helmet disintegrates

dbmnk

My good ol Giro Zen hasn't done me well - I've never really had use for it actually.
Maybe it did help my avoid getting a branchy hairdo acoupleatimes, but that's it.

So now I'm quite disappointed.
Especially because it is disintegrating:

I just noticed that the paintwork was partially fading - that is only at some places at the helmet shell. On closer inspection, I figured maybe air has penetrated the clearcoat to give a pale look, so went looking for shell cracks.
What do i discover?! A crack in the styrofoam! Not one... two! penetrating cracks at the upper rear.
Cracks not related to the fading paint, though - that's still a mystery.

Anyhow it's done for.

Lesson learned: Regularly check your helmet even though you never abused it.

Question: Is an expensive helmet like that supposed to disintegrate unprovoked?

I know I had it for quite some years (around 5-7), but really!

meanredspider

Has it been exposed to a lot of UV light or stored in direct sunlight or near a window? The symptoms sound very much like that. Plastics really don't like sunlight at all. 5-7 years for a lid sounds pretty much like the limit in any case. I wouldn't be trusting a helmet after that period of time.

Raymondavalon

5-7 years is a damned fine innings for a helmet
MTFU and buy another one

dbmnk

UV only from riding.
Weird thing about the colouring is that I've never noticed it before today, but it is really pronounced, so must have been sudden. Somehow it looks like it's structurally related - probably is with the cracks. So my best guess is that the cracks appeared while on the shelf. Somehow not very comforting.

I would have expected the lid to last infinitely if not abused, since it is a safety device. Is that totally out of touch?

I am going to buy a new, since it's pretty useless with the styrofoam cracks.
What to get though? Is another Zen still the nicest one out there?

Mccraque

Manufacturers recommend that you replace them after every few years....I wondered how much of that was just for them to sell new helmets rather than for safety!!

I am on my 4th in 5 years now. cracked the basket on one, disliked another, nutted the ground with a third....so never had the opportunity to do the old "sunlight UV test"

Tank-slapper

Giro recommend replacing a helmet after 3 years. Now you know why.

dbmnk

I see, every couple a years... must have missed that part.
Bet casualees and commuters aren't too aware/concerned about that.

Have you found any clever use for the discarded ones?


EDIT: mine was a Xen, not Zen if there ever was one.

Mccraque

Hanging basket for the missus's flowers.

Alex

Wall of fame/shame for destroyed full face lids. Especially if you've had them custom painted/wrapped.

Daz555

Replacing every few years is clearly sales-motivated nonsense as it takes no account of the amount of use the helmet has had, what conditions it was used in or where it was stored.

There will be helmets 12 months old that are fecked and helmets 10 years old that are as good as new. You would be better using sensible personal judgment rather than simply following a 2 or 3 year rule.

jacob2910

did you step on it

Alex

Daz555 wrote:

Replacing every few years is clearly sales-motivated nonsense as it takes no account of the amount of use the helmet has had, what conditions it was used in or where it was stored.

There will be helmets 12 months old that are fecked and helmets 10 years old that are as good as new. You would be better using sensible personal judgment rather than simply following a 2 or 3 year rule.

Three years of normal wear and tear is all the company are going to stand by. It is patently obvious that abuse or crashes are going to see a lid off before then. Equally, if it is used once a year for five minutes, it may well last far longer than 3 years.

But, for general wear and tear, a lid should be replaced at least every 3 years. Worth bearing in mind.

miss notax

Hmmm, i've got a Giro Zen helmet and to be honest it never ocurred to me that I would need to replace it if it wasn't mashed..... :shock:

I'll check mine!

Northwind

Daz555 wrote:

10 years old that are as good as new

Nope. Even if you keep it in a dark room, polystyrene degrades and embrittles over time, a 10 year one might not neccesarily be trashed but it won't be in the same condition a 1 year one is.

Daz555

Northwind wrote:

Daz555 wrote:

10 years old that are as good as new

Nope. Even if you keep it in a dark room, polystyrene degrades and embrittles over time
.

I have heard that comment before. Never seen anything with any meat on it to back it up though.

Not to mention that polystyrene is used in construction - I don't think they will be digging up any roads/runways/embankments that use it as a supporting layer every 3 years because of marketing hype from the cycle industry.

Of course, that there is even a debate on this subject reveals the shocking state of the testing/standards system for cycle helmets - and even the evidence for the benefits of wearing one at all. It really needs sorting out.

Northwind

Well, for one thing the EPS used in construction isn't identical in density (or always in chemical construction) to what's in helmets. But also the application is completely different, in road use impact resistance is irrelevant and longterm compression is what counts, so these changes aren't going to be a problem.

If you've ever handled older eps packaging, you'll probably have seen how it can change, even when completely protected from sunlight. It retains its shape and structure fine but it's much more brittle.

meanredspider

Much motor racing equipment (including helmets) is time-limited - you simply aren't allowed to race if it's expired. Airbourne moisture and natural ozone degrade straps and plastic regardless of UV light (which plastics hate).

It's a lid. It's to protect one of the more important parts of your anatomy (though maybe there's some Darwinian action going on here) - of all the things to cut corners on in life, your lid isn't one of them.

Daz555

I'm not saying I have a lid that is 10yrs old - I don't cos mine get knocked too often. It is just that I don't buy the sales speak from makers without any proper evidence to back it up.

Alex

In motor racing, if your lid is out of date, you don't race. Bike helmets are made with the same materials as motor racing helmets, and quite frankly, suffer more abuse from droppage, minor falls, those moments where you you leave your lid on your bars and more UV damage as the poly is more exposed.

