# Bell Super DH cheek pads fit issue



## alxrmrs (Jan 18, 2017)

I recently purchased the Bell Super DH. While the fit of the helmet overall feels great I have a huge issue with the cheek pads. Even the smaller (25mm) ones really push hard into my cheek bones to the point where it hurts while I wear the helmet for more than a few minutes.
I contacted Bell and they said 25mm is the smallest they make. Does anyone know if there is a way to modify the current pads or if aftermarket pads are for sale?
They also said I could run the helmet without the cheek pads but when I do that and shake my head the helmet moves around too much. I'm afraid this would be detrimental on the trail.
Another option I have is to attempt to size up and hope that works. I have another Bell Sixer also in a medium and once I take off the chin bar the helmet overall fits great so I'm somewhat hesitant to try this.


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## Jrose152 (Jan 24, 2021)

alxrmrs said:


> I recently purchased the Bell Super DH. While the fit of the helmet overall feels great I have a huge issue with the cheek pads. Even the smaller (25mm) ones really push hard into my cheek bones to the point where it hurts while I wear the helmet for more than a few minutes.
> I contacted Bell and they said 25mm is the smallest they make. Does anyone know if there is a way to modify the current pads or if aftermarket pads are for sale?
> They also said I could run the helmet without the cheek pads but when I do that and shake my head the helmet moves around too much. I'm afraid this would be detrimental on the trail.
> Another option I have is to attempt to size up and hope that works. I have another Bell Sixer also in a medium and once I take off the chin bar the helmet overall fits great so I'm somewhat hesitant to try this.


Sounds like your helmet doesn't fit unfortunately. They are hard to come by right now so if you have to resell it shouldn't be too hard.

Sent from my SM-G975U1 using Tapatalk


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## ocnLogan (Aug 15, 2018)

Have you tried rotating the helmet forward to lower the helmet on your cheeks? It doesn’t have huge adjustment range, but is still worth checking. 

There are adjusters on top (under the padding) to rotate the helmets boa system, which is what I’m talking about.


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## alxrmrs (Jan 18, 2017)

ocnLogan said:


> Have you tried rotating the helmet forward to lower the helmet on your cheeks? It doesn't have huge adjustment range, but is still worth checking.
> 
> There are adjusters on top (under the padding) to rotate the helmets boa system, which is what I'm talking about.


Thanks gave that a shot. It helped slightly but still no dice. I'm either thinking of trying a large or cutting down the pads myself and sewing them back together. 
I was thinking of maybe returning for a large but I counted 8-9 clicks of the dial from fully open to get it secure on my head. I imagine a large helmet would be too big.


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## Anderiks (Mar 26, 2021)

alxrmrs said:


> Thanks gave that a shot. It helped slightly but still no dice. I'm either thinking of trying a large or cutting down the pads myself and sewing them back together.
> I was thinking of maybe returning for a large but I counted 8-9 clicks of the dial from fully open to get it secure on my head. I imagine a large helmet would be too big.


I have the exact same issue as you. Switching from 30 to 25mm helped some, but just like you I can count 8 clicks of the dial from fully to secure..So the Large is too big I think. I also tested a sister model to this helmet in Large and that was for sure too big for my head. Would have loved if there were any 20mm pads...I think that would be perfect.
How did you eventually go about this? Have you done any modifications?


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## IMeasure (Oct 5, 2020)

Anderiks said:


> I have the exact same issue as you. Switching from 30 to 25mm helped some, but just like you I can count 8 clicks of the dial from fully to secure..So the Large is too big I think. I also tested a sister model to this helmet in Large and that was for sure too big for my head. Would have loved if there were any 20mm pads...I think that would be perfect.
> How did you eventually go about this? Have you done any modifications?


I don't have this exact helmet but whats stopping you making your own pads, using the ones that come with the helmet as a template. The foam material is not difficult to find and is easy to cut with a blade.


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## Anderiks (Mar 26, 2021)

IMeasure said:


> I don't have this exact helmet but whats stopping you making your own pads, using the ones that come with the helmet as a template. The foam material is not difficult to find and is easy to cut with a blade.


Only the fact that I have never done anything like this before. I don't even know where to start.


