Helmet heat

Tourist

Hi everyone,

I am a Product Design Engineering student at the University of Strathclyde. I am working on a project aiming to make helmets more comfortable by regulating the temperature inside the helmet during use, and I would like to ask some questions of you.

For those that don’t wear a helmet, how much does comfort (heat in the helmet specifically) factor in that? Would a helmet that either cooled or warmed your head (dependent on the weather) affect your decision

For those that do wear helmets when you ride, would a significantly more temperature-regulated design be attractive to you? Would you mind a little bit of extra weight if it was significantly less hot/cold while you were riding?

Any help with this would be much appreciated!

Initialised

If your head is too hot in summer you need less hair. If it's too cold you wear a skull cap under your brain bucket. TBH it sounds like you'retrying to solve a problem that isn't.

corshamjim

I can't say it would make any difference to me. A simple adjustable visor would be useful to keep the sun out of my eyes when it's low in the sky. Currently I use a cap under my helmet for that, but with the cap it can be a bit too hot sometimes.

redderekthelampshade

I concur, I'm a baldy.. If I'm cold I have a cycle cap under my lid, if im too hot I take it off.. And no I wouldn't pay more for a gimmick helmet that would inevitably be heavier - being an engineer myself I'm trying to suss out how you would put something in a helmet to regulate the temp that wouldn't be detrimental to my head if I had a collision.. All I can see is a smashed head with some PCB board, battery pack and a wiring loom imbedded within.

Mikey41

Kinda depends how you intend to achieve it, and exactly how much extra weight you are forseeing.

Personally I've not had issues with a helmet being too hot/cold. Even on hot days, the helmet isn't hot as long as you keep moving. On cold days it isn't cold unless you get well below 0C. What I notice first is my ears get cold, the solution to which is to wear a thin wooly hat under the helmet to cover my ears. Even with the hat on, my head doesn't get too hot as long as I keep moving.

Unless your new helmet would extend down to cover the ears and provide some warmth there (without compromising hearing) then there is probably very little call for it.

Long_Time_Lurker

May affect MTBers more than commuters/roadies - the helmets cover more of the head and tend to have less ventilation. I don't own a roadie helmet, so have to make do with my MTB helmet, even if I'm doing a long-haul like the C-2-C.
In the Winter it is never a problem, but in the height of Summer it becomes an issue (even without hair).
I would be interested to see what could be done, but I doubt it could be without without extra cost, weight or bulk.

Headhuunter

If you ride with a helmet you generally get used to adjusting what you wear ob the rest of your body to remain cool. If I were riding without a helmet I might wear tights, whereas if I'm riding with one, I would wear shorts.... I don't think heat build up under the helmet is much of an issue to be addressed to be honest

redvee

One problem to overcome for me: Why do I get an itchy head when wearing a helmet in a spot I can't reach easily without taking the helmet off?

godders1

Not an issue for me.

When it's baking I just wear the helmet on it's own, when it's mild I wear a cap, when it gets a bit chilly I wear something that covers my ears and when it gets really cold I wear a merino skullcap.

daxplusplus

People that wear TT aero helmets may like what your working on? I'm no expert but I think they have issues if it gets really warm.

Tourist

I started pursuing this from my experience with skate-style lids, being a BMXer myself, and I suppose they have much less ventilation than a lot of the helmets people tend to wear on the road. I have a couple of ideas that might be viable, however I have to establish what sort of demand there is first. Good point about the Aero helmets, I'll look into that.

JamesB5446

Tourist wrote:

For those that don’t wear a helmet, how much does comfort (heat in the helmet specifically) factor in that? Would a helmet that either cooled or warmed your head (dependent on the weather) affect your decision

A bit.
No.

nigglenoo

I have very little hair. I always use glasses with either clear or dark lenses, with a peaked helmet which has good ventilation, the peak gives extra shade from the sun for my eyes and also keep some of the rain off the glasses.

Hot conditions (dry or raining): helmet is actually cooler than a cap IME and provides adequate shade against sunburn.

Cooler conditions, dry or light rain: skull cap under helmet (Lusso Breath).

Cool conditions and raining hard: sometimes use a waterproof helmet cover (Carradice Hi Viz thing), but without the skull cap as blocking the helmet vents makes it too hot for that.

Very cold conditions, with or without sleet, snow, hail, etc.: helmet cover and skull cap combined is nice and warm.

Seriously sub zero: have used a motorcycle windstopper balaclava to good effect, but thats mostly to do with protecting face and neck.

TBH I suspect no major demand for controllable ventilation, which I think is maybe where you are going. I have also done a lot of motorcycling and most motorcycle helmets have controllable vents, but thats a different scenario where you may not be able to stop and make adjustments in good time.

Trev The Rev

Tourist wrote:

Hi everyone,

I am a Product Design Engineering student at the University of Strathclyde. I am working on a project aiming to make helmets more comfortable by regulating the temperature inside the helmet during use, and I would like to ask some questions of you.

For those that don’t wear a helmet, how much does comfort (heat in the helmet specifically) factor in that? Would a helmet that either cooled or warmed your head (dependent on the weather) affect your decision

For those that do wear helmets when you ride, would a significantly more temperature-regulated design be attractive to you? Would you mind a little bit of extra weight if it was significantly less hot/cold while you were riding?

Any help with this would be much appreciated!

Never wear a helmet. Whenever I do I overheat and sweat buckets. Glasses steam up and sweat runs into my eyes and onto inside of glasses. This happens no matter how many vents are in the helmet.
I have thick hair and even when it is very short I have never needed to wear a hat no matter how cold. Nothing will make me wear a helmet. Helmets are for bald people and people borne after 1960 who think everything is dangerous.

JamesB5446

wilo13 wrote:

Helmets are for people born after 160 who think everything is dangerous? When you have an off and smack your head on the road come back and tell us your too cool to be wearing a helmet. What a stupid comment.

Yup. Because it's a fact that YOU WILL DIE if you don't wear a helmet. :roll:

corshamjim

Here we go ... :roll:

JamesB5446

Indeed. There are plenty of other threads covering the lack of evidence for helmet efficacy, we don't need that argument here.

JamesB5446

wilo13 wrote:

I take it you don't wear a helmet iron head?

Iron? Do you mean 'on your'?

I do sometimes, mountain biking I always do. On the road, nope.

I think he meant that some younger riders think you HAVE to wear one at all time. In my experience it's not really a generational thing, my dad wears one, he's 62, I don't, I'm 30.

JamesB5446

Because I'm much more likely to fall off when mountain biking.

JamesB5446

Yup. They work in certain slow speed crashes. Such as those that can happen when mountain biking.

If I come off doing 35mph+ down a hill or get hit by a car, a bit of plastic on my head won't help me. If I fall off on a trail and hit a tree root it might.

Other than cleats not wanting to unclip I'm unlikely to have slow speed falls on the road, and then it's slow enough to react and fall properly.

daddy0

I always wear a helmet on the road. I don't fancy crashing, slow or fast, onto tarmac/into a wall without some cranial protection.

I have long hair, wearing a helmet helps keep it out of my face. My road helmet has lots of ventilation, so doesn't overheat. If its cold outside I wear another layer under the helmet, like a hood.

When I ride BMX my BMX helmet does make my head overheat. But as I only ride for a minute or two at a time its not such an issue. So skate/bmx helmets could do with a bit of a redesign IMO.

JamesB5446

wilo13 wrote:

Fair point. I just take the view that a helmet is not going to increase my risk of injury...

It could in certain circumstances.

As for the insurance issue, I'd tell them it was none of their business.