<>I've enjoyed the dialogue about the unlamented Skid-Lids, and thought I might comment on a couple of points:
1) The MSR (Mountain Safety Research) helmet was first to market with a real hard-shell, which was indeed derived from their mountaineering helmet. I don't know if it would meet the CPSC standard (much less the Snell), but its design was not stupid. It used deformable metal links and a web for top impact protection, and decent foam on the perimeter. MSR sent me a prototype about 1973, which I passed around among the racers in Corvallis. Too small for me, but they didn't mind the weight. MSR still makes mountaineering stoves and other kit.
2) I don't remember whether Bailen (Australia) preceded the Bell Biker or the other way around, but it was close. The cover picture of one issue of the LAW monthly was of our son, about 6, in his Bailen; a version became an advertising poster for them. His payment was a helmet, I think we signed the release. He's now 29.
3) Ya'll remember the double-D ring neck strap adjusters/retention units? With pleasure? :-)
4) NO helmet can protect against a sudden stop at high speed. Like head-on into the back of a stopped truck. A good helmet will give reasonable assurance that you will not break your skull open if your head falls vertically to hard pavement from 6 feet up. See BHSI. This is not so bad, since almost all falls have that "vertical component," but relatively few involve killing forward momentum that quickly: you tend to slide, skid, roll, and whatever. <><> Having given the commercial, we close with a word from Randy Swart, of Bicycle Helmet Safety Institute:
Randy said in an email to me:
"--The Skidlid made it clear that a bicycle helmet standard was required. People bought the thing! The average consumer cannot judge the impact protection or strap strength of a helmet in a store, and in fact you have to test it to destruction to be sure, so you need a standard with lab testing. When Snell tested the Skidlid for us for our 1983 article in Bicycling magazine it failed miserably, of course. Skidlid and Pro-Tec fought the ANSI standard, but the article was a wakeup call for consumers and helped get the standard adopted in 1984. Pro-Tec improved their helmets, but SkidLid refused to and went out of business soon after.
"--The Skidlid did put pressure on bike helmet manufacturers to make a cooler helmet. That was its principal selling point vs the Bell Biker and the MSR, particularly in Southern California. A number of companies worked hard to open up vents in the 1980's, and competing with Skidlid was part of the motivation."
We return you now to our regular programming on Masi, Colnago, and eBay outings.
harvey sachs
mcLean va
(Colnago-free since birth)