Is a black helmet hotter?
02-19-23, 12:18 AM
#51
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Don't know about other places but here in Central Texas dark colored helmets are hotter. Hotter to the touch and hotter to wear. Black helmets need to be kept out of the sun when staionary. Especially in mid summer sunlight. Now when you are ridding maybe not as hot cause of the air circulating around your head. But leaving a nice shinny black helmet in the sun on a picnic bench could be a bummer...
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02-19-23, 01:10 PM
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If I only had a bicycle built for two I could end the argument.
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02-20-23, 06:21 PM
#54
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I used to wear white, got a great deal on a black helmet few years back. Had black ever since. No discernible difference. Birght colors for safety make sense. Black is usually cheap because most think its hotter.....shhhhh. Dont tell anyone its really not!
02-20-23, 06:40 PM
#55
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Black helmets aren’t hotter, but if combine them with murdered out black bikes and dark kits they really enhance your stealth riding capabilities when you just want to ride down that long black ribbon without anyone even noticing you.
02-20-23, 09:39 PM
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Black helmets are hotter when stopped or at low speeds.
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02-21-23, 06:47 AM
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Dark clothes tend to get hotter because they absorb more photons so I would say yes, in theory.
However, given that the helmet's outside surface is not directly on your skin as compared to clothes, I would say it doesn't make much difference.
However, given that the helmet's outside surface is not directly on your skin as compared to clothes, I would say it doesn't make much difference.
02-21-23, 07:15 AM
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easy ‘experiment’:
touch the hood of a car that has been sitting in direct sunlight on a hot day
white car / hood with black stripes
the black stripes will feel hotter than the white portion
touch the hood of a car that has been sitting in direct sunlight on a hot day
white car / hood with black stripes
the black stripes will feel hotter than the white portion
02-22-23, 09:39 PM
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Hotter as in sexier?
02-23-23, 04:17 AM
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h o t
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02-23-23, 12:12 PM
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It depends on how slowly you climb a long steep grade on a 100° day. Don't do that? Not an issue then.
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02-25-23, 11:10 AM
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02-25-23, 10:38 PM
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Black paint that radiates more infrared energy than the solar radiation it absorbs? Dream on. Trying to make a white paint that does that is a fool's errand.
I'm writing from experience, here. As a youngster, my job was trying to keep satellite equipment from overheating. Like this ugly thing:
Hubble DMU
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Last edited by terrymorse; 02-25-23 at 10:44 PM.
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