ASRA - Australian Skateboard Racing Association

Are the polycarbonate MTB downhill helmets ok as a starting point?

What are most of you guys using?

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they're fine as a first DH helmet. thats what most people use. i started off using a motorbike helmet, but found it way too heavy for DH. the vision is fairly restricted on them too compared to the helmets often used in the sport.

http://www.jensonusa.com/store/sub/229-Helmets.aspx
I bought a Giro Remedy:


I bought it from the US (click the pic above to go to the store) and even including shipping it was less than half the price it sells for here. Just make sure you try one on to figure out your size before ordering. Any large bicycle store should have some in stock.

It has good visibility, the sun visor thingy is easily removable, and you can make a proper visor out of polycarbonate easily enough.
I got a Bell Drop... It absolutely rad. So light and comfy with a huge field of vision. It also weighs (supposedly) half as much as the remedy. I think i got it for 150.
i had / still have a 661 strike. great helmet, good visibility, relatively light. id reccomend it.
nick_21 said:
I got a Bell Drop... It absolutely rad. So light and comfy with a huge field of vision. It also weighs (supposedly) half as much as the remedy. I think i got it for 150.

Damn, that looks nice - 422g compared to the Remedy's 1050g. Maybe I got the wrong helmet!
yeah theese are great helmets to get you started...and i know they can take a decent impact,if u seen my crash at newtons you know what i mean..
I have always used a Arai snell rated moto helmet.Strong enough to handle being run over by a car.Strange mixture of carbon/kevlar and glass,never noticed weight being a problem but i have been told i have a big neck.Yeah go a moto to start with only if you have a big neck : )
Here's an article about helmets that made me think:
Motorcycle Helmet Performance: Blowing the Lid Off

It's about motorcyle helmets, but the general principles still apply to skateboarding. Here's a sample:

...going faster when you fall off does not typically result in your helmet taking a harder hit. How can this be? Because the vast majority of head impacts occur when the rider falls off his bike and simply hits his head on the flat road surface. The biggest impact in a given crash will typically happen on that first contact, and the energy is proportional to the height from which the rider falls—not his forward speed at the time. A big highside may give a rider some extra altitude, but rarely higher than 8 feet. A high-speed crash may involve a lot of sliding along the ground, but this is not particularly challenging to a helmeted head because all modern full-face helmets do an excellent job of protecting you from abrasion. In fact, the vast majority of crashed helmets examined in the Hurt Report showed that they had absorbed about the same impact you'd receive if you simply tipped over while standing, like a bowling pin, and hit your head on the pavement. Ninety-plus percent of the head impacts surveyed, in fact, were equal to or less than the force involved in a 7-foot drop. And 99 percent of the impacts were at or below the energy of a 10-foot drop.

And then there's issues like Risk Compensation, and the fact that mandatory helmet legislation for cyclists in Australia has been associated with a slightly higher indicence of serious head injury, although a much lower incidence of head "wounds" (what might be called "road rash to the head").

I like full-face helmets for downhill because I value my teeth and my pretty face - not my brain!
just go to your local bike shop, try some one and get one that fits and thats in your price range
Any of the suggested helmets will serve you well. As kristian said, try on some at the local bike store and if they are outrageously expenisive, order from the usa for half the price.
Cheers guys, i have some good mtb contacts, will see what I can snaffle
Does the full face hemlet have to have a visor or are goggles etc OK, for IGSA races etc.cheers Pete

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