# Full face helmet sizing and head shape?



## Fisherman166 (Oct 11, 2015)

I've been mountain bike riding for about 5 months now and I'm ready to step up to a full face helmet. I used to ride my bike with one as a kid all the time after I saw one of my neighborhood friends eat it on our street and knock out his two front teeth. I again find myself worrying about this, so I don't really care about how I look or how hot I get, I want just want the peace of mind.

So I went down to a local bike shop in Portland, Oregon called Universal Cycles to take a look. After watching some videos online about helmet fitment for motorcycles, I assumed the same would apply to mountain bike helmets. I measured the biggest part of my head, which put me at 57.7cm for circumference. When I got to the shop, I quickly found out they only carry 4 helmets in the price range I'd care to buy: Giro Cypher, Bell Sanction, Bell Super 2R, and Bell Transfer 9. They only had an extra small on hand for the Cypher, so I didn't try it. The sanction seemed flimsy and so did the super 2R. The super didn't feel great on the top (on my crown) of my head either.

The transfer 9 felt the best. At 57.7cm in head diameter, the sizing chart says I should be in the middle of large (57cm-59cm), but the large had a lot of back and forth movement. The cheek pads didn't push in either. The chin bar was only about a finger and a half away from my chin, which seemed really close compared to people I looked at online wearing them that had tons of space between their face and the chin bar: https://cdn.outdoorgearlab.com/photos/12/26/244114_7285_XL.jpg. The medium (55cm-57cm according to sizing chart) felt a lot tighter and really stayed in place well. No side to side or back and forth movement. The chin bar still felt close but the helmet stayed in place so well I couldn't push it into my face. I kept the helmet on and tried to move it around for about 15 minutes to get a feel for it. By time I left the shop the whole top part of my head was sore (the actual top of my head. My forehead was fine), but I wasn't sure if that was because the medium was too small or if I was just being way to rough in trying to see if the helmet actually fit. I switched between the medium and the large about 5 times and probably really over tightened the chin strap. Everything else felt great.

I'm wondering what I should do from here? On the videos I watched, it looked like motorcycle helmets have different shapes (oval, round,etc). I have a really narrow but long head, so I'd probably want oval. However, brands don't advertise their head shape online, so I would have no idea without just blindly ordering a bunch of them online since I haven't been able to find another shop around here that carries full face helmets. Should I just order a medium transfer 9 from Jenson USA and see how it goes? I guess I could always return it if it sucked.


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## Abagrizzli (May 28, 2012)

Met Parachute with its retention system works well in these cases. It is also a strong DH approved yet ventilated helmet, with interchangeable cheek pads - try it on. With your measurements you are Medium.


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## TwoTone (Jul 5, 2011)

This would be my recommendation. Bell's have never fit me correctly. Love my MET


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## Fisherman166 (Oct 11, 2015)

I haven't seen the parachute yet somehow. It definitely looks enticing and I'm happy that it would work for the few times I do DH and all mountain riding. The price is a bit steep though. I'll have to see if I can find a place around here that carries them...


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## rpearce1475 (Jan 24, 2015)

If you don't mind buying online, they're about $200 from the European bike shops.


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## Fisherman166 (Oct 11, 2015)

From what I can tell, they don't even sell the helmet in the US still. So it looks like my only option is to buy one from a European store and just roll the dice. I'd really like to try one on first but that doesn't look like it is going to happen.


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## Abagrizzli (May 28, 2012)

Plenty guys from US bought that helmet. You can check around, maybe somebody in your area has one and ask to try it on.


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