Behind The Scenes: Bell Helmets Test Lab

Step inside Bell Helmet's test lab with Simon...
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Bell have been making helmets since 1954 and started making cycling helmets in th 1970s. Bell helmets are used across the top level of our sport, so, when they invited us to take a look around their testing facility, we couldn't say no.
Bell's global HQ is one of seven facilities that they have. Get ready to hear the screams of a thousand fake plastic heads... Or something like that. Fascinating stuff. Let us know your thoughts down in the comments and LIKE and SHARE this video!
Thanks to Bell: gcn.eu/BellHelmets_
Watch more on GCN...
How the Bell Zephyr Helmet was designed - Behind The Scenes 📹 gcn.eu/2eTWSU3
Bell Zephyr Helmet at the Tour de France 📹 gcn.eu/2eYxmen
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Photos: © Bettiniphoto / www.bettiniphoto.net/ & ©Tim De Waele / www.tdwsport.com
Music
Richard Gale - CCTV
Tico Zamora, Marc Adamo - Epic For Breakfast
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Leave us a comment below!

[@mfiola13]

I'd be interested in the results if he retested that same helmet again. It would be good to illustrate the need to replace your helmet after a crash.

[@daleykun]

As an engineer, this is super interesting to me, good to see stuff like this GCN!

[@daleykun]

Misan tropo I don't really understand what your point is... Yes that's true, but I'm interested in the standards and test rigs that are being used to test them it's interesting to me to know the methodology.

[@zivkovicable]

@Wool Verigne So you don't know much about engineering or autism.

[@presentfigure92yearago89]

For every helmet you buy, you save one from being tested.

[@thehornydevil15]

Awesome to see what the testing facilities are like! Good work!!

[@KillroyX99]

Its really cool to see GCN at the BELL Test Lab! ;)

[@TheWaxChainFanClub]

I had a Bell end of line helmet, and no matter often I bashed it, it always came up good as new. In fact, my mum would always ask me to remove my hood so she could see it.

[@Willjcbaker]

What on earth did I just read

[@ynslife]

wtf

[@MadBikeBoy]

When a Bell helmet meets its demise through testing, do the engineers call it a Bell end?

[@leedorney]

I once done a touch of wheels at 24mph onto a concrete road, crawled off it - my helmet really helped; a really light Limar: never ever not wear a helmet !! 👌

[@zivkovicable]

It sounds like you were racing & taking risks.. I cycle at around 15 mph max, & never go wheel to wheel. Consequently in my fifty years plus of cycling i've never felt the need to wear a silly plastic hat. Safest country for cycling in the world is the Netherlands. Nobody wears a helmet.

[@jacqueschiron4035]

Vacationing through Pau yesterday we spotted a GCN jersey on a dashing climbing cyclist. The excitement was shared by all in the RV. Well, almost all.

[@nigelalfafara5088]

5:24 "more rocks in America then," made my day.

[@martimgomes2660]

Cool stuff! Thanks!

[@shiveksingh8159]

Hi guys I've been waiting for this video for the past 2 weeks because I am currently looking for a new helmet thanks for finally uploading it.☺😃

[@FARHANSHANS]

great channel. GCN taught me a lot on how to become a better cyclist

[@Toastybear1]

was looking forward to the kerbstone test- nonetheless, very interesting video :)

[@aDotFromTheFuture]

Glenn could have used a helmet a week ago...

[@JustADudeWithAnUnnecessaryName]

Comment of the week right here😂

[@earthstick]

I'll miss Glenn and I liked Abe as well.

[@SalemCBR1]

Thank you for making helmets in the usa.

[@jordywilliams]

worn nothing but a casquette for months, feel very comfortable

[@spaghetti9067]

A bell helmet saved my life ( I’m not joking ) so I was cycling down a pretty steep hill and a car pulled out and I crashed full speed into it and flipped and smacked my helmet on the tarmac and slid 20 meters and when I stopped my helmet was a mess of poly styrene and plastic + straps. When I went to hospital they told me I wouldn’t be alive if I wasn’t wearing my helmet.

[@zivkovicable]

Maybe don't cycle at full speed down hill, & you won't get into accidents in the first place. It's also possible that the helmet made it worse as they are not designed to be dragged along the tarmac. What they told you in hospital is irrelevant. They are Doctors who weren't even present at the scene of the accident, not collision experts.

[@edwardtang1977]

My favorite helmet of all time: Bell Super R3

[@obriaind]

The Bell Helmets video AND the Cubs are still in the World Series. Fear not, those water bottles will be arriving any day now.

[@johnmoser91]

That guy was smashing the 4th wall so strongly he should have been wearing a helmet.

