Helmet Source in South Bay

4pipes · #1 (**permalink**) 05-04-2005, 09:38 PM

Are there any stores in the San Jose area where you can buy helmets? I think Frey Racing is out of business. I'm looking for Bell, Simpson, or Arai.

Mulv · #2 (**permalink**) 05-05-2005, 08:52 AM

4

The best place in the Bay Area to get a helmet is:

http://www.bellmotorsports.com/

or
http://www.helmetcity.com/page/HC/CTGY/AH

in Oakland.... They have every size in stock. You need to try these things on as the sizes really don't mean as much as they used to. I cannot fit into any helmet made bt Bell regardless of size due to Snell 2000 padding in the lower shell. I did have Bell Snell 85 and 90 helmets which fit and switched to Simpson for 95 and 2000. Oakland is not that far... make sure you get an SA2000 helmet for car stuff and not the cheaper nylon lining.

Steve

Randy Rosenberg · #3 (**permalink**) 05-05-2005, 11:28 AM

Steve's right! I've had only great experiences purchasing safety equipment from Bell in Oakland.

Don't forget to buy a neck collar!

scootter · #4 (**permalink**) 05-05-2005, 04:09 PM

I am not sure if there is a difference, but the motorcycle shops have very nice ones here in the south bay. I might say that there are some pretty fancy ones too. They carry Bell, Arai, Simpson. Road Rider on Montery Road, Cycle Gear on Meridian, and any shop that sells street bikes.

Randy Rosenberg · #5 (**permalink**) 05-05-2005, 05:53 PM

Hey Scooter,

Good advice, as long as one does NOT buy a Motorcycle Helmet and use it in a car. Motorcycle Helmets and Auto Helmets, tho look similar, are made very differently, and designed to provide different type of protection. As I recall (and I may be wrong here), Motorcycle helmets are designed more for multiple impact protection and no fire protection, where Auto helmets are designed for single impact protection AND fire protection. Again, I may be wrong here, but I do know that they are definitely different, and one should mix up their applications.

Hope this helps!

Regards,
Randy R...

scootter · #6 (**permalink**) 05-06-2005, 12:04 PM

Never thought of that. But it sounds about right. I know everytime that my dirt bike helmet has a good impact, I get a new one just incase ( I can usually tell because I have a headache).

Mulv · #7 (**permalink**) 05-06-2005, 03:30 PM

Guys

Motorcycle helmets are absolutely not what you want to be wearing in a car. You might as well not wear a helmet at all if you are using bike stuff. The motorcycle helmet shell is much smaller and less padded than a car helmet, allowing for less sacrificial material. Generally the eyeport is larger on a bike helmet as well to facillitate seeing whilst travelling in multi direction traffic, which allows fairly large objects to enter the shell. The forces you experience while using a bike helmet as it is designed are far less than the forces you receive in a car, as when racing , the speeds on motorcycles are quite low, particularily cornering speeds. You tend to decelerate quite a lot before you whack your head in a bike crash as well. In a car you impact some interior part (or the roll cage) at essentially the full speed of the impact.

Now I know this will generate a lot of comment from the poorly informed, but it is true. F1 motorcycles would be lapped by F1 cars at most of the venues about every 6 laps and when they crash, the biker is almost always grinding a limb or torso as he whistles into the sand pit effectively losing speed through friction.

In any case, no sanctioning body or open track group of any repute will let you use a bike helmet in a track event, so the issue is not a real one.

Buy a car helmet and get the most expensive one you can afford. It is the one piece of safety equipment that is really critical to your survival. Remember racing is a blood sport -it is wise to prepare.

On a more upbeat note, a good helmet is a great thing - go for carbon fibre, your neck will thank you

Steve

4pipes · #8 (**permalink**) 05-06-2005, 04:21 PM

Well, thanks for all the input; I don't need anymore! I never planned on buying a motorcycle helmet. I've done the research and there are no motorsports stores in the South Bay where one can try on SAxx helmets. Also, through my due diligence, I found that most sellers say that any helmet that passes the Snell test (for the proper year) is equivalent to any other. So impact protection is not necessarily a function of helmet cost. Thanks.