# "Similar" helmets for MTB and Road? What do you wear?



## gthcarolina (Mar 3, 2005)

I have two Uvex helmets that are both kind of similar but not the same and they are both due for replacement. I think there are obvious features that make ONE helmet better than another for the riding type, but I would like two helmets from the same brand that fit and attach in a similar way. Does that make sense? For example, a road helmet would be lighter and more aero, an MTB helmet would have more coverage, etc. I'm looking at a million helmets and I can't seem to find any pattern.


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## ghoti (Mar 23, 2011)

Usually if you stick within a brand they may have similar fit and sometimes retention systems.


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## skinnybeans (Jun 12, 2009)

I just wear the same helmet.. a bright green bell super!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Mr Pig (Jun 25, 2008)

I've always used the same helmet for both. What is wrong with doing that?


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## Humpy (Jun 7, 2015)

I bought a helmet for road and another for the mountain bike. They ended being summer and winter helmets instead.


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## NordieBoy (Sep 26, 2004)

I've got a Giro Phase for road/XC and a Bell Super for gnar.


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## Lone Rager (Dec 13, 2013)

I wear road helmets for trail and XC.


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## MozFat (Dec 16, 2016)

A MTB XC Helmet would serve for both, just remove the visor if you want a more roadie look. Not quite as much coverage admittedly.


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## Coldbore (Jul 14, 2017)

I like Mtn bike helmets with a visor for all riding


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## Mr Pig (Jun 25, 2008)

MozFat said:


> A MTB XC Helmet would serve for both, just remove the visor if you want a more roadie look. Not quite as much coverage admittedly.


This is what I don't understand. The reasons why people want different helmets are mostly bollocks!

A MTB helmet has more coverage on the back. So, you don't want that protection on the road? MTB helmets have visors. The sun doesn't shine on the road??? The visor is actually very useful on the road. Not only does it keep the sun out but if you hold your head at the right angle it keeps the rain and wind out of your eyes too.

So are roadies really so vain and obsessed with weight? In my opinion, yip. I see them all the time, hundreds of them, and it's obvious that how they look matters to them a lot. Most of the roadies I know would baulk at the very thought of wearing a big MTB helmet on the road despite the fact that it would almost certainly protect their heads better. It's pathetic really.


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## NordieBoy (Sep 26, 2004)

A visor is useless on the road, just blocks your vision. You are sitting far more upright on a MTB.

I can't wear a visor on the MTB unless it's a movable one that I can tweak up out of my line of sight when climbing.

My Giro Phase, I have to remove the visor and the Bell Super can be moved to suit.

Sunglasses help keep the sun/rain/wind out of your eyes too.


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## Mr Pig (Jun 25, 2008)

NordieBoy said:


> A visor is useless on the road..


Wear mine all the time.


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## NordieBoy (Sep 26, 2004)

Mr Pig said:


> Wear mine all the time.


Do you have a road bike?


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## Mr Pig (Jun 25, 2008)

NordieBoy said:


> Do you have a road bike?


Yes. Literally just walked in the door from a ride on it, while wearing my Smith Forefront MTB helmet. I was thinking about what you said about the visor. The visor on the Forefront is movable but I keep it in the lower position all the time. I was riding along thinking about how the visor effected my vision and the answer was, not much. The difference between where the limit of your vision is with the visor down and where it is without it translates into moving your head about a centimetre! It's just not an issue, not for me anyway.

Besides, most MTB visors are removable. There is no reason why you couldn't take the visor off for road riding if you preferred. In fact I for years I did exactly that. I keep it on now because I've realised that there are benefits.


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## MSU Alum (Aug 8, 2009)

It seems to me that from a safety standpoint the road bike specific helmets are much less effective than the mountain designs that do more to protect the lower back of the head and the sides. Unless you are a top tier competitor who needs the lower drag of a road helmet, I'd go the mountain helmet route. But then, I don't road bike, so maybe the drag coefficient is a bigger deal than survivability.


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## J.B. Weld (Aug 13, 2012)

Mr Pig said:


> So are roadies really so vain and obsessed with weight? In my opinion, yip. I see them all the time, hundreds of them, and it's obvious that how they look matters to them a lot. Most of the roadies I know would baulk at the very thought of wearing a big MTB helmet on the road despite the fact that it would almost certainly protect their heads better. It's pathetic really.


You think looks don't matter to mountain bikers too? I've dozens of color coordination threads on this forum, lots of fashion queens on the trails as well as on the roads.

Yes more protection might be sensible but there is always a balance, a full face downhill helmet would be the safest for everything but there are compromises involved. Lots of people do use the same helmet for mountain and road, and they use a road helmet for both. Light and airy has advantages too.