[@koko-lores]

He's an engineer, not a journalist/presenter. I prefer people like him to be good at their job, not at talking to people next to a camera. You see similar things with scientists, awesome researchers can be awful presenters.

[@markkenny2524]

I wasn't sure which was going to take longer, delivery of this video or the water bottles

[@0rganoid161]

@ 0:29 great test for finding what further protection is needed for when your head's come off

[@ADAP7IVE]

I appreciate looks into testing and effectiveness of helmets, since we so rarely see that stuff despite everyone saying a helmet is important. The question that came to mind in this video is, are the standards set by the various governing bodies appropriate? If they're testing to those standards, they need to be appropriate.

[@grimani]

So, do they test impacts below that laser-designated line? Because I don't think I usually crash on the exact top of my head. If/when I do, its more likely to be on the side... like, below that line. And how does this testing compare to other company's? Could we get a tour of the POC facility?

[@markg.4246]

Geezus, the vocal fry narration is a deal killer!

[@Metal-Possum]

Looking at those crash test dummies, I'm not concerned for their heads, but most certainly I'm wondering about their necks! Also, my worst crash was face-first into the road. Helmet was ****ing useless, but my face got absolutely destroyed.

[@TeKaMOTO]

The helmet you pointed at @0:55 is a motocross helmet worn by supercrross legend Jeremy McGrath in Anaheim 1 in 2005. Not a mountain bike helmet. #torqueback

[@nickzarlengo3388]

TeKaMOTO shhhh he's a road biker

[@jsanchisgarcia]

I think that bell helmets are one of the bests in the world

[@littlewhitestormy]

but seriously I want like an hour of this.

[@JJaaackk]

Finally!!!!

[@howheels]

So does Bell sell one helmet that meets all of the safety standards, or do they have separate helmets for each market that meet each safety standard?

[@87yngveovr]

GCN's camera guy must be wearing a really nice helmet!

[@Orgakoyd]

3:20 The guy was thinking ''shut up, they're all the same...but I have to agree so it's more impressive''.

[@helltomcatf14]

Need help! I recently bought a Giro Synthe mips from a bike shop when i made the purchase i was in a hurry, the next day found out the helmet was manufacture on Jun, 2015 3 years and 6 months. From my reseach helmets have shelf life of about 6 years, I tried calling Giro to ask if i should return the helmet but they have been closed due to holidays. What should i do?

[@letsgocamping88]

Look at me when I'm talking to you!

[@alexn78666]

Benjamin Harvey bugged the crap out of me the whole video!

[@earthstick]

I thought he was cool in an engineer geek way. Like how he kept looking into the camera at 4:19 and when Si said 'Next up we're going to hit the helmet' and he came back with 'Yeah'. You could just about hear the excitement in his voice.

[@nathplaydj]

cheers guys! MIPS is real interesting. not sure if i will ever buy a helmet without it! yay skull AND brain protection. " _ride bikes everyday._ "

[@neutraluser4019]

Interesting. How many sensors on the various "head" to read the impact ?

[@lindsayhengehold5341]

Bell makes the safest bike helmets I feel

[@NielsHeldens]

Cue the innuendos!

[@PapaSeed]

Niels Heldens no

[@liambarber9036]

Not showing the mini wind tunnel??? i think that would be pretty cool.

[@xq39]

That explains why the one time I fell on my head as a kid I didn't get knocked out or get a noticeable concussion because I had my helmet on when I hit it. If I didn't I probably would have had moderate brain damage. I remember getting up after about 30 seconds and checked the helmet, the shell had separated from the foam.

[@zivkovicable]

I fell on my head dozens of times as kid. Kids do that. This was before the invention of plastic hats. If as you say the shell separated from the foam, it failed. I have to say your recollections from childhood aren't great evidence for the efficacy.

[@xq39]

@@zivkovicable I don't deny that a lot of the brain injury hysteria is probably over stated. I have road cyclist friends who have fallen and hit their heads many times and a few weeks later they feel fine, however I had one friend who was hit by a car at around 40mph and his helmet had a very large dent in it. He could have easily died in that crash. Helmets manage the force so you don't have a sudden rapid acceleration to your head.

[@zivkovicable]

@@xq39 They won't have made any difference at 40 mph. There is no way any helmet on the market would have survived with just s dent. At best they are tested to fail (completely to the point of being ineffective) at around 18 mph. The survival rate for an impact at that 40 mph is 5%. Lucky friend. "A friend said" is even worse evidence than your childhood memory. There is also evidence to suggest that cyclists take more risks when wearing one, & are more likely to get into a collision as a consequence.

[@ruida1930]

Energy can't be destroyed? He should see me after 3 weeks off the bike...

[@parkerhowell646]

Rui Duarte Armindo he’s never had Taco Bell.

