helmet ⁽³⁾

When I first started fat-biking in March of 2013, I grabbed one of my Giro Aeon road/MTB helmets and slipped on a winter cycling cap when my head felt too cold. On cold days, I took off for rides wearing a Bern Brentwood helmet that I had bought for my daily commute. Soon, it became the helmet I wore for fat-biking exclusively. For very cold or snowy days, I bought a Smith Vantage, a goggle-friendly ski helmet with ear pads and adjustable vents. The Brentwood is now ten years old. Safe for the visor, which forms one piece with the liner, it held up amazingly well. But after ten years, even a sturdy helmet such as the Brentwood should be replaced.

Helmets aren’t just head protection, they’re also a piece of one’s cycling wardrobe. When I’m out on the bike, I want my helmet to be somewhat color-matched to the clothes I’m wearing. I, therefore, have a few of them. All the lids I’ve been wearing for road and gravel, are now all beyond the recommended service life for helmets. The US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) recommends replacing a bicycle helmet every 5 to 10 years. The Snell Foundation states a firm five years, and many helmet manufacturers tell you to get rid of your helmet after as little as three years. My Giro Synthe and Aeon helmets are 5 to 7 years old. While they still appear in good shape, it was time to start looking for replacements.

Back in the early days of mountain biking, bike helmets used to be bike helmets. Road cyclists were only just starting to put lids on and there were basically no sport-specific helmets. An XC mountain biker wore the same helmet as a road cyclist. Things have changed a lot in that regard. Mountain bikers today have a huge plethora of helmets to choose from; from lightweight XC helmets to full-face downhill helmets. For the three and a half decades I have been riding, I have primarily owned visorless road cycling helmets except for two Giro Exodus helmets, which were popular mountain bike helmets in early 2000. After those, I owned two Giro Atmos, three Aeon, and one Giro Synthe helmet. All of those are lightweight, well-vented lids you mostly see on the head of roadies.