Originally Posted by
Leisesturm
There is no such thing as a "gel helmet". All helmets are (still) styrofoam helmets. Some styrofoam helmets have gel pads inside that are primarily to provide a low friction slip between the skull and the helmet liner and secondarily to increase comfort. It is NOT to provide any additional shock reduction. Fluids, being incompressible are very poor 'shock absorbers'. That becomes even worse when constrained by 'capsules' or other containment as must be the case in helmet applications.
I see what you're talking about.
So is the Bontrager claim that the CELL technology produces more protection from both "linear and rotational forces" nonsense? Honest question.
Looking at it a little closer, the liner in a WaveCel is basically a different kind of foam--the gel material is arranged in a lattice with lots of air spaces, and I think the air spaces collapse on impact both linearly and rotationally then bounce back. Definitely contained in an EPS shell, so there is a layer of the conventional.