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## IMeasure (Oct 5, 2020)

There are shops that sell foam and rubber. I'm in Australia and we have a company called Clarke's Rubber in every decent size town. Find your equivalent. Take in your pad and talk to the staff at the counter. When you show them how little foam you need to buy they will probably laugh a bit and point you to the offcuts bin which will be full of free offcuts. Grab some free offcuts and play around with those at home. 

Find a foam with similar density and thickness and if you can't find an offcut, buy the minimum amount possible. If it is too thick you will be able to slice it with a thin sharp blade which you can find in staples. To cut the shape you can use some scissors or potentially the blade. 

I like doing this type of simple hacking especially if it's results in something that better suits me. Is it worth your time and effort? Well that's up to you to decide. 

Cheers 

Dan


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## alxrmrs (Jan 18, 2017)

Anderiks said:


> How did you eventually go about this? Have you done any modifications?


Still have the helmet sitting here, haven't actually used it.



IMeasure said:


> I don't have this exact helmet but whats stopping you making your own pads, using the ones that come with the helmet as a template. The foam material is not difficult to find and is easy to cut with a blade.


Clearly you haven't seen these pads, they aren't just foam blocks. That would be extremely uncomfortable.


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## Anderiks (Mar 26, 2021)

IMeasure said:


> There are shops that sell foam and rubber. I'm in Australia and we have a company called Clarke's Rubber in every decent size town. Find your equivalent. Take in your pad and talk to the staff at the counter. When you show them how little foam you need to buy they will probably laugh a bit and point you to the offcuts bin which will be full of free offcuts. Grab some free offcuts and play around with those at home.
> 
> Find a foam with similar density and thickness and if you can't find an offcut, buy the minimum amount possible. If it is too thick you will be able to slice it with a thin sharp blade which you can find in staples. To cut the shape you can use some scissors or potentially the blade.
> 
> ...


Well that was kind of you buddy. Even though I agree with Alex and think it will be hard to create comfortable pads by myself, I will give it a try.
Hope you're good down there in one of my favourite countries.

Cheers mate.

Andy


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## Anderiks (Mar 26, 2021)

alxrmrs said:


> Still have the helmet sitting here, haven't actually used it.


Because you have not had the opportunity to ride? or because you're using another helmet?


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## alxrmrs (Jan 18, 2017)

Anderiks said:


> Because you have not had the opportunity to ride? or because you're using another helmet?


I have a regular trail helmet that I use. Luckily I live in CA and trails are rideable all year round!


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## DormerHarpring (Apr 1, 2021)

alxrmrs said:


> They also said I could run the helmet without the cheek pads but when I do that and shake my head the helmet moves around too much. I'm afraid this would be detrimental on the trail.


Especially if you take a spill...


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## Ktom300 (Feb 29, 2012)

Older thread, sorry. Did anyone find a solution here? 
I bought a medium even though I usually run a M/L, the fit with the chin bar removed is amazing. Most comfortable helmet I've ever worn with around 5 clicks in on adjustment. 
With chin bar on and thinner pads, my face is getting smashed uncomfortably. 
I was thinking about removing a row of stitches on the 30mm pad and taking the foam out to shave it down to 15mm. Other alternative is to suffer a few rides and see if the smaller pads compress down on break-in?


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## DennisT (Dec 29, 2019)

Ktom300 said:


> Older thread, sorry. Did anyone find a solution here?
> I bought a medium even though I usually run a M/L, the fit with the chin bar removed is amazing. Most comfortable helmet I've ever worn with around 5 clicks in on adjustment.
> With chin bar on and thinner pads, my face is getting smashed uncomfortably.
> I was thinking about removing a row of stitches on the 30mm pad and taking the foam out to shave it down to 15mm. Other alternative is to suffer a few rides and see if the smaller pads compress down on break-in?


Or stack them under a couple of books for a day or three.


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## stiingya (Apr 30, 2004)

Same issue, I can wear it with the 25mm pads. But it's not comfortable, and why wear it if it's uncomfortable!! Too bad they don't have slimmer pads available; or have these pads like the super 3r did where they velcro'ed open and you could remove slim sections of the padding to customize the fit? (one of my moto helmets is like that) (also, the super 3r pads won't fit this helmet, reversed "buttons" that would be in the wrong positions anyway and only 2 instead of the three "buttons" on the DH.

