Who makes helmets with gel padding?

[HelmutHerr]

Hi all.

Does anyone other than Met make helmets with gel pads in place of absorbent pads? I far prefer them to sweaty, dirty absorbent liners.

I have a Met Kaos, and it's a great lid, but the front pad just won't stay stuck for love nor money. After three sets of pads and every type of glue I could find, it's time to move on!

[Scott2468]

I understand I am not answering your question. Apologies in advance.

I recently got a Kask Vertigo helmet on special. I love it, the best helmet I've ever worn.

Why? because of the "two piece hinged harness" and the leatherette chin strap. It just works!

The pads you question are not gel but they are not the absorbent type either. They are a perforated material, something in the middle.

[human909]

Gell would seem a horrible material to make padding out of.

Gell is useful for higher load applications where you want the pressure spread out evenly across all contacting surfaces. It avoids point loads. Helmets have negligible pressure loads and would have no use for gel. (Except maybe in sports where you use your head as a battering ram. )

I far prefer them to sweaty, dirty absorbent liners.

Without sounding like a pedant I do believe that your head the bit that is sweaty and dirty. Changing to gel or similar won't change that.

I have a Met Kaos, and it's a great lid, but the front pad just won't stay stuck for love nor money. After three sets of pads and every type of glue I could find, it's time to move on!

Sounds like a badly designed helmet. My $50 on sale Limar has a one piece thin skull pad that has only come off when my little nephew has played with my helmet. It probably is 5 years old now and still going strong. It gets locked up with my bike and endures the weather.



(Though it does seem that Met does have sepparate gel padding though it is more of a gimmick than anything else.)
http://www.pushys.com.au/met-gel-o2-hel ... t-pad.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[HelmutHerr]

The pads you question are not gel but they are not the absorbent type either. They are a perforated material, something in the middle.

Coolmax. Stuff seems to be used in everything these days. There's probably a reason for that!

Gell would seem a horrible material to make padding out of.
...
Sounds like a badly designed helmet. My $50 on sale Limar has a one piece thin skull pad that has only come off when my little nephew has played with my helmet. It probably is 5 years old now and still going strong. It gets locked up with my bike and endures the weather.

Feels great to me, but my top criterion is not having to smoosh my head against a bacteria farm every time I ride the bike, which probably affects my estimation of materials.

Everything but the front pad seems designed well - at least on par with my five-year-old Limar. I don't know that there's much difference between mid-range helmets in terms of shell and harness design, although I rather suspect that Met intends for users to need regular pad replacements as a sales strategy.

[il padrone]

Wash the helmet now and then if it really bothers you

[human909]

Feels great to me, but my top criterion is not having to smoosh my head against a bacteria farm every time I ride the bike

So that sounds like it is more psychological than anything else. (Please don't be insulted, I'm simply suggesting that if there isn't an ACTUAL issue then why search for a solution.)

Though like il Padrone has said if you are worried give it a wash. I just tried the sniff test on my helmet and it passed no problems!

[HelmutHerr]

Well, the gel pad exists to make things easier and cleaner, and for me it does. Similarly, belt drives exist, but people can continue to use chains if they prefer that.

[Xplora]

I started wearing bandannas to absorb the sweat. I don't wear them racing but I was trying to avoid a 6 month sweat build up lol

As far as gel, didn't know they existed but it sounds like an inferior solution for me. Non absorbent, not so good.

[frankn]

Bandanas +1. Keeps sweat away from eyes & Keeps head and ears warm when cold as well.

[HelmutHerr]

Cheers. I picked up a buff recently for sun protection. I might try pairing with the helmet and see how it goes.