ADAC test: The ADAC is testing bicycle helmets for spring. Twelve models from ten different manufacturers were bought anonymously by the ADAC testers and tested in the test laboratory under the neutral supervision of the expert Prof. Dr. Stoll, Professor of Plastics Technology at Munich University.
Eight models received the test grade "good", four only a "satisfactory" - these are the hard-shell models. The ADAC comes to the conclusion that the most important thing in the event of an accident is the cushioning on impact, but a stable helmet shell does not provide any additional protection. Therefore, when it comes to accident protection, hard-shell helmets perform worse than helmets with a soft shell. Although all hard-shell helmets offer satisfactory protection against accidents, they occupy the rear places in the overall ranking. The so-called micro-shell helmets all scored "good" - some even achieved very good damping values in the impact test, but were downgraded due to poor visibility, for example. The Aspect model from Giro, for example, offers the best accident protection with a rating of 1,4, is poorly visible due to its rather subtle design and thus only achieves an overall rating of 2,0.
Test video
The test winner is the Certus K-Star model from KED with an overall rating of 1,7, ahead of the Abus Urban I (1,8) and the other models rated "good", Giro Aspect (2,0), Alpina E-Helmet Deluxe (2,0), Cratoni C-Loom (2,3), Abus Pedelec (2,3), Casco Sportiv TC (2,3), Giro Sutton MIPS (2,5).
The hard shell helmets with all satisfactory results are: POC Crane (2,9), Uvex City V (2,9), Bell Intersect City (3,2), Scott Torus Plus (3,2).
All helmets tested are models from houses with very large helmet programs; Why, of all things, Abus and Giro tested two micro-shell helmets and Uvex or Bell hard-shell models, which clearly puts the brands in a bad light, even though they of course also have micro-shell helmets, remains the secret of the ADAC testers.
All in all, it is commendable that the largest motorists' interest group in Germany is addressing the issue of safety on bicycles and expressly recommends that cyclists should always wear a helmet. The corresponding statement from the ADAC also states: “The helmet should always be tried on before you buy it. After a fall, the helmet must be replaced without fail, even if no external damage is visible. When buying, you should also pay attention to good visibility in the dark, i.e. the helmet should have large reflectors and be as light as possible.”
On the subject of color and visibility, the question arises as to why the two hard-shell models from POC and Bell, which have clear signal colors, received the worst grades (5,0) in this discipline. At POC in particular, the security concept Avip attaches great importance to high visibility as the number one safety factor.