It has always baffled me that many of us are willing to spend hundreds of dollars or pounds protecting our own heads, but rarely put much thought into purchasing one of the best kids’ bike helmets, myself included. My son’s first two helmets were both purchased because they happened to coincide with a significant discount. Although I did put some thought into his current Specialised Camber MIPS, it’s certainly not perfect.
Having what is effectively an extra-small adult helmet has raised unexpected complications; for example, he can’t do the chin fastening himself or adjust the band dial. While the helmet fits him well, Specialized don’t appear to scale the peak, which means it sticks out considerably, making it look like a hand-me-down.
Matt Ischt-Barnard
I began my journey in the bicycle industry, like so many, sometimes wielding more hammers than allen keys at my local bike shop. Over the years, I have held many roles, most notably as a product manager for brands such as Pinnacle and Hoy Bikes, which had a wide range of kids’ bikes.
Nowadays, you are more likely to see me racing through town or enjoying the South Downs with a toddler on board or in my wake.
Currently testing: Benno RemiDemi XL Cargo Bike, Prestaflator GO and Unit1 Smart Lights, Cateye AMPP 1700.
Construction
The Woom Ready is no different to the best bike helmets in that it uses an expanding polystyrene in-mold shell; this is where the plastic cover and polystyrene are placed in the mold together to create one fused component, allowing for more complex designs and shapes that improve helmet safety.
The Ready conforms to the EN 1807:2012 and A1:2012 helmet safety standards for the European Union and the UK. However, that is really where the similarities stop. Everything about the rest of the Ready is designed with kids in mind.
(Image credit: Matt Ischt-Barnard)
The overall shape of the helmet is much rounder, with a lot of overhang, which, including my son, makes a lot of kids look like Toad from Mario Kart; however, combined with the much lower coverage at the rear of the helmet, similar to that of a ski or snowboard lid, it offers much greater protection. The large rear dial wheel and magnetic chin strap fasteners provide kids with the independence to fit and adjust their own helmets. It also features softer, plush padding, which, when paired with interesting rope-like ear loops that hold the straps away from the child’s face, all add to Woom’s claim of offering ‘instant comfort’.
(Image credit: Matt Ischt-Barnard)
Fit and Ride
I eventually settled on a size Small for my son, after first ordering the Medium. While the Medium did fit, Woom offers a little crossover between the two sizes. At precisely 53cm, my son’s head is exactly the measurement of said crossover. However, while there is crossover, the shell on the medium is enormous, which is where the Mario Kart reference first came to mind. My advice here is to size down until the smaller size is too small to avoid the same issue.
Once we had the right fit, the thing that amazed me the most was how quickly my son got used to the magnetic chin fastener. After showing him a few times and practising with the helmet off, he nailed it. The issue with the traditional male and female clips isn’t so much the technique that causes problems for kids; it’s the pressure required to bypass the hook. With the Woom, he can even do it one-handed, or with gloves on. This gives him back a little bit of independence and ultimately frees me up to get us ready to leave the house, something I am sure all parents can appreciate; anything that makes that process more peaceful and easier, gets a big tick.
(Image credit: Matt Ischt-Barnard)
As with all the reviews we do here at Cycling Weekly for kids, it’s a balance between deciphering what we observe and what our children can articulate. With the Woom, it struck me quite quickly that there wasn’t all that much to observe. Once he had the helmet on, there was no fiddling, adjusting, pushing back, or playing with the dial, which I translated as it being comfortable and unobtrusive. In conversations with my son, he claims it’s comfortable and he likes it; in fact, he even mentioned the padding is much softer than his Specialized helmet.
(Image credit: Matt Ischt-Barnard)
I can only identify one minor issue in use: the small peak that Woom has molded into the front of the helmet. This section is unprotected by the plastic cover, making it vulnerable to damage from regular use. In fact, I dented it slightly where it was under my cargo net in the basket of the Benno RemiDeimi XL electric cargo bike I am currently testing. It seems like an oversight, not to have covered it in plastic, and it is definitely the only area Woom should look to improve, but it really only affects the aesthetics.
(Image credit: Matt Ischt-Barnard)
Value and conclusions
In conclusion, I can confidently say that the Woom Ready is an intuitive, child-friendly helmet that provides good comfort. While fortunately we haven’t needed to test its safety, it certainly offers better coverage than many of its competitors, especially at the rear. And here is the but…
It’s £55/$89.90. Which, undeniably, makes it one of the more expensive kids’ helmets. For example, had I purchased his Camber helmet at full price, this would have been £55/$75. However, the Camber lacks the thoughtful design and child-friendliness of the Ready. It’s these two factors that make it a better value than any adult helmet. If they made one that fit my globe of a head, I’d quite like one for riding around town in.
We have the Thousand Jr. Kids Helmet to test next, which features some kid-friendly features like the magnetic chin strap fastening that the Ready has. It’s £5/$7 cheaper, so keep an eye out for that review.
(Image credit: Matt Ischt-Barnard)
