New Website Notice for Edinburgh Bicycle

Please note that the Edinburgh Bicycle Co-Operative now has a new website. To visit the new website, please follow this link.

If you have bookmarked a page from the old website, please update your bookmarked page so that you can go straight to our new website. Thank you.

The Edinburgh Bicycle website team.

What are the differences between the various styles of helmet, and what specific features should I look for when buying one?

Good fit is all. Good fit means that the helmet is comfortable to wear. Good fit means that the helmet stays in place if it's ever required to fulfill its head-protecting destiny.

Thanks to the widespread adoption of Rear Retention Systems to augment the traditional chin strap, helmet fit has taken a quantum leap in recent years. Variously called RocLoc, BrainTrust and so on, the Rear Retention System is a nape-hugging strap that restrains the helmet, and helps prevent it from rocking back uselessly. If you have failed to find a good-fitting helmet up till now, you owe it to yourself to try one with a Rear Retention System.

Ventilation is also crucial. Wide slots encourage air flow, and help prevent you overheating when you climb. The trick is to produce a helmet with as much ventilation as possible without compromising its impact resistance. The best-vented helmets demand more advanced materials and manufacture. That's why the best-vented helmets, such as the Specialized S1, tend to be the most expensive.

If you're into downhill, trails and trials, full-coverage is more important than ventilation.

Choose between the motocross-inspired full face, or the delightfully-named skateboard-style pisspot helmet.

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