Getting The Fit Right: A Guide To Helmet Sizing

Visors are a wear item, not a lifetime part of the helmet, and most riders find a spare on hand is worth having, especially before a long trip.

To browse current models when it is time to replace yours, see HedonHelmets.

A handcrafted helmet shell starts with a base material, commonly fibreglass or a composite blend, layered and shaped by hand rather than produced purely by mould and machine. Each layer adds strength, and the shaping stage is where a lot of the time in production actually goes.

Most manufacturers recommend replacing a motorcycle helmet every five to seven years even without a crash, since the internal materials that absorb impact degrade slowly with heat, sweat and UV exposure. The shell can look fine while the protective layer underneath has already lost some of its effectiveness.

Neither format is a universal answer. Weather, speed, journey length and personal comfort all play a part, and many riders end up owning one of each for different trips.

Getting helmet sizing right starts with a proper head measurement, taken with a soft tape around the largest part of the head, just above the eyebrows and ears. That figure points to a starting size, but it is only a starting point, since head shape varies as much as head size.