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These are various reasons people give for not wearing a biking helmet for potentially risky outdoor activities.
But according to primary care sports medicine specialists, there are no reasonable justifications for not putting on this crucial piece of defensive gear. A sudden bike crash can cause serious trauma to the brain, which can lead to a concussion, open skull fracture, or a jarring motion, such as a rapid turn or sudden stop.
Even mild head injuries, where you don’t lose consciousness and can cause permanent behavioral and cognitive issues, like memory loss, inability to focus, sleep disorders, and in some cases, permanent disability or death.
Studies have demonstrated that wearing a helmet decreases the risks of severe brain injury and death because, during a fall or crash, most of the shock energy is absorbed by the helmet, rather than your head and brain.
In this article, you will learn why POC helmets are so popular and whether they are worth your investments.
Here Some Most Popular POC Helmets:
About POC
POC is a distinguished creator and supplier of snow sports and biking accessories like, helmets, eyewear, bodywear, and many related items.
To protect lives and reduce the outcomes of casualties for professional athletes or anyone inspired to be one. POC has a crystal-clear conception to offer optimized private protection and safety through developing products of unquestionable quality and relevance.
To back up its advancements and standards POC established different settings, which gathered some of the greatest thinkers in research, medicine, and safety to constantly work on new research and trends.
The company was founded in 2005 in Sweden and originally supported average ski helmets. POC has proceeded to improve and grow its range. POC helmets and POC safety gears are globally renowned for their protection, innovation, and design. POC glasses and operative POC clothing also set standards for innovation and style.
Properties of POC Bike Helmets
A POC MTB helmet or a POC road bike helmet offers extraordinary quality and design. To ensure the highest degrees of safety, convenience, and functionality, POC bike helmets for both adults and kids are created with a combination of premium high-end materials and features.
Whether they’re designing women’s POC bike helmets, or the men’s variants, MTB goggles, or helmets for skiing POC cycling glasses, the team behind POC always employs innovative scientific techniques and the user experience conveyed by professional cyclists. The POC helmets in the ventral range are lightweight and top-class in aerodynamic design, without compromising on safety.
Progressive Core
POC’s new progressive core (Pro Core) has a unique design that combines two densities making it an ideal option for backcountry riders. The helmet is somewhat rigid around its exterior liner while the interior is designed to be soft. Therefore, the helmet is exceptionally durable on the outside and incredibly fitted to absorb extreme energy shocks, while the softer interior layer offers protection for lower energy impacts. The two coatings work together to give a progressive stop to the head in case of an impact.
Expanded Polypropylene
The standard hard shell bike and skate helmets depend on Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) system for absorbing shocks after a collision. EPS absorbs shocks and energy by plastic deformation on impact and ends up in permanent deformation. As a result, a helmet liner consisting of EPS will not be as good at absorbing repetitive impacts.
The use of carbon fiber during the production of these bike helmets can reduce the number of EPS required for proper functioning. But, researchers have failed to prove that carbon construction is better and safer than a burly option.
Therefore, the POC’s bike helmets use a comfortable liner made of Expanded Polypropylene (EPP) instead of the formal EPS. The major difference between the two is that the former does not deform permanently, which signifies it’s suitable for absorbing frequent impacts without any damage. It offers best known rotational protection system.
MIPS (Multi-impact Protection System)
MIPS is a process used to decrease the rotational force on the brain in case of oblique impacts. Accident statistics indicate that the most common accident results in an oblique trauma to the head, leading to the rotation of the head and brain. The brain is more susceptible to such serious impacts than the radial ones.
POC helmets are equipped with a brimmed design and practical MIPS technology. They contain a low friction sheet, which separates the shell from the helmet’s interior. When subjected to an oblique shock, the low friction sheet permits a small controlled rotation of the shell comparable to the lining.
Aramid Bridge
When looking a for low-weight design in assortment with a tough and reliable configuration, the POC team added aramid in locations like under the external shell and shaped it together with the foam liner material to guarantee durability and ample protection. The indestructible aramid weave combines with the foam liner to add a completely new structural resilience.
The aramid bridge technology comes with an antimicrobial liner for exceptional structural integrity.
VDSAP (Ventilated Double Shell Anti-penetration)
Most safety regulations for ski and bike helmets are identical but bike helmets come with some additional characteristics to improve the ventilation and comfort of the users. Adjustable ventilation design, however, also presents difficulties as open vents reduce the helmet’s protective capabilities against penetration. This is a danger, particularly for downhill riders, since they are most likely to be exposed to unsafe objects at high speed.
The POC manufacturers have come up with an airy helmet that offers penetration resistance, performs well during a collision, and still has a breathable design. They developed the POC helmets with dual overlapping shells. POC contains double-ventilated shells that are ideal for penetration protection and management of heat and perspiration or water. The internal shell is an extremely thin layer of polycarbonate and the external one is made of carbon fiber or injected plastic, based on the model. These modern helmets exemplify a distinctive way of thinking in helmet design.
Benefits of Using POC Bike Helmets
POC helmets are conveniently practical for different styles of biking. You can manage to use them for commuting, freestyle, or mountain biking with some additional protection and comfort. Here are some benefits of using POC helmets:
Ventilation, Safety, and Low Weight
According to POC, their helmets have a unique lid that offers effective ventilation ports and internal channels to regulate air intake and removal at high and low speeds. It leads to improved ventilation channels and reduced friction. Plus, with a lower mold weight, the hybrid designs are quite easier to handle.
