'New' bash hat - ?

[simongt]

I was knocked off my bike about three years ago, so obviousy I had to get a new bash hat. Bought a Specialized road type which suits me fine. However, whilst I was looking for a replacement urban bash hat yesterday, when asked what size I took, I looked in my Specialized and saw that it had been made in January 2016, two and a half years before I'd actually bought it from Evan's Cycles - !
As It's recommended that we replace bash hats every few years, what's with buying a 'new' one that's already old - ?

 

[DRM]

I’m sure I read that a helmet best before date is hogwash, dreamed up by the manufacturer to sell more helmets, as long as you don’t drop it they last a fair while
https://helmets.org/replace.htm

 

[mjr]

I’m sure I read that a helmet best before date is hogwash, dreamed up by the manufacturer to sell more helmets, as long as you don’t drop it they last a fair while
https://helmets.org/replace.htm

"if you ride thousands of miles every year, five years may be a realistic estimate of helmet life."

Also, I think you are relying on shops to store and handle them properly. Do you trust those zero-hours minimum-wage sales assistants (or, worse, warehouse picker) with your life?

 

[fossyant]

So long as it's not damaged, it's still OK. OK if it's tatty and looks a mess, maybe get another skid lid.

 

[classic33]

"if you ride thousands of miles every year, five years may be a realistic estimate of helmet life."

Also, I think you are relying on shops to store and handle them properly. Do you trust those zero-hours minimum-wage sales assistants (or, worse, warehouse picker) with your life?

Why should being on a Zero hours/minimum wage contract affect how you work. If you have no interest in the work you're doing then the amount being paid will make no difference to how you do it.

There are some who take a certain amount of pride in their work.

 

[Blue Hills]

I'd use a helmet until the straps/harness system go unless it was dropped or involved in a crash.
Never put one on a table etc.

 

[cougie uk]

"if you ride thousands of miles every year, five years may be a realistic estimate of helmet life."

Also, I think you are relying on shops to store and handle them properly. Do you trust those zero-hours minimum-wage sales assistants (or, worse, warehouse picker) with your life?

All the helmets I've bought have come in sturdy cardboard boxes. If the box is ok the helmet will be.

It's only a bit of plastic and foam. I'm sure it matters more what the user's do to it rather than how it's stored in a shop.

 

[Drago]

Golden rules for bonce potty buying!

1. Visit the store in person.

2. Check the 'born on' date of any helmet you're planing to take home.

3. Physically try it on, check it for comfort and fit.

You either believe bonce potties will save you, or you don't. If you do, then stick to the rules, otherwise you may as well not bother. I always chuckle when folk buy a helmet because they're a believer (fair enough, that's everyone's personal choice), but not so much of a believer that they won't put saving money money ahead of safety.

I’m sure I read that a helmet best before date is hogwash, dreamed up by the manufacturer to sell more helmets, as long as you don’t drop it they last a fair while
https://helmets.org/replace.htm

In all honesty they're probabky right, but the author has no stated qualifications or expertise on the subject. Therefore, once again, if you believe they work then the default must be the manufacturer, not an anonymous person from interwebland.

All the helmets I've bought have come in sturdy cardboard boxes. If the box is ok the helmet will be.

It's only a bit of plastic and foam. I'm sure it matters more what the user's do to it rather than how it's stored in a shop.

Again, you're probably bang on the money. But....that is only supposition, and one thing we all should have woken up to a long time ago is that intuition or perceived wisdom is often wrong when it comes to safety. If it's not been reasonably evidenced, then don't rely upon it when making a safety decision.

 

[mjr]

Why should being on a Zero hours/minimum wage contract affect how you work. If you have no interest in the work you're doing then the amount being paid will make no difference to how you do it.

There are some who take a certain amount of pride in their work.

If the bike shop jobs market is functioning, those that take pride and are competent should be on higher pay and/or some guaranteed weekly hours.

 

[Pale Rider]

Are these things really so fragile that dropping one from a metre or two will wreck it?

 

[classic33]

If the bike shop jobs market is functioning, those that take pride and are competent should be on higher pay and/or some guaranteed weekly hours.

Unfortunately we know that's not the case, and not just in bicycle shops. It's still unfair to say, or imply, that they'll someone on a zero hour minimum wage contract care less about doing their job.

I'd say it's also a very poor way to judge where to buy something.

 

[newfhouse]

Are these things really so fragile that dropping one from a metre or two will wreck it?

Quite. Maybe they should be encased in some sort of polystyrene shell for their own protection.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Are these things really so fragile that dropping one from a metre or two will wreck it?

Yes

 

[fossyant]

Are these things really so fragile that dropping one from a metre or two will wreck it?

No.

They are quite good at stopping gravel rash on the thin layer of skin on your noggin, or getting hit by low branches when MTB'ing

Chuck them when they get tatty. You'll usually find the retention system ages and eventually breaks somewhere. The potty section is ok.

As said try some on for fit. I'm a medium Bell but a large PX On-One. Got 3 On-one lids (various colours) for half the cost of the Bell helmet. Is it 6 times better, nope, but looks good, but not 6 times better looking.

 

[matticus]

Never put one on a table etc.

Curious about this. Is it because it might get knocked off and land on the floor? I ask this because from where I sit I can see my bike hat on the other side of the dining table.

It's a superstition:
There is a superstition associated with hats saying that a hat left on a bed or a table brings bad luck. ... One possible explanation for these superstitions is that they were created when lice were more prevalent. Keeping hats off tables and beds was a way of preventing lice from spreading.