In 1983 there was the Bell V1 Pro,
see http://www.bellbikestuff.com/
Around that time I had a similar looking Bell, but it was painted foam, with no hard shell at all.
Today I ride with a modern "swoopy-zoomy" style Bell and don't feel it detracts from my vintage bikes in the slightest way. Bike helmets have come a long way since the On Topic period ended and I don't see the point (or wisdom) of riding with an obsolete helmet. However, if somebody wants to, they can always get a BMX, kayak or mountain climbing helmet and look dorky.
-- John Betmanis Woodstock, Ontario Canada
On 18/02/2011 1:12 PM, Carlos Ovalle wrote:
> Bell Helmet produced a hard-shell helmet sometime in the mid-80s that was not as dorky looking as their original white helmet. I don't know the name of that particular helmet but it mimicked the thicker hairnet helmets in terms of look, while complying with the codes of the day. The shell was thick plastic, not the paper-thin stuff of today, and it was high-density EPS for shock absorption.
>
> I don't know of anything today except for perhaps Bell's Citi helmet, in black.
>
> Carlos Ovalle
> Long Beach, California, USA
> http://www.ovallearchitects.com