When Buying a Bike Helmet, Your First Priority Is Fit
If you come crashing to the ground, a helmet needs to stay on your head. Everything else is secondary.
When you shop through retailer links on our site, we may earn affiliate commissions. 100% of the fees we collect are used to support our nonprofit mission. Learn more.
Walk into a bike shop and start looking at helmets, and the array of options and high-tech features can seem overwhelming.
But while many of these features might be nice to have, they’re not what you should think of first. “Fit is the most important thing,” says Susan Booth, who oversees bike helmet testing for Consumer Reports.
See our reviews of the best electric bikes and budget-friendly electric bikes.
Finding a Helmet That Fits
As you browse your local bike shop or sporting goods store, first identify helmets that fit your primary riding needs: Road biking helmets with good ventilation will be best if you are out doing long fitness rides, a commuter helmet might work better for day-to-day work trips, and a product specifically designed for mountain biking can be worth it if you spend time on off-road trails.
You can look for helmets that have specific features you might want, like technologies to mitigate the rotational impact that contributes to concussions. Those are available even in helmets under $50 these days. But before you make a final decision, check the fit.
To do so, you’ll need to try on the helmets you are interested in. The front edge of the helmet should sit no more than an inch above your eyebrows. Even before you fasten the straps, your head should fit snugly but not uncomfortably against the pads inside the helmet.
Many helmets have an occipital stabilizer: a dial or knob at the back that can be spun to make a helmet tighter or looser. But you shouldn’t rely on it to make up for a poor fit, Swart advises. You want something that fits right even before fine-tuning, in case an accidental touch loosens the dial.
Once you have on a helmet that fits your head, fasten and tighten the straps. On a typical bike helmet, these should form a V-shape that joins just under your ears.
After you buckle the chinstrap, open your mouth a bit: That should pull the top of the helmet toward your head. Then try to wiggle the helmet around. If you can slide it forward or back, try tightening the straps. Moving it side to side should move the skin around your temples. If it’s not quite snug enough, you could try using thicker sizing pads that come with many helmets to fine-tune the fit.
Helmets come in a range of shapes and sizes—as do human heads. So if you can’t get a particular helmet to fit well, try a different one, Swart says. In a good bike shop, an employee should be able to help guide you.
You can also look out for some of CR’s top-rated bike helmets for adults (see the picks below) and for kids. Members can also pull up our full ratings of 84 adult and 25 youth helmets to reference when you’re shopping. Our tests include a rating for fit adjustments, which scores the features and versatility of a helmet’s retention system when adjusting its fit.
BEST TIME TO BUY:
