Bicycle Helmets for Rounder Heads
Summary: This page is for those who have round heads and find most helmets made for the US market too squared off inside to be comfortable.
Heads have different shapes. There are individual variations and types. The world's rounder heads seem to be found among Asian peoples. A helmet made for the Japanese market has to be much rounder inside than those normally sold in the US or in Europe. It will feel uncomfortable on most Caucasian heads. Many Americans of Asian extraction find it difficult to find a good fit in the US market.
One obvious solution for a rider with a round head is to buy a helmet made for Japan. That may be more difficult than it should be, since Japan does not have the Internet and mail order options that US retailers offer. And long-distance fitting seldom works out as well as putting the actual helmet on your own head and trying it.
In the US, no manufacturer we know of makes a helmet designed expressly for rounder heads. One manufacturer with a unique design claimed that their helmet may accommodate rounder heads better because it was made with flexible chunks of foam joined together by internal mesh, and the foam panels can move slightly to accommodate to different head shapes. Here is our writeup on that helmet, the SportScope, for the 2001 season. It seems to have disappeared from the market in subsequent years, but you may find a dusty one around somewhere, or be able to locate it on the Internet. Three others: Cratoni Selevand Specialized have models that they inform us will fit rounder heads better, but we don't have any feedback from users on that yet.
Another approach that may work for rounder heads is the "one size fits all" helmet that has what we call a ring fit system. The helmet fits by adjusting a ring around the head. The pieces that attach the ring to the helmet are often adjustable, and you may find one that can accommodate your head shape. Unfortunately we don't know which brand or model would be best.
If you are forced to make your round head fit in a square helmet, the best alternative will be to use the fitting pads that come with the helmet, or extra fitting pads, to try to achieve a rounder shape. One European manufacturer -- Cratoni -- informs us that they sell the same helmets in the US and in Asia just by including their "Asian fit pads" when they ship helmets to Asia. They do not sell their Asian pads separately, but that indicates that the pad solution is possible if you are willing to fiddle with it. Extra fit pads are usually available at bike shops. Or you can add other foam from somewhere else if it works for you, since its role is to stabilize the helmet on your head and add comfort, and the fitting foam is not part of the helmet's impact protection.
Denting or shaving down the inside of the stiff foam liner to make the helmet fit you would reduce your protection, so that would not be an optimal choice. Experimenting with fit pads is probably your best bet, even though it will be a fussy process.
If you find a better way, a source of Asian fit pads, or a formula for the use of the pads, please send us an email to info@helmets.org so we can add it to this page.
If you need to find out what your size is, check this page.
If your head is very large, here is a page on very large helmets.
This page was last revised on: December 20, 2005.
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