What are enduro helmets anyway? "They don't differ from conventional bike helmets in terms of shock-absorbing behaviour," says TÜV test engineer Christiane Reckter, "but they cover the head better due to their lowered helmet edge at the neck and can therefore offer more protection if necessary."
However, this helmet category often has two disadvantages. 1. the additional material puts a lot of pressure on the scales. 2. enduro helmets are often noticeably less well ventilated. Uphill, the heat builds up uncomfortably under the helmet.
In addition to the half-shell helmets for enduro riders, there are now also full-face helmets, i.e. lightweight full-face helmets that are designed to protect the face even better with their chin bar. The chin guard can often even be removed. As the European standard (EN 1078) for bicycle helmets does not provide for testing of the chin guard, we had the chin guard tested separately. In line with the standard for motorbike helmets (ECE 22), the chin guard was given a blow, albeit at a reduced speed (16.5 km/h). Of the helmets tested with a chin bar, only three are really recommendable. Conclusion: The full-face helmet look often only feigns safety.
How did we test? The Tüv-Rheinland test engineers strapped each helmet to a special test head. This metal head is equipped with acceleration sensors. The helmeted test head falls onto a steel plate on a flat impact - as if the biker in the sailor's head were drilling vertically into the ground. "At first glance, this doesn't seem very realistic, but it's the toughest challenge for a helmet," says Tüv engineer Christiane Reckter. The impact speed is 19.5 km/h. On the second impact, the test head falls sideways onto a wedge anvil at a reduced speed (16.5 km/h). This impact comes closest to reality and is intended to reflect a fall onto a rock or kerb.
We tested the ventilation with a thermal imaging camera.
The helmet shell helmets tested achieved consistently good results, with only one helmet exceeding the standard limits. According to the manufacturer, these were helmets that are only intended for the American market, where the standard limits are 300 g instead of the 250 g residual acceleration required in Europe. (1 g = 9.81 metres per second squared). 661 is having its helmets tested by the TÜV to demonstrate their safety - we will report back.
All test results can be found here -> (FREERIDE, issue 2/2016).
Dimitri Lehner
Editor