Bottom line here is that you need to take care of your gear and replace it every so often, depending upon your level of use. A daily rider will have to replace gear more often than an irregular rider, and you should always replace your lid after any serious bump involving your head. Cracks and dents in your lid are bad kids.

A regular programme of equipment replacement is worthwhile for any MTB owner. We all know when our drivetrains are worn out, but how many of you replace your handlebars every few years? They fatigue and should be replaced just as regularly as your lid. You do not want to ride with fatigued handlebars. Snapping bars is not fun. It is messy.


There is of course a further reason to avoid keeping a lid any longer than a few years:

We love JMC, but there's no way he'd wear that thing now...

Daz555

Alex wrote:

IA regular programme of equipment replacement is worthwhile for any MTB owner. We all know when our drivetrains are worn out, but how many of you replace your handlebars every few years? They fatigue and should be replaced just as regularly as your lid.

- 1,000,000 potatoes.

bomberesque

Daz555 wrote:

polystyrene is used in construction.

yeah, but mostly for insulation or creating lightweight gaps in honeycomb concrete designs, rather than for anything structural

To the OP. 5-7 years is a long time for a helmet in regular use. I rarely go more than 2 years without an off involving a banged head (I'm that good, me ) so I've never had one that long, but I'd surprised to see cracks appearing. Some solvents eat polystyrene alive, pedros chaincleaner is one, as I discovered when I spilt some on mine.

as for your replacement helmet. Mrs B has a Zen and likes it. However, having had and lost/broken/dissolved several expensive helmets in the past for my latest purchase I went to Decathlon and tried some budget ones on, ending up with a Bell Crossfire. Fits, pretty well ventilated and satisfies the same safety criteria as pricier helmets but for 30 euros so cheap to replace when I killed it (which I did, last month)

no more 100 quid helmets for me (except full face, then the sky's the limit as far as I'm concerned as I may fall off occasionally when XC riding but *all the time* when DHing :roll: )

Northwind

bomberesque wrote:

yeah, but mostly for insulation or creating lightweight gaps in honeycomb concrete designs, rather than for anything structural

Nah, not always, you're right it's often used as a base to build a monocoque around in concrete structures (and in carbon fibre!) but in roadbuilding it's pretty much a direct hardcore replacement. Looks mad when you see them building a road with it

djcombes

Alex wrote:

A regular programme of equipment replacement is worthwhile for any MTB owner. We all know when our drivetrains are worn out, but how many of you replace your handlebars every few years? They fatigue and should be replaced just as regularly as your lid. You do not want to ride with fatigued handlebars. Snapping bars is not fun. It is messy.

Do you actually understand fatigue? It's not a case of the metal getting a bit tired and then suddenly breaking. It's about cracks growing incrementally under reversed stress cycles, potentially up until the point where the structure is sufficiently weak that it can fail catastrophically. I think you'd notice the growth of such a crack in your bars long before it became an issue.

silveringsurfer

Faded areas on the surface and cracks directly underneath them suggest an impact- the plastic has been stressed. (Get an old credit card and try to snap it, the plastic goes white before it breaks). Most likely that if you didn't do it someone in your household dropped it/ stepped on it.

UV does degrade plastics but extremely slowly - that's why carrier bags are such a problem for recycling. In this fair and sunny isle I would be extremely suprised to see UV cause issues to a helmet in that time unless you were commuting in it every day and the pattern of wear doesn't sound like UV either.

Either way it's knackered so get yourself off to the shops

Paul 8v

I found an old bell one I bought about 12 years ago and it's fine, it's been kept in the cupboard under the stairs though so no extremes of temperatue. It does have a rank american eagle on it though so one reason not to wear it...

Anonymous

Alex wrote:

There is of course a further reason to avoid keeping a lid any longer than a few years:

We love JMC, but there's no way he'd wear that thing now...

Where is the tyre?

dbmnk

naa, I didn't step on it, but I reckon you'd have to jump on it in order for it to crack.

the fading doesn't look like an impact to me, here is a photo of it. the crack is opposite the fading.

andyrm

I have always replaced every 2 years or straight after a significant knock, whichever's soonest.

£70-100 is a very small price to pay for piece of mind. About 15 years ago I had a huge crash and my head felt really heavy when I got up - I took my helmet (the old Bell Image) off and there was a chunk of limestone about 3" wide embedded in it. Doesn't bear thinking about the consequences had that helmet been carrying hidden damage......... :shock:

silveringsurfer

Ooh that fading is odd - looks more like chemical to me. Any chance you've sprayed/spilt anything on it? Looks like something has melted it. I can only see sun doing that if was left on the back parcel shelf of a car on a hot summer day and got super heated.

dbmnk

yeah it is really odd.
no chemical oil or such. no sun (other than riding).
the clear plastic on top seems intact and the fading occurring underneath as if air penetrated between the clearcoat and the paint.
seems to have occured overnight while on a dark shelf.

silveringsurfer

Overnight :shock:

Something traumatic happened to it then as no natural time degradation would have that effect. UV and age hardening as discussed above are all incremental and often all but unnoticeable to the owner. UV might fade the whole helmet and make the coat more brittle but wouldn't make it do that. I would hazard a guess at extreme heat or chemical due to the de-lamination effect you describe. Very strange. I certainly wouldn't wear it and Giro might be interested in having it back for tests because of the unusual nature of the wear.