[@jordywilliams]

0:37 that purple bike is sexy af

[@fieryawesomeness]

Can you show us the slight difference in look you will give to a helmet in the next GCN video?

[@AnoNym-zp2mp]

Never have I ever fallen onto my side...Oh, wait...that's the only way I've fallen. Better start falling from the sky head first.

[@eheheh3263]

Right 😂😂😂

[@mkrippel]

Careful I bought the Bell StarPro road Helmet payed a lot of Money and the eye shield does not attach on rest position and neither in the slot as the magnets are missing (probably a failure in the production process). By pushing the eye shield in the slot it attaches very loose and drops from the helmet during the ride. Customer Service claims, that there are Bell Star Pro without magnets and eye shields. But why was the eye shield included in the box????

[@davidf1985]

what is the head form made of ? Is it as fragile as a human head ?

[@scootosan]

0:18 Si trying to chew gum and walk.....haha

[@williecheng7430]

Bell is really good, hoping they remove the soft rubber on the dial (adjuster). This rubber melts or became chewing gum later on. A solid plastic dial like other brand is better.

[@SuperExadidas]

Sad to say, after a year - the FLOAT FIT (wheel type) on the rear part (grey color) - became like soft gum. ....the helmet I have is the Stratus. I was told that they will replace it by this year October. However, I am not only after the replacement, I hope Bell will take care of their reputation --- by reinforcing their Product Testing Team --- because they are one of those respected brands in world of sports.

[@mr.actiongal1017]

cool

[@RynaxAlien]

Shock prevention is important since concussion is serious danger

[@martywild8200]

Interesting vid, but I've come away with no information about how effective the helmets are. Our European standard doesn't count for much by all accounts. Having had a friend suffer a 'diffuse axonal injury' in April whilst wearing a very popular helmet, I was very keen to hear more about rotational impacts and MIPS, sadly this vid just didn't cut to the core of the issue. A greater level of technicality would have been good. Sure we know bike helmet testing happens, but what is learnt from it that can be applied to our riding on a daily basis?

[@lmschellenberg]

I heard this video was shipped to the GCN studios, causing the delay in posting #bottlegate

[@stevenchadwell500]

I bet Bell helmets don't get stuck in the middle of the ocean.

[@tomboneschanker5672]

Light and affordable helmet

[@Jonzouz123]

bontrager helmet wave test please

[@iuriiilin6567]

On the cyclists helmets must throw a load of 22.5 kilograms from a height of 180 centimeters. That's how bicycle forks are checked. Try to do it.

[@dawn9782]

8:49 so i still brake my jaw and ruin my beautiful face?

[@WildBikerBill]

Remarkably few people are willing to wear a full face helmet for "only" a bicycle. But I always wore one when I rode motorcycles...

[@Demon09-_-]

I think the helmet standards need to change some where in the real world do people take a stright head dive down? The angled ram or even the moving platform under seem much more valid. One day maybe standards will add some extra tests

[@ivan0kurnia]

no standard for Asia mentioned lol I'm worried

[@auuurrrgh]

They should test a helmet after a couple seasons and show how they degrade.

[@mynaamiskaas]

This is a fantastic idea!!

[@workingguy6666]

@@mynaamiskaas That's more of an idea for a channel like Project Farm; GCN would rather you support the sponsors by buying new bikes, helmets and gear every year.

[@Trollolol498]

Did you ask if you could put on the helmet or did you just do it, hoping no one would notice?

[@ondmedai5417]

When aerobikes today are nearly on the weightlimit why arent they used on most mountain stages? #torqeback

[@simonknowles4267]

why goto Bell when not a sponsor ?

[@jodywatkins9467]

why dont they make helmets with fome padding or with vicis reflex lare

[@duathlondan1353]

it actually did happen then

[@eunghoonkim]

Glad to hear that wearing helmet is mandatory in Australia

[@bowchickawowow7391]

GCN can my son join your team and do vids with you because I think it would be cool to do experiments on children

[@skinny55772]

Haha the professional engineer who agreed to be put on the internet by giving GCN a tour glanced at the camera a few times. I'm totally going to make fun of him! LOL

[@richardkaz2336]

Interesting to see Bell still use windows XPPro, not Vista, not Win7, mot win8, not win8.1 not even win10 but win XP Pro.

[@spanish111japan]

5:08 Why is there a sticker from Spanish ONCE ?

[@nilsmack7657]

I saw that, too. Maybe they implying that you're going to be blind if the helmet breaks.

[@alexr5819]

The video states that helmets don't absorb any energy. But if the helmet gets deformed or breaks in any way hasn't it absorbed energy? If it were to only disperse energy wouldn't they not crack and be re-usable?

[@forrest225]

Alex R yeah, you're correct. the engineer immediately contradicted himself when he said they would be warm and deformed.

