I have a very early 1970s hard shell helmet designed by Wilfried Trott of
Germany; it was called the Trott-Helm. Made in Radevormwald. He had many
palmares, including being Germany's national road champion in 1975 and
Olympian in 1972 and 1976. My German buddy thinks this was the earliest hard
shell that was marketed (???). I'm fairly certain mine was purchased in 1972
or earlier; I will have to check. It's a hard shell, has a suspension system
on the inside top to keep your head off the hard shell. I have two photo
cards of him in races; in these he is using a "drillium" Trott-Helm with
lots of ventilation holes; the model I have is solid.
Angel Garcia
Long Valley, NJ