing the gt veloce and its like riding in widescreen compared to the others, that extra 15 degrees peripheral makes a huge difference Shocked
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Baffler186
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PostPosted: 11:26 - 15 Sep 2017    Post subject: Reply with quote

I made sure mine was "too small" when it was new. After about 18 months I still can't chew gum whilst wearing it without biting the inside of my cheeks. It's only when I put my old one on that I realised how sloppy it had got and I probably should have changed it a year or two earlier
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Rogerborg
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PostPosted: 12:11 - 15 Sep 2017    Post subject: Re: Does your helmet fit correctly? Reply with quote

sickpup wrote:
I now need an XL not a L.

All that workshop karma has gone to your head.
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sickpup
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PostPosted: 12:21 - 15 Sep 2017    Post subject: Re: Does your helmet fit correctly? Reply with quote

Rogerborg wrote:
All that workshop karma has gone to your head.


Only slightly, I need the thicker pads Wink
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Val
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PostPosted: 12:23 - 15 Sep 2017    Post subject: Re: Does your helmet fit correctly? Reply with quote

sickpup wrote:

Symptoms include the helmet rising at speed, being able to rotate your head to any degree inside the helmet etc.


Way past fitting if you have any of these IMO

The fit should be snug. So snug you can't put a finger between padding on your forehead. You also need to feel there is no free space on top of your head or cheeks.

Different brands do different shapes. My head is mostly Shoei/Xlite shape.
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notabikeranym...
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PostPosted: 13:35 - 15 Sep 2017    Post subject: Reply with quote

Used to have an incorrectly sized helmet before, too big, could move my head a lot inside the helmet and didn't even realise this was a bad thing.

Now I have a new helmet, and at first it would squish my face somewhat uncomfortably. After breaking it in for months it's comfortable and the pressure points I had before have disappeared and I cant move my head inside the helmet at all, sort of feels "part of my head" if that makes sense and is no longer uncomfortable but is firm.

I guess the same is true of leathers... Or any bike gear for that matter.

If the size is right it'll be a bit too tight, and once its broken in it should fit comfortably.
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Evil Hans
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PostPosted: 14:34 - 15 Sep 2017    Post subject: Reply with quote

Meef wrote:

If the size is right it'll be a bit too tight, and once its broken in it should fit comfortably.


^ This is what I've found. If a new helmet feels comfortable, then it probably doesn't fit.
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MCN
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PostPosted: 18:02 - 15 Sep 2017    Post subject: Reply with quote

90% of people Aria market researched said..... Smile

That is a massive estimate. I would have thought 50% unreasonable.

I have never bought a helmet and the guy/gal not ensured it fitted me properly.

(And I know who to fit a helmet.)

Unless the 90% is made of of people who buy on-line and don't have a Scooby what a correct fit is.
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sickpup
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PostPosted: 19:26 - 15 Sep 2017    Post subject: Reply with quote

MCN wrote:
90% of people Aria market researched said..... Smile


This was in a Jay Leno's garage episode and the chap from Arai was talking about people who approached an Arai stand who already owned an Arai crash helmet so was more than likely true.
He also ssuggested that it was the shops fault with lack of training because as soon as someone says 'this one is fine' they have a sale so no not due to online sales.
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RhynoCZ
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PostPosted: 19:31 - 15 Sep 2017    Post subject: Re: Does your helmet fit correctly? Reply with quote

sickpup wrote:
I need the thicker pads Wink


You're a real bleeder, huh? Thinking
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Last edited by RhynoCZ on 20:36 - 15 Sep 2017; edited 1 time in total
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c_dug
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PostPosted: 19:54 - 15 Sep 2017    Post subject: Reply with quote

I've been through half a dozen or so lids since I started riding, and must have tried over 50 on by now from all of the major brands, in various shops and trade stands. I've still never found a helmet that feels like it fits properly, or is comfortable for any decent length of time.

Genuinely got an odd shaped head.
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The Shaggy D.A.
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PostPosted: 21:20 - 15 Sep 2017    Post subject: Reply with quote

My lid is marked L, my head circumference is 59cm. HJC state that L is 59-60cm, and it does feel "undersnug". I guess if I had a balaclava it'd be spot on.
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chickenstrip
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PostPosted: 21:25 - 15 Sep 2017    Post subject: Reply with quote

The Shaggy D.A. wrote:
My lid is marked L


Are you sure you're not just putting a Lidl carrier bag on your head?
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The Shaggy D.A.
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PostPosted: 21:29 - 15 Sep 2017    Post subject: Reply with quote

Come to think of it, it is quite noisy at speed...
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NJD
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PostPosted: 22:33 - 15 Sep 2017    Post subject: Re: Does your helmet fit correctly? Reply with quote

sickpup wrote:
Arai believe that around 90% of riders use a helmet that is too big for them so how many of you have a helmet that doesn't fit?


I have a Shark Skwal - that I ended up with, in exchange for, another helmet after I argue'd the toss to get it returned - that doesn't fit right but, I seem to recall, did in the shop when I tired it on. I wore a balaclava during the biding in process - because it was winter - and can only assume that caused the pads to bed in with the slight extra thickness of which, obviously, made all the difference. I could wear a balaclava, and that helmet, during winter but I've never got along with the fact that it needs additional thickness to fit right: seems to me that it would just slide of my head if I crash.

So, yes, I do have a helmet that doesn't fit but don't ride with it: the Skwal's rubbish anyway.

My current one fits perfect but tries to kill me, through poor visibility, when it rains and I'm doing 30 mph or below.

I've given in funding the collection to try and find the perfect one.
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trevoriv
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PostPosted: 09:48 - 16 Sep 2017    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'm disappointed with the lack of nob jokes in this thread.

I've got a long narrow head like a horse so I'm generally in the small or sometimes xs sizes but not many of the major brands fit my narrow bonce well. I found Suomy fit well though and I tend to get a small or sometimes a medium. At the moment I've got a spec 1r shell small with medium insert.
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Suntan Sid
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PostPosted: 10:44 - 16 Sep 2017    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yes!

HTH
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trevor saxe-coburg-gotha
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PostPosted: 10:44 - 16 Sep 2017    Post subject: Reply with quote

No!


HTH
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RhynoCZ
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PostPosted: 11:21 - 16 Sep 2017    Post subject: Reply with quote

Ste?

HTH
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Ted
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PostPosted: 17:26 - 16 Sep 2017    Post subject: Reply with quote

I've got a HJC in XL, which fits quite well. But it is old, and I'm not looking forward to helmet shopping.

As a 4-eyes I sometimes struggle to find lids where my specs sit correctly.
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