June 8, 2004

Bell's Response to the July 2004 Consumer Reports Helmet Test

The July 2004 issue of Consumer Reports magazine included a review of bicycle helmets. Their review notes that "several helmets failed our tests because the buckle broke - a recurring problem with bike helmets we've noticed for years." One of the three helmets that "failed" the CR test was the Bell Influx (the other two were the Specialized "Telluride" and the Trek "Little Dipper"). Consumer Reports admits "we can't pinpoint the cause of the problems; other helmets that use those same buckles passed our tests."

This document outlines the position of Bell Sports on this issue:

1. Bell Sports believes that improper testing techniques, not faulty buckles, are the cause of the Consumer Reports "failures".

2. Bell Sports has attempted to work with Consumer Reports to understand what is causing the buckles to break in their testing. Following the June 1997 CR helmet test that discovered similar buckle issues, two senior members of the Bell Sports staff went to visit Consumer Reports and observed the testing of helmets. CR tested many helmets in front of Bell staff members and used correct protocol. As such, they experienced no failures of Bell helmet buckles. Our theory is that in prior testing CR allowed the simulated jawbone (steel rollers or stirrups) to contact the buckles prior to the test, which every lab tech knows will cause failures. The human jaw is not made of steel, so the retention test is not considered realistic if the steel stirrups break the buckle. CR is not a helmet test lab; they continue to break buckles, yet deny improper testing procedures.

3. The helmet testing community is aware that improper protocol can lead to broken buckles. In fact the ASTM bicycle helmet standard was modified in 2001 to prevent improper testing techniques that can cause buckle breakage. The wording of the ASTM retention test section, which is otherwise identical to the CPSC retention test, includes the following instructions: "The retention system fastening system shall be aligned with the stirrup assembly so that no part of the retention system fastening system shall contact the stirrup assembly prior to release of the drop mass."

4. Thousands of the buckle type used on the Bell Influx are tested by professional labs each year; no design or manufacturing flaw has ever been found. The buckle manufacturer (an ISO 9000 certified factory) tests between 20,000 - 30,000 helmet buckles a year. The US federal government, which regulates the "federal standard" referred to in the CR piece, has never had an issue with Bell helmets or the buckles that we use. Our lab in Santa Cruz, CA conducts approximately 1,000 retention tests a year.

5. Most of the helmets sold in the US use the same buckle that we do, because it works. However, if you test it incorrectly -- like CR did with the Bell Influx, the Specialized Telluride, and the Trek Little Dipper -- you can get a "test artifact" that appears to be a failure, but is not. The US government agrees with Bell, while CR refuses the assistance of helmet testing professionals.

6. We stand behind the quality of the Bell Influx. The Bell Influx that CR "failed" has been certified in our Santa Cruz lab, by the British Standards Institute, by Imtest Laboratories in Australia, by the University of Tennessee Test Lab, and by HKS Laboratories in China. None of these labs has failed the Bell Influx in any test. Not once.