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I am considering buying a new helmet online, which means it'll be delivered to my door by courier. In my experience, couriers can be careless with parcels. Should I be concerned about this, or are helmets packaged so that they're safe even if knocked about a bit?
In case it matters, the brand of helmet I shall be buying is Specialized.
Helmets are like hats and shoes — everyone has a different shape head or foot and so the standard sizes really don’t apply. Some heads are pointy, some are flat. Different helmet companies use different head forms — and some even use different shapes between their different helmet line. So a ‘L’ for one helmet might not be the same as an ‘L’ in another.
So I’d recommend going to your local bike shop and get a properly fitting helmet. You’ll be surprised just how much better it fits on your head and how much more secure it is.
We had a new helmet delivered this week, it came in the normal post and was packaged in a polythene mailing bag. The helmet was in its retail packaging alone inside the bag.
In the past I’ve ordered one along with other things and it came in a larger outer box all in together.
In both cases, the retail packaging showed no signs of damage or neglect and neither did the helmet inside. If there had been damage to either I would have likely returned the helmet for a refund.
That all said, there are no guarantees, so what can you do? Buy from a retailer you trust and contact them beforehand if you want to. Consider ordering extra items you will use like a sweet new pair of spare tyres. Then these will be shipped together in a secondary box and possibly padded. Choose a retailer you know to use package padding, or make a special request. When it arrives, check for any signs of damage and return it if you need to.
Oops I meant to finish by saying if you’re still not comfortable, it’s worth a visit to a shop to inspect before you buy and then you can transport it home yourself. Not the only benefit, See also RoboKaren’s answer.
Helmets are typically packaged pretty well with soft foam inserts inside the box to cushion the helmet during shipping. Unless the box is punctured or really horribly abused, it should not be damaged in a meaningful way. Helmets are meant to withstand the force of high speed collisions and can handle a little rough and tumble dropping in a well packaged box.
One thing to consider about the risks of having the helmet shipped via courier: most bike shops get their product via courier and have little to no issues with the products being damaged.
