Rental Helmets
Summary: Rental helmets should be easy to fit, show damage clearly after an impact and be easy to clean for the next customer. We have not found any bicycle helmets on the market with those characteristics.
Fitting
The first essential requirement for a rental helmet is that it be easily and quickly fitted. Rentals are usually for a day or less, and the wearer will not put much time or effort into fitting. They will settle for a sloppy fit because the use is short term and they do not expect to crash anyway. Rental shop staff may be too rushed to fit a finicky helmet well. The only manufacturer we know of who has responded to this requirement is Bell, with their 2009 introduction of the True Fit system. We normally would not recommend a single manufacturer's product, but True Fit helmets fit quickly because they require adjustment of only one strap. We are sure that other manufacturers will be scrambling to compete, so choices should expand soon.
Damage indicators
Bike helmets for rental services should show damage readily if the user has hit their head during the ride. The user will almost never report that, and may actually be unaware that they hit their head hard, since the helmet cushions the blow. The best helmets to show damage every time would have no outer shell, or a removable cloth cover. But those don't perform as well as helmets with a normal thin or hard plastic shell. As far as we know, no manufacturer has addressed this problem.
Cleaning
Rental helmets must be easily sanitized. Rentals are almost sure to have hair oils and sweat when returned. They may also have hair preparations, Rogaine, sun screen, head lice or nits and an entire bacterial colony inside or outside. Cleaning with the normal mild soap and water will remove some of that, but not all. Nits are hard to remove, as noted on our head lice page, and can be best taken care of by leaving the helmet unused in a plastic bag for two weeks. Most rental shops can not afford to do that. As far as we know, no manufacturer has addressed this problem either.
If the helmet is being used in a controlled setting such as a school class, it may be possible to use a head covering that prevents contact with the wearer's head. We suggest some possibilities on our head lice page. For unsupervised rentals, that will not work, since the user is likely to remove the head covering to get more ventilation, or remove the helmet and be careless about repositioning the cover, and the rental shop has no way of knowing that. One of the spray delousers we mention might be the best solution, followed by soap and water. If you want to use one of those, we recommend contacting the helmet manufacturer to ask if the product is compatible with their materials.
The ideal is not available
To our knowledge no helmet manufacturer makes an easily-fitted helmet specifically designed for rental shops with quick, easy, repeatable, routine delousing and cleaning in mind and a damage indicator. We think there would be a market for such a helmet if anyone produced one.
This page was last revised on: June 18, 2009.
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