Helmet fiiting & neck

The good doctor
The good doctor Posts: 307
edited December 2007 in Workshop
I think I already know the answer but.. here I go anyway. I have just re measured my head @ 58.5 cm, my helmet on the other hand has a size range of 59-63cm. Whilst I can adjust the inner "cage" to attain a snug fit I have found the front of the helmet to be clearly visible which shouldn't be the case I understand, after looking at a few articles on the web, " When you look upward the front rim should be barely visible to your eye"
How much of an impact could this have on the neck, I am suffering some discomfort and aside from any safety issues (not for discussion) was wondering if neck pain on an otherwise correctly fitting bike could be completely attritutable to a poorly fitted helmet..

:?: Thanks

Comments

  • Garybee
    Garybee Posts: 815
    Whether or not you can see the front of the helmet is not really a very good guide as to the sizing. MET helmets, for example, are noticeably longer than most other makes with a pronounced 'peak'. You would probably be able to see the front of any of these helmets.
    Hypocrisy is only a bad thing in other people.
  • gundersen
    gundersen Posts: 586
    why use a helmet?
  • Tom Butcher
    Tom Butcher Posts: 3,830
    gundersen wrote:
    why use a helmet?

    Peer pressure
    it's a hard life if you don't weaken.
  • Shadowduck
    Shadowduck Posts: 845
    gundersen wrote:
    why use a helmet?
    Oh dear, someone mentioned helmets again. Heaven forbid he'd just get a straightforward answer to his question without the anti-helmet brigade piling in... :roll:

    For what it's worth, I can see the peak of my helmet clearly but not the rim - the only time I get neck pain is if I'm on the drops for extended periods and I'm pretty sure that's nothing to do with my chosen headgear.
    Even if the voices aren't real, they have some very good ideas.
  • orv
    orv Posts: 92
    The good doctor wrote:
    How much of an impact could this have on the neck, I am suffering some discomfort and aside from any safety issues (not for discussion) was wondering if neck pain on an otherwise correctly fitting bike could be completely attritutable to a poorly fitted helmet..
    Seems unlikely that neck pain would be caused by the helmet fit/size. The important part is does it fit securely and not move around?
    You might want to get a second opinion on your bike fit and get someone to check out your position/posture.
  • gundersen
    gundersen Posts: 586
    What I meant was that if the helmet causes pain stop using the helmet.
    For a while
    Until the pain goes away.

    Then try another helmet.
  • Shadowduck
    Shadowduck Posts: 845
    gundersen wrote:
    What I meant was that if the helmet causes pain stop using the helmet.
    For a while
    Until the pain goes away.

    Then try another helmet.
    In that case, my apologies. That didn't strike me at the time as the most likely interpretation of your comment.
    Even if the voices aren't real, they have some very good ideas.
  • chrisw12
    chrisw12 Posts: 1,246
    For me the helmet has a big influence on neck pain. I ride low and for long distances and I get neck pain if I wear a helmet for exactly the reasons you(op) suggest. I can just see the edge of the helmet and this causees me to have to look up a fraction too far, this then leads to neck pain.

    For this reason I can't wear sunglasses (the rim of the glasses has the same effect.) and I will not bother with a helmet for long rides. This year when I start to do my long rides I may try a helmet again. On short rides I always wear a helmet but fir longer rides it comes down to a comfort or safety probabilty descision.

    The limited number of helmets I've tried have all had this problem but some are much worse than others.
  • Moomaloid
    Moomaloid Posts: 2,040
    i can never get a helmet to fit completely snug and look tight fitting to my head... always look a bit of weighted bell-end! :lol:

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