pls explain?
GF650 Open Face for $99...geez...i would think a good quality helmet will be around $300 on up.

 

So what is your question?

First you asked:
I could answer that - but you already did:

 

You get what you pay for, and you were only born with one head.

You do the "value of my head vs. the cost of the helmet" math there big fella.

If you need to save money, the helmet is not the place to do it.

 

You are absolutely right Scott. Save money with plastic brake lines and cheap hubs.

 

Also - that seat back brace - completely unnecessary.

Diane also suggests a nice set of monkeybars or PVC pipe in place of a steel cage. That is another substantial savings.

 

As long as it is the PVC monkey bars - the aluminum bars might almost do but whoa they are twice the price.

 

Well, the point is to save money, so we can't possibly go with the Al bars... PVC gives you the look, and that's what's important anyway.

 

To all of you Guys:

Brutal just brutal, I like it, I like it!

C'mon Yoda you should know the answer already!!! Nahhh you must've been bored...

A.

 

In all seriousness, Any helmet with a Snell rating (including GForce) has had to pass minimum protection standards. So it's not exactly "bad" to buy one.

But... A helmet is one of those things that you should buy the best one you can afford. So, if it's a "Bell Sport II" or a "G-Force and a titanium shift ****" type of question...
Well... skip the shift ****.

 

its weird that you all say they are bad because about a year ago I talked to a sales rep at racer wholesale(some of you probably know of it) and he suggested the g-force over bell and simpson helmets. He told me that most of the price you are paying for is the name and g-force had actually performed better in tests. I don't think he would just say that to get me to buy a cheaper helmet either. I'm not sure if they are bad or not but advise from a safety equipment company seems more believable than everyones opinion on more money= more safety. Please prove me wrong if this is not the case because i plan on buying a new helmet in the summer and was really looking at the g-forces because they had been recommended.

 

I would love to see the test results. Do other people carry the G-Force line? I was under the impression that they were the 'house' brand @ Racer Wholesale. If we discount the advertising cost (which are huge), there is still testing, manufacturing & production cost. You can bet that RW doesn't have their own facilities. Who makes them for the company? Just because something passed the minimum tests, it doesn't mean that is what you should buy. Do you want the Dr. who passed his/her test with a 70% or the one who scored 100%? They both passed, right?

 

GForce is the house brand for Racer Wholesale. I'm sure they'll tell you that a GForce suit is better than a Sparco if you ask.

Racer Wholesale and Simpson are no longer buddies. So if you ask an RW person about pretty much any Simpson product they will tell you it sucks.

Find me ONE professional, or even top level amateur, racer using a GForce helmet. You can't. They all wear Bell, Simpson, Bieffe, Shoei.
Believe me, if the GForce helmet was actually better, these guys would be wearing them.

Again, I am not an anti RW person. I actually get plenty of stuff from them. But keep in mind that they WILL push their in-house brands just as anyone else would.

 

But the simple matter is that if it carries a SNELL M or SA 2000 stamp on it, then it meets the approved standard. And to add to that fact you don't need a snell rated helmet to drive 120mph on motorcycle.

**** down here in Florida you don't need a helmet at all to drive a motorcycle on streets or the highway. I paid $89 for my SNELL M2000 HJC helmet, which you can find in many motorcycle shops and online, it's a basic helmet and that's all I need for Auto-Xing. If ya'll think more money is better then I'd assume you should all be using $600 to $1200 SA helmets cause those should be better then a $300 helmet right.

 

Oh I hear they're out there. I don't know who they are, but another respected member of this board knows who they are.

 

Well, actually, I do think there is a bendfit of going to the better helmets. When I/O Port had their winter sale, I purchased a new helmet. My old helmet is a SA95 Bell Sport II (fiberglass). I just bought a Bell M2 Pro(kevlar). It is lighter. This will put less strain on my neck & be more comfortable. A side benefit is the larger eyeport opening. This will make it easier to put on/take off my sunglasses.
There are of course limits. Do we need the aero benefits that a open cockpit racer needs? Wasted for a sedan. Will spending more $ for a forced air helmet be better? Well, in hot weather, it would cause less fatigue. This would make for a more alert driver. Pay for safety features not fluff.
I am not saying that these are cheap. I don't think anyone here is. I think that we would prefer you are in a SA2000 helmet vs. a M90 or M95. What has been said before & I will repeat, buy the best safety equipment you can afford.

 

Disclaimer - this might be completely irrelevant. Just consider it a data point.

Years ago in college, I worked at a bicycle shop and was an avid cyclist. When working the sales floor I'd often get asked the question "why is this helmet 40 bucks and this one is 100 bucks?" Here's what the answer was. From what I can see in SA helmets, many of the same principles apply.

Firstly...They do all protect your head to whatever minimum level the Snell standard is set to (yes, at least at this point there were Snell ratings on bicycle helmets). Something available to us now that I didn't have back then is the Internet, so you can go read something like http://www.snellfoundation.org/standards/sa20std.html and get an idea what the standards are.

The more expensive helmets buy you one or more of the following things that make them superior products.
1. They're typically available in more sizes
2. Lighter weight
3. Better ventilation (not sure this is much of an issue for us...but it certainly is with a bicycle helmet).
4. They're lighter because they're constructed from more advanced materials, which possibly means a stronger helmet
5. Better looks (completely subjective of course)
6. Better fit. Item number 1 helps here, but the high end bike helmets offered pretty sophisticated methods for keeping the thing comfortable and on your head
7. Better support from the manufacturer in the event of a crash. At the time, the "reputable" companies had policies that allowed me to send a cracked helmet back to them. For a fairly nominal fee (if any) they'd replace it. The cheap "Helmet Brand" helmets didn't offer such support.
8. Similarly, replacement parts...such as they are...will likely be available for years with a brand name helmet. Four years after buying my Bell, I was able to call up Racer Wholesale and get a replacement visor. Will this be true of the cheap ones? Hard to say, but I bet it's less likely.

When I bought my Bell (a Sport II, ~300 bucks at the time), I noticed that the higher end helmets were made in more sizes and were lighter. They might have had larger eyeports...or been available in different colors...or had a fancier method for using tearoffs...or whatever. This struck me as being very similar to cycling helmets.

BTW - I bought a Giro helmet when I was riding - the most expensive one they made. I still have it.

 

to add to Karl's post, I too worked in a bicycle shop. In fact, I was around when the Giro's first came on the market. Here is a tidbit, when Snell updated the standard in the early/mid 90's (can't remember the exact year), making it much more stringent, there was a small shortage of helmets available. The Giro's were still readily available. The reason was because the 'old' design met the new more stringent standard. The cheaper knock-offs didn't & had to be redesigned. They both met the old "minimum" standard. Both were just as safe under the old standard, right? Riiiggghht!

 

I would highly recommend a full face helmet. Your face is precious. I also race go-karts at over 100 MPH. We are required to use Snell 95 or newer rated full face helmets, typically we use motorcycle helmets because we often come out of the karts when we wreck and they have better peripheral vision. I have have been told horror stories about the 'cheaper' Snell rated helmets like Bieffe, like cracking in half, etc. I use a Bell Race Star III. I suspect the cheaper Snell helmets only meet minimum requirements, possibly deteriorate faster, and often fit poorly. Helmets must be snug. For cars with cages I would want an auto racing helmet, they are designed to take hits on roll cages better than a motorcycle helmet, which is designed to slide on pavement.

125+ MPH road racing (laydown) shifter go-karts
2001 black ITR