BIKE (UK)

Not too big, not too small

Having cultivated a, well deserved, reputation for ill-fitting helmets John Naish seeks out perfect sizing for his new Shoei ‘Glamster’. It’s fit or miss…

- JN

Editor Hugo’s polite inquiry cuts deep: ‘Why don’t your helmets fit properly?’ he asks. ‘They’re too low over your eyes.’ And, of course, he is right. I’ve always considered myself a medium and I’m not alone in getting this wrong. A quarter of us are wearing a wrongly sized (usually too big) helmet, according to a government Transport Research Lab (TRL) survey of 600 motorcycli­sts. We can blame that interweb for many of our mis-sizing errors. A quarter of us now buy our lids from websites. This almost universall­y means buying without first trying for size. Thanks to lockdown internet sales have increased. So how, in these virus-ridden times, can one buy a not knock-off fake helmet that fits properly? Step forward Shoei’s importers Feridax, along with the good people of Alf’s Motorcycle­s in Worthing, East Sussex… and a cotton balaclava. During the last break in lockdown, I visited Alf’s to find a lid that fits proper. There seems little point buying a safety helmet and dying in the process, so hygienic social distancing was a must. This means minimising breathing on helmets, or touching them. Ron Moxham, one of Alf’s clothing dept people, tells me, ‘We’re trying to reduce the number of people trying on helmets. We attempt instead to gauge their fit by sight. Nowadays we can just look at customers and make a good guess at what their head will fit. I’ve often got it right first time.’ Nothing beats actually putting your noggin inside one, however. Ron brandishes a virgin white cotton balaclava. ‘When someone does have to try on a helmet, we make them wear one of these,’ he says. And every helmet a customer tries on for size is then put into quarantine for a minimum of 12 hours afterwards. Ron explains that anyone can assess their helmet’s basic appropriat­eness with a ‘five check fit’. This involves putting on the lid you fancy and twisting it both up and down, then side to side, to see if any gaps appear. If they do, it’s too big for you. Furthermor­e, if you can pull the helmet up and down and your nose hits the top of the visor aperture, then it’s the wrong shape altogether. ‘It’ll bust your nose in an accident,’ says Ron.

That’s the basic stuff, but of course I want a super-good fit. Here’s where Martin Thorne, who works with the helmet importers Feridax, comes in. I’m after one of Shoei’s smart and fully spec’d new retro-friendly full-faces (even though they’ve

christened it rather oddly ‘The Glamster’). Thorne is trained to offer Shoei’s bespoke fitting service, as offered by dealers such as Alf’s.

The fitting begins with the unboxing of the fresh lid, and its careful placement on the throne-like Shoei donut – a bespoke ring-shaped cushion upon which your new lid rests in regal splendour. Martin primps the lining in preparatio­n.

I try on the lid, medium size, with standard liner. If feels properly snug to me. Maybe a bit too snug. I keep the helmet on for a while longer, and start to realise there’s a tight spot around my forehead, the sort that would steadily become torture on long rides.

I tell Martin, expecting him to suggest smaller padding. Instead he says, ‘I’ll try more padding, just to find out.’ This is bound to be an error, I think, squeezing the lid on. While I detest being proved wrong this feels like a fantastica­lly safe fit. Maybe, just maybe, a bit tight on the cheeks – Martin whips out the chinpads and exchanges them for a smaller pair. Bingo. I’m averse to messing with helmet linings, because mine never seem to go back in quite the same. However, in Martin’s tutored hands the whole caboodle pops out and back in a micro-jiffy. All the cloth lining, plus the chinstrap removes for washing. This I have never previously done. ‘Just use soft soap and 30-degree wash cycle,’ Martin reassures.

While the lining’s out, Martin points to the familiar ugly mattblack paint sprayed inside the liner. It is beautifull­y practical, Martin explains. If the impact-absorbing crushable foam expanded-polystyren­e (EPS) liner is damaged, then the paint cracks, letting the white underneath shine through as an obvious tell-tale. If you drop your lid lightly, the interior black won’t crack. But if you drop your helmet while using it as a handbag to carry something like a soft-drink can, the internal impact can seriously damage the liner.

I vow solemnly to Martin never to use the ‘Glamster’ as a bucket. ‘And don’t put your gloves in your helmet,’ he says. ‘It doesn’t only deny your helmet lining the chance to dry out after you’ve worn it, it also means that petrochemi­cals, road dirt, etc get smeared all over your helmet’s inner liner. Chemicals get into the EPS liner and make it more brittle, which means less impact absorption.’

Martin then adds a Pinlock anti-fog lens. These have become a must for me. So why do they never come already fitted? It’s not about choice, it’s about the law. The little plastic locator bogies for the Pinlock are deemed a hazard because they protrude inside the visor, so they won’t pass under safety legislatio­n. But as an aftermarke­t add-on, the rules are different and they are legally fine.

Thus a rather notional rare danger overrides a real everyday risk of fogged visor blindness. What’s more, Martin adds, wearing a Pinlock visor is actually illegal at night, because they don’t let full light through. Wonder if anyone’s ever been pulled for that? Helmets perish over time because their resins and glues degrade, while the inner linings compress – making once-snug helmets both loose and less impact-absorbent. Survey evidence shows that around 40 per cent of us are wearing lids that are older than their recommende­d five-year maximum life. ‘If you’re wearing a helmet to commute daily, you should renew more often, perhaps every three years,’ says Thorne.

I’m just hoping that my new Shoei will last the full five years. Who knows, by then I might not have to wear a balaclava for my next fitting.

‘A quarter of us are wearing a wrongly sized (usually too big) helmet’

 ??  ?? BASIC FIT To order online you need to measure your head, experience­d shop assistants can often do this visually.
VISUAL CHECK
The eyeline shouldn’t be close to the top of the visor aperture. The chin shouldn’t stick out of the bottom.
BASIC FIT To order online you need to measure your head, experience­d shop assistants can often do this visually. VISUAL CHECK The eyeline shouldn’t be close to the top of the visor aperture. The chin shouldn’t stick out of the bottom.
 ??  ?? Too low: John’s ill fitting Arai
Too low: John’s ill fitting Arai
 ??  ??
 ??  ?? TIGHT FIT?
It needs to be snug. If a finger tip fits between forehead and liner it’s too big. Red marks on forehead can mean it’s sitting too low.
TWIST TEST Have someone hold the helmet firmly, then try to twist your head. Any more than fractional movement is not acceptable.
Better: properly fitted new lid
TIGHT FIT? It needs to be snug. If a finger tip fits between forehead and liner it’s too big. Red marks on forehead can mean it’s sitting too low. TWIST TEST Have someone hold the helmet firmly, then try to twist your head. Any more than fractional movement is not acceptable. Better: properly fitted new lid
 ??  ??
 ??  ??
 ??  ?? ROCK TEST Same again, but trying to move your head forwards and backwards. Again, movement should be minimal.
ROCK TEST Same again, but trying to move your head forwards and backwards. Again, movement should be minimal.

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