The Helmet Update
Volume 36, #8, December 14, 2018
All issues index
Virginia Tech publishes more helmet ratings
Virginia Tech has published more STAR system helmet ratings, bringing the total up to 50. Six of the additions were 5
Star and another 9 were 4 Star, the range that Tech recommends. Of those, one was also rated tops for impact protection
by Consumer Reports, the Schwinn Intercept. It retails for $18.
Most of the top performers in the Virginia Tech testing were MIPS models, reflecting in part their use of the same
methodology that MIPS uses: sticky headform, tight strap, severe anvil angle, rough grippy anvil, no neck. That
methodology couples the headform more tightly to the helmet than it would be in the real world. It would be expected to
favor the MIPS models, unlike
the Snell Foundation's research that showed no benefit from
MIPS.
There is still no consensus that the Virginia Tech formula for rating helmets for concussion pinpoints the helmets that
reduce concussion the best. Changes to the tested helmets to improve their scores might not result in fewer concussions
in the field. But since established standards organizations have failed to respond to concussion concerns, these ratings
represent a good start at testing helmets systematically for lower-level and rotational impact performance.
We have a page up
that matches the Consumer Reports and Virginia Tech top-rated
helmets, resulting in a grand total of seven where the two concur.
The Helmet Update - Bicycle Helmet Safety Institute
Randy Swart, Editor
4611 Seventh Street South
Arlington, VA 22204-1419 USA
(703) 486-0100 (voice)
(703) 486-0576 (fax)
www.helmets.org