I'm going to go ahead and open the pads up and replace the foam with slimmer pads that came with a motorcycle helmet I didn't need for that helmet to fit. And you can get replacement sets with the 25mm and 30mm pads like it comes with for 20-30 bucks. So if it doesn't work out I can just buy the replacement pads and sell the helmet. BUT, I've already tried it with the pads removed and the slimmer pads from the motorcycle helmet in there and it feels great. So don't see how I'd have any issue making the swap...?

Did anyone else try it?


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## stiingya (Apr 30, 2004)

So just to be sure, I did order the large to check that wasn't the better fit before messing with the cheek pads on the med. But it was pretty huge!  So I sent it back and kept the medium.

I found some snap in replacement pads for a Troy Lee DH helmet in 10mm thickness to see how those work for fit. I also still have the little 5mm neoprene pad from my Super 3R that I can use as a backer to the 10mm pad to make it 15mm if needed.

So hopefully that will get me the right thickness and then I'll open up the 25mm pads and swap things out!


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## alxrmrs (Jan 18, 2017)

stiingya said:


> I found some snap in replacement pads for a Troy Lee DH helmet in 10mm thickness to see how those work for fit.


Do you have a link to these?


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## stiingya (Apr 30, 2004)

alxrmrs said:


> Do you have a link to these?


Here you go, they were actually already 15mm thick pads and were the perfect thickness for me!!









Stage Cheekpad Solid Black


STAGE HELMET REPLACEMENT CHEEKPADS Replace your worn or lost cheekpads or customize the fit of your Stage helmet. 3 sizes and colors available}




troyleedesigns.com





The snaps on the troy lee pads are totally different, way smaller. (wondered if I might get lucky with that and have it just snap in/partially/ etc.) SO I had to go ahead with the pad swap.

On the 25mm pad I cut the seams on the one side with the seams over the plastic and only cut on the plastic side. 











(used a sharp pointed knife and gently pushed through each loop and pulled the threads out on each loop) I only cut in the middle enough so I could pull the 25mm foam pad out without removing too much of the seam so it stays together well. When you pull the old pads out you'll see the red snaps fall out. So what I did was just put the empty pad "pocket" back in the helmet like this without the new donor pad. Just put my finger inside to hold the red snap in place and popped them in one by one. Took a bit to get them all lined up, but easy enough and it all stays in there like that. Then I removed the 15mm foam from the Troy Lee donor pads and just slipped them in. They are not a perfect fit. The new pads have a different shape and are smaller is height as well as thickness.

I actually got the pads today and just barely did it now and honestly think it's good to go! I'd wear it just like this... BUT, before I close up the pads. (was just going to super glue it, eith the thinner foam you have excess material you can fold over/under.) I'm going to look and see if I can find some 4'x4'x~15mm foam. Now that I have the original out I could just trace it on a thinner sheet and then it would have the same shape as the original and fill the "pocket". I think I'll look around town first, there is lots of foam on Amazon, etc. But you can't tell if it's soft/hard, etc. This foam is very soft/spongy. So I want to get something just like it.

It's just open cell foam, nothing fancy? The donor pads was the same stuff.











At least I'm 100% this is going to work out now!! Helmet is WAY comfortable now and the 15mm still feels like enough foam and a close enough fit that the helmet is still very secure! And MUCH nicer on the ears putting the helmet on and off with the chin bar on.


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## alxrmrs (Jan 18, 2017)

stiingya said:


> Here you go, they were actually already 15mm thick pads and were the perfect thickness for me!!
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I'm a little confused. Will these work as plug and play or do they need to be modified?


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## stiingya (Apr 30, 2004)

alxrmrs said:


> I'm a little confused. Will these work as plug and play or do they need to be modified?


I ordered them as donor pads. Not sure where your seeing anything about plug and play?


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## alxrmrs (Jan 18, 2017)

stiingya said:


> I ordered them as donor pads. Not sure where your seeing anything about plug and play?


I re-read you're post but you're talking about modifications between two types of pads so I'm confused as to which exactly you were referring to. So do the Troy Lee pads fit without modifications? Yes or no please


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## stiingya (Apr 30, 2004)

alxrmrs said:


> I re-read you're post but you're talking about modifications between two types of pads so I'm confused as to which exactly you were referring to. So do the Troy Lee pads fit without modifications? Yes or no please


Sorry, they do not fit. I ordered them because they were thinner and I pulled the foam out of them to replace the foam in the 25mm Bell pads.


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