POC has always had user safety as its main priority, therefore, they mold helmets with its body shell composed of EPS liner, and SPIN systems for penetration protection. These budget models of Aero helmets also come with comfortable liners and all-season certification.
POC SPIN technology
As part of their ongoing bid to improve the safety offered by their helmets, POC has progressed consistently with their helmet design by looking for ways to support the padding to strengthen it. With this new SPIN technology, they’ve arranged silicone bladders into the helmet pads and possess rotational safety technology that in case of a crash – will ensure that rotational impacts are not transmitted to the head as the prescribed tendency of these pads disperses the forces. It’s a technique that indicates innovation with simplicity and originality in the design.
Unlike many recent strategies, the benefits proposed from the POC SPIN helmets don’t compare to the cost of ventilation or comfort.
How To Find The Best Helmet For You?
Here are some factors to consider when selecting an ideal bike helmet for you:
Shock Absorption Technology
There is still some controversy regarding the most practical helmet technology for protecting your head. However, most researchers agree that rotational forces cause the most damage, including concussions. The most distinguished hybrid helmets possess advanced safety tech to deal with these types of collisions. The multi-directional impact protection system or MIPS technology is ideal for additional impact protection and enhanced penetration protection.
The rotational impact protection system can decrease the impacts of rotational force on the users skull, in case of an accident by enabling the external shell of the helmet to slip during collision. Many helmet designers have introduced aerodynamic helmet POC models and a couple of competing designs including MIPS that condenses to decrease rotational forces.
Fit Matters
Helmet sizes must fit to protect you from shock. Most models now promote a cage-like design that loosens or tightens an inner set of straps for better fit adjustment around a variety of head shapes.
Plus, instead of a strap most latest models come with a handy magnetic buckle.
Over time, these straps can stretch and loosen, so don’t forget to tighten them up on occasion. Also, ensure you don’t nudge the helmet back. The head circumference of these helmets sits slightly ahead over your brow to secure your forehead.
Use Case
Bikes are used variously, from commuting to mountain biking, and each bike helmet manufacturer makes helmets based on those scenarios. While it’s perfectly adequate to use a mountain bike helmet when cycling to work, it will offer some additional options, such as an adjustable visor or a chin guard, that you don’t generally require, or pay additionally for.
You should select a helmet that is the best match for how you plan to use your bike. Plus, you can choose from an array of color options exclusively picked according to the user’s preferences.
Why are POC Helmets Expensive?
The cheap helmets have a basic design that comes with an expanded polystyrene (EPS) liner that as described before is fully or partially insulated with a thick or fairly flexible plastic shell. EPS is included in almost all types of helmets and appears like the same stuff found in grocery store coolers.
Moreover, these affordable helmets or other cheaper options are glued, taped, or molded to their outer shell. The EPS will normally be thick because it doesn’t contain any inner arrangements, so it will have enough EPS to soak up the collision shock after a bike crash as interpreted by the CPSC standards (the U.S. criterion for bike helmet safety). At this premium price, the possibilities are these budget helmet is one-size-fits-all, having rigid straps to fasten them under your chin.
Affordable helmet construction usually doesn’t include many properties and a lesser degree of rotational impact protection, as compared to the expensive counterparts. It’s better to invest in budget helmets possessing the features you require.
While, with the advanced features these premium brands spend a huge sum of money on research and improvement, angled impact protection and aerodynamics, and consistent innovation in their technology. As the prices go up, it signifies that the brands are consuming high-end techniques and premium materials for liner, shells, straps, buckles, and harnesses— as well as related accessories, like cases to protect the helmet and make it fast and well-ventilated.
They’re also subsidizing the sport they administer, sponsoring riders, teams, and exhibitions worldwide that many people enjoy watching.
These special helmets are the thinnest, lightest, and most aerodynamic they can be, but slicing or peeling material out of a lump of EPS can weaken it. So expensive helmets with hybrid designs use the highest grade EPS available in the market, and brands finance a lot of time and money into the engineering of these substances. Most companies also promote additional features, like Aramid reinforcements for their premium products to optimize the weight and stability between vents without boosting the volume.
The EPS shaping tools are complicated—but it allows designers and engineers to carve precise angles in vent holes to withdraw and accept airflow without slowing the bikers down. A high-end helmet’s aerodynamics are usually winded tunnel tested by professionals, which can be rather expensive unless you have your specialists.
In high-end helmets, companies also keep trying to comprehend how to make helmets even safer yet compatible with all-in prices. They prefer different helmet reviews as testing standards using specialized bike-helmet crash tests.
For instance, many high-end road helmets now utilize MIPS to assist diffuse rotational forces in the unfortunate case of a crash. Some also now have more back-of-the-head ranges motivated by mountain bike helmet structures. An adjustable breakaway visor improves the overall capability of a helmet to protect during a crash. Plus, an adjustment dial makes it easier to use and handle for freestyle riding or racing through dangerous obstacles.
There are various aspects to characterize a safe product. There are lots of supplementary non–required standards to test the product for sporting events— but for products that are supposed to warrant additional levels of testing.
Are POC Bike Helmets Worth the Investment?
POC’s helmets progressed a long way. Their wide range of designs is now yearned in the cycling community. Their team has arranged something extraordinary in making safety a fashion proclamation.
But their latest work is supposed to result in even safer helmets for years to come. You should remember that cycling is a safe sport and, whatever you choose to wear, it will guarantee your safety and most likely extend your life.