[@skinny55772]

Um no he was entirely correct in that energy isn't a thing you absorb, it's transferrred elsewhere. "Absorbing" energy is violating the basic laws of the universe.

[@forrest225]

skinny55772 he said the helmet heats up, meaning the helmet absorbs the kinetic energy as thermal energy.

[@paulhawkins6415]

I did not need my helmet today as the coke can thrown at me by a passing van bounced of my front wheel and went straight over my head

[@luislemusda]

I never sw this video coming...

[@kierenkd]

Why reduce the safety of a helmet to a lesser standard? For example, some EU model helmets will be thinner / lighter than the US standard? Why not design to meet the strictest standards no matter what country it is shipped to?

[@IanDaviesRules]

Because it's much easier to sell a helmet that weighs 65g as opposed to one that is 80g.

[@RichLovelock]

How come you didn't do this with Kask if they're your helmet sponsor? Won't they get the hump that you're promoting Bell!?

[@colbyperry3325]

Rich Lovelock nobody is buying a bell if they have the money to buy a nice kask

[@colbyperry3325]

Rich Lovelock but bell is like the industry standard

[@skinny55772]

That assumes they aren't bloody minded enough to refuse. There's a very good reason why most of these factory tours are of American companies.

[@dankgrandma6377]

Bell are Wiggins haters? They keep smashing his head into the road.

[@zivkovicable]

Most helmets are tested to be effective at under 20mph impact. So if you think they will offer much protection against an impact with a motor vehicle, or even a high speed solo crash, think again. May save you from a few bruises & minor scratches at best,. People put far too much faith in them & take more risks. Their motorcycle helmets do offer real protection & are also shaped for sliding along the tarmac. Plasic hats are a money making gimmick.

[@jaysonalfaro4710]

Who falls on a bike upside down? i mean if you fall it is likely your face on the ground.

[@yosoypatrick]

Serious question guys, are the tests independently verified?

[@ynslife]

#Torqueback

[@confess5]

Had a $300 S-works evade helmet..fell at like 5km/hr near a curb cause I forgot to unclip (yes I'm still embarrassed to this day) and the foam in the helmet at the back completely cracked....Wasn't even a hard fall. I had a $40 entry level Bell and that thing survived a crash at 60km/hr. Front of my head smashed right into a rear SUV window and it still survived, albeit I got a seizure from that accident.

[@magicoddeffect]

Doesn't really matter how much you paid for the helmet; they're all supposed to be single-use only. What you pay for is weight and aerodynamics with expensive helmets.

[@lucianonarno1408]

388 viewer!

[@Arsenalcycling]

First day in my house

[@kwilli222]

I have a tight scouser perm, I don't need a helmet!

[@dustanlw]

Super testing facility but running windows XP on the controller computer.

[@magicoddeffect]

I'm a computer tech who does business IT support, and that's fairly common. Lots of enterprise-level stuff still runs Windows XP (including something like 25% of all ATM's in the US, which is why Windows XP Embedded is still getting software updates). Custom-written software like that sometimes doesn't have an updated version, or, when it does have one, it costs $20k. Enterprise software pricing is ridiculous. And if the computer is working fine and isn't connected to the Internet, there's really no reason to upgrade.

[@denvacoupland5416]

Third?

[@jondashun]

Si should give up trying to make an It's-so-sophisticated-but-I-totally-get-that-stuff kind of face. It's just not authentic.

[@ynslife]

Comment of the week for sure

[@julesverne6287]

ju_no_hands #torqueback

[@maciekapocaliptic]

But what this test prooved? I`m about to buy helmet, but this video didn`t tell me, what is the result for the head. Just some cracks on it. All helmets cracks. Come on guys.

[@ynotnilknarf39]

A cracked helmet is a failed helmet, this guy is lying in the video, at the near 200g that this helmet allows you would have a TBI, the simple fact is a helmet cannot by design save you from a serious brain injury or death, not once did they say this or imply it. People wearing helmets have more crashes and more injuries than those that don't wear them, don't fall into the hype and BS surrounding cycle helmet use!

[@cliveramsbotty6077]

NOB GAG

[@dynamicpunk7570]

Helmets don’t protect you from concussions

[@recklessrickey9513]

Dynamic Punk They protect you from permanent damage

[@frenchbanditi5971]

second

[@TheEvolution1979]

simon looks like he is late for is plain.

[@cullendarr2893]

Gmbn is better

[@alonzomartii]

What about for the neck. Cause i guarantee of someone falls and lands in his head it will brake his/her neck.

[@nuwrcaan]

"personality of a brick" :p

[@ynslife]

Wear a helmet guys, don't be hipsters

[@Diggnuts]

Cycling helmets are pointless..