lyle.coop

I ride both road and mountain. I do about 2500 miles road and far less mountain biking during a year. I've been using my Fox mountain biking helmet (with visor) to road bike. Should I bother buying a road bike helmet?

I see the Specialized Align II on sale for $40.

https://www.specialized.com/us/en/al...YaAvdCEALw_wcB

Iride01 

Depends on you and whether you have a sore neck and shoulders after riding.

When I started sitting in a more aero position on a road bike, I started having issue with my neck and shoulders. I was because the plastic clip on visor blocked the view down the road and I had to crane my head up to far to see. Getting rid of that clip on visor helped greatly. Getting a more proper helmet that didn't come so low on my brow helped even more. Some road helmets come too low on my brow. So when you try helmets out, bend over to your riding position in the drops and make sure you don't have to crane your neck too much to see out in front of you.

Broctoon

Forty bucks isn't much to spend on a decent second helmet. But if you like your mountain helmet and it's working well for you on the road bike, there's nothing wrong with that. I had one years ago with a visor that could be easily removed and installed. I used it for all kinds of rides.

One thing I'd say is if you had a downhill MTB helmet, full face type, and you're using it for road rides, you'll look a little goofy and are probably into overkill territory. But wear what works for you.

roccobike

I have an Align helmet. It can be used for either MTB or road as the visor unclips easily. Just my opinion but I wouldn't do a road bike ride with a visor. For me, it became a problem affecting aero at speeds above 15MPH and impacted neck muscles. YMMV

lyle.coop

Hmm... I'm averaging 16mph, so there are plenty of areas i'm going faster than 16mph. The visor might be slowing me down... maybe 30 seconds over the course of an hour. haha

My helmets visor isn't too bad.

merlinextraligh

It really depends. If you’re comfortable with being an hopelessly clueless mountain bike Fred when you do road rides, keep your money in your pocket. Otherwise pony up and save yourself the humiliation.

Or just take the visor off the mtb
helmet.

chaadster

Yeah, it’s definitely not roadie culture chic to rock a visor, but aside from that, there’s bothing to stop you or anyone else from rocking a visor on the road. Plenty do it. I do it on occasion. There’s no really significant differences between helmets for each discipline other than aero optimization for the road, and extended protection area for the MTB lid.

79pmooney

Pure roadie here but I ride the POC MTB helmets with their visors. Visors make perfect places to mount mirrors (yeah, I do have to make the mount) and I prefer to wear my prescription regular glasses. My aging eyes that have spent too many hours pre good sunglasses on boats and riding love the break they get from the sun with those visors.

I adjust the straps until the helmet fits nicely tipped far enough back so the visor view just touches my eyeglass tops. I first rode the POC helmets as one was the first to both fit and be a visible color about a year after I read about MIPS. Such a good helmet that 7 years later I bought another. They are not cheap.

downtube42

Nobody outside other roadies (i.e. 99.998% of the population) knows or cares about cycling fashion rules. Having said that, it is a roadie faux pas to wear a visor on the road.

Functionally, a visor can provide a little shade on a sunny day, a little protection in the rain, and possibly be used to block out blinding headlights during a night ride (a cycling cap does the same).

TBH, I don't know why MTBers have visors.

msu2001la

Longer visors can block forward vision while in the drops, and if you're riding low but having to look up more to see the road, this can cause neck strain.
Some MTB helmets don't have as much venting as road helmet and might get kind of hot.

Beyond that, this is mostly just marketing. Wear whatever helmet you want. I also doubt that other people care as much as some folks seem to think they do.

msu2001la

Visors started showing up on helmets in the 1990's as a way to make them look more rugged and appealing to MTB'ers. They are supposed to mimic a motocross helmet. It's mostly marketing.

I seriously doubt the tiny visors on bike helmets provide any meaningful difference in terms of shade or rain protection. If a visor is blocking the view of oncoming traffic, that seems highly problematic.

himespau 

The only time I ever noticed/cared what/how anyone was wearing their helmet was back when I used to commute via bike when living in Boston and was stopped at a light in Cambridge and saw a girl go through the light on the crosswalk in the other direction with her helmet on backwards. The guy next to me looved over and said, "did you see that?" Other than that, I don't look at what other people have on their heads.

spelger

before i put areobars on my bike i used to ride with a regular bike helmet with a baseball had underneath. the bill really helped with the nevada sun. a few rides resulted with a sore neck while on the bars so off came the hat. were i to ride with no bars i'd be putting the ball hat back on.

rsbob 

During the winter months when the sun is low in the sky, I wished my helmet came with an attachable visor. Instead I use a cycling cap under it and flip the bill down.

urbanknight

The aero comment (I believe) is referring to how your head is down and your eyes are looking "up" to see where you're going. A visor can block that, making you crank your head up more to see. I don't believe the visor in and of itself is causing any noticeable amount of drag.

Anyway, if it's not bothering you, don't worry about it, and you can remove the visor if needed... unless you WANT to buy a new helmet, then you definitely NEED it.

chaadster

A cycling cap visor is much better located— lower down on the brow— to shield the eyes than a typical MTB visor, IMO.

lyle.coop

the visor i have is fairly small. IT's not causing me to lift my head up at all. I don't want to remove the visor b/c 1. I do ride in unshaded areas 2. I use the helmet to mtn bike as well.

The drag is all i really cared about. If people think there's no drag, then I'll stick with one helmet. Thx

urbanknight

I'm quite confident that any aerodynamic drag caused by a visor at the front of a helmet is insignificant unless you're doing time trials.

Marvelousmarkie

European pros wore cycling caps underneath helmets to get a visor effect since the leather hairnet days (sometimes over the leather helmets).

Carried over to the hard shell era - Tom Boonen often sported the look not so long ago.

Nowadays, in the era of ugly no collar jerseys, unlikely. Gotta save those milliwatts, they add up.

chaadster

Of course you’re in position to deem what is insignificant to me, them, or anyone other than yourself, but I suppose I know what you’re trying to say. I’m not sure I agree, though.

It’s easy for me to imagine that while there may not be any aero penalty at some angles, it’s equally easy to imagine a tilt of the head having dramatic negative effects from the peak on drag.

Pushing up towards a village limit sprint zone with my buddies pushes me near the limit, and then the jockeying for position involves lots of head-checking to see what’s happening and who’s where. Might a peak/visor/brim/bill cost me power and/or speed at a crucial moment? I dunno, but I don’t want to find out either. I only have a handful of moments each summer when I’m in a proper physical state to contest such sprints for the “win,” and while there are no prizes, trophies or memorials for the moments, I derive joy and pride from them, and we often recall them as a group with jokes and great fondness, so they are significant…to me.

urbanknight

I was responding directly to the OP who seemed to imply that they are not racing and even laughed at the thought of saving maybe 30 seconds. If you’re involved in sprints (even just for fun) that are decided by inches, by all means the aero might have an impact.

rumrunn6

I'm currently using just 1 helmet for everything because of a DIY camera mount. so far so good