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## mtnbkrmike (Mar 26, 2015)

Agreed. Looks matter big time to me as a mountain biker. 

Case in point...I wear my Super 2R helmet (sans chin bar) commuting every day. Along with my Sombrio baggy shorts, baggy mountain biking shirt and clunky 5-10 cleated shoes (attached to my Time mountain bike pedals), all atop either my Kona Paddy Wagon fixie or my C-Dale 6 Pack To Go cyclocross. The last thing I want is to be mistaken for a roadie. 

6 Pack To Go...$1500
Sombrio baggy shorts...$75
Time pedals (circa 2005)...$200
Overtaking a group of spandex-clad roadies with my gigantic Oakley pack on my back and my visor half covering my eyes...priceless...


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## Mr Pig (Jun 25, 2008)

J.B. Weld said:


> Yes more protection might be sensible but there is always a balance, a full face downhill helmet would be the safest for everything but there are compromises involved.


Sure, but a full-face would be warm on a hot road ride. I have seen a guy do it. In practice you're not going to notice much difference between a road a light-weight MTB helmet though.


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## J.B. Weld (Aug 13, 2012)

Mr Pig said:


> Sure, but a full-face would be warm on a hot road ride. I have seen a guy do it. In practice you're not going to notice much difference between a road a light-weight MTB helmet though.


Well there is some difference, how much and whether or not it matters is a matter of opinion and personal choice. Sort of like carbon vs. aluminum, 120 vs. 140mm suspension, clipless vs. flats, etc.


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## NordieBoy (Sep 26, 2004)

Mr Pig said:


> Yes. Literally just walked in the door from a ride on it, while wearing my Smith Forefront MTB helmet. I was thinking about what you said about the visor. The visor on the Forefront is movable but I keep it in the lower position all the time. I was riding along thinking about how the visor effected my vision and the answer was, not much. The difference between where the limit of your vision is with the visor down and where it is without it translates into moving your head about a centimetre! It's just not an issue, not for me anyway.
> 
> Besides, most MTB visors are removable. There is no reason why you couldn't take the visor off for road riding if you preferred. In fact I for years I did exactly that. I keep it on now because I've realised that there are benefits.


It may just be my head shape, but the front of helmets seem to sit quite low on my forehead (I can see the bottom of the helmet above my eyes) and my road bars are 15cm lower than my seat.

If I can see the visor poking down into my vision, it's too low.

Every time I put the visor back on the Giro Phase for road or mtb, it's only 10min or so before it gets pulled off and stuck in a jersey pocket.

I really like the Bell Super's visor though. I can keep it out of the way visually, but still get the benefits.


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## NordieBoy (Sep 26, 2004)

MSU Alum said:


> It seems to me that from a safety standpoint the road bike specific helmets are much less effective than the mountain designs that do more to protect the lower back of the head and the sides. Unless you are a top tier competitor who needs the lower drag of a road helmet, I'd go the mountain helmet route. But then, I don't road bike, so maybe the drag coefficient is a bigger deal than survivability.


The road helmets seem to be getting better. The Poc ones look to have better coverage than the norm.


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## Silver54 (Jun 29, 2017)

Mr Pig said:


> This is what I don't understand. The reasons why people want different helmets are mostly bollocks!


I was a fairly hardcore roadie for a number of years. My one big observation was that it tended to attract a lot of peope with money to burn. People showing up with uber-expensive bikes and outfitted like Tour De France riders was the norm. I remember doing a 70 mile road ride once wearing a Camelbak with people constantly asking me, "hey why are you wearing that?" Same thing applies with the gear.


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## Mr Pig (Jun 25, 2008)

Silver54 said:


> I was a fairly hardcore roadie for a number of years. My one big observation was that it tended to attract a lot of peope with money to burn. People showing up with uber-expensive bikes and outfitted like Tour De France riders was the norm.


It's kinda like that here. Most road bikes look the same to me from the other side of the road but the riders are all lycrad up. There are a few local clubs so it's not unusual to see a flock of them in matching lycra.

If the visor is a problem for you on the road then fair enough. I'm fine with it. Maybe I should look where I'm going though? ;0)


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## NordieBoy (Sep 26, 2004)

MTB shoes and pedals on the roadie get a few stares too


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## gthcarolina (Mar 3, 2005)

Thanks for all the help so far. I understand the different style preferences. I just ordered a couple of Giro helmets from Backcountry, so I will see if I can make do with just one or keep both.


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## shoopow (Oct 12, 2015)

To answer the OPs question for those who may be interested in the future, the Poc Octal (road) and Tectal (mtn) are very similar.


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## RS VR6 (Mar 29, 2007)

There are lots of the road/XC helmets where the only difference is that the XC helmet comes with a snap on/off visor and the road does not.


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