Remember kids... always wear a helmet. (The almighty bikeradar helmet thread)

If it's closer to two months rather than two years since production then I might get one too.

Ah, cool. I thought you were going to tell me it was past its best before date!

Whilst they don't have bb dates trail centres etc are obliged by insurers to replace every 2 years from d.o.m. I was led to believe. If buying I'd prefer a more recent one, tho still quite happy rocking my 3yr+ one at the mo too.

Not sure if retailers should sell after 2yrs old tho?

I'll let you know later on.

Not sure if retailers should sell after 2yrs old tho?

Good question, though they're likely to be sold out after being heavily reduced in price after says, 6-12 months, will double check tomorrow.

Whilst they don't have bb dates trail centres etc are obliged by insurers to replace every 2 years from d.o.m. I was led to believe. If buying I'd prefer a more recent one, tho still quite happy rocking my 3yr+ one at the mo too.

I wonder if the two year rule is based on research provided to the insurers by the marketing department rather than the r&d teams.

Almost certainly.

I think in the olden days the suggestion was to replace motorcycle helmets after 2 years of use or 5 years after manufacture, whichever came first. That was 15 years ago when I last bought one, pretty sure there's been a decade and a half of progress in stabilising plastics against environmental degradation since then, but anything you wear every day is going to be pretty second hand after 2 years. Even posh lids (cycling, not moto) will only cost £1 a week at that rate.

trail centres etc are obliged by insurers to replace every 2 years from d.o.m. I was led to believe.

Presumably that's rental stock, not people's personal headwear?

^ yes, rental stock, even if unused, based on insurers req's. Would same "rules" not be applied to retailers by their insurers? If not why not?

I wonder if the two year rule is based on research provided to the insurers by the marketing department rather than the r&d teams.

possibly planned obsolescence.

^ yes, rental stock, even if unused, based on insurers req's. Would same "rules" not be applied to retailers by their insurers? If not why not?

Any limitation on sale by age would be the responsibility of the manufacturer. Unless the maker tells the shop to return/destroy anything unsold after a specific date, the shop can rely on passing responsibility for age-related failures to the manufacturer.

so why can't / don't trail centres follow the same path back to manufacturer via supplier?

I would assume that they need to do it for insurance reasons - it is likely a requirement of their policy, which is based on those old recommendations.

Shops don't insure for product liability, trail centres do insure for public liability, and their insurer can impose any conditions they dream up.

A 2 year service life for a cycle helmet isn't unreasonable, the policy probably just says 'date of manufacture' to eliminate any doubt about how long the helmet has been in service. Much simpler than getting into arguments about when exactly the trail centre took some NOS Skid-Lid out of the warehouse where it had lain unsold for the past 30 years

Fairy nuff.

Dibs on that helmet btw.

What's it's date of manufacture? (will be on sticker somewhere)

September 2013.

It's such a nice helmet, I thoroughly recommend it. Pure stealth.

MET Valeno is the one, looks evil and is super comfy :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkAcrUrzTCQ

So ..... What have we learned? Kidz like brainz!

I implicitly trust these people because they shout a lot.

I'm confused. The Hovding promo film http://www.lfgss.com/thread1525-121.html#post4166634 claims at 25Kph impact speed there is a 90% risk of serious head injury and a well over 30% risk of death when wearing one of these

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkAcrUrzTCQ

We have learnt that Americans see their heads like watermelons and a thicker skinned than europeans who have brains like eggs covered in eggshell

Egg in a helmet - YouTube

and that Americans shout more than Europeans

We can also learn from this story

The 62-year-old brother of the Duchess of Cornwall died after smashing his head on a pavement outside a New York club

That people near dangerous pavements outside New York clubs would be safer wearing helmets. I was very surprised not to hear any media comment that Mark Shand was helmetless when he hit his head and because of that was responsible for his own sad demise

I was very surprised not to hear any media comment that Mark Shand was helmetless when he hit his head and because of that was responsible for his own sad demise

That's because he had nipped out for a fag, and was therefore responsible for his own sad demise. Remember kids...smoking kills.