Harmonix how long ago was this? Are Rosebank the tester of every helmet in Australia?I did a personal loan (when I worked at the bank) for the lady who is the head tester (in fact she is the only tester) at the Rosebank facility in Victoria.
They are the aussie test facility that determine whether it meets standard or not. If she says 'NO', the helmet dosn't make it on our shelves.
She is personally responsible for the testing of every helmet for sale in Aus from Kmart to Bike shops.
The latest Standard is 2008 with an amendment issued in 2009.Well not quite true - but lets not let facts get in the way of this, shall we? Someone else can confirm this but as I understand it there is a reasonably recent standard for helmets which supercedes the previous standard. An event organiser, MTBA, insurance company or SA themselves can state that the older standard is not acceptable for an event (IIRC this happened at the Garmin 24 Hour). Just because the sticker is on a helmet doesn't mean it conforms to currently acceptable and legal standards.
Which really was a fuck up of its own epic proportions.More recently (2010) there was a change to Supply of helmets with the old 1996 standard
http://www.productsafety.gov.au/content/index.phtml/itemId/974624
Have you seen the Wiggle TV ad that is running at the moment? I was somewhat intrigued by the fact that they were promoting helmets (amongst other things).
Examples? Really, please.
You think/know an overseas Fox flux (for example) is different to an Australian bought one? They are identical. The straps are the same, the shell, foam, the lot (I've looked and yes, I am not a helmet or standards expert, but I can measure and compare reasonably well). Except for the silver sticker, of course. It makes little or no business sense to modify a helmet for our tiny market. Sure, test away if the manufacturer is confident that it will comply (with FEA and such it's predictable) they can afford the sizes and batches, but to modify a production run? I can't see it happening often, if ever.
Scaremongering. I'm surprised Today Tonight haven't picked this up.
Here is the problem. If a helmet can be sold for $95, why the hell is the retail price $200?!I bought my last helmet for $95 from my LBS, it retails at $200. He droped the price for me to try and match an online retailer I had quoted.
Now I have the peace of mind knowing I have an Australian approved helmet and only payed half the Australian retail cost.
Probably because he has made a complete loss on one helmet to either a favoured customer or because of other products he has also purchased. Happens all the time - spend $1000 or 2 (or 3 or 4) in one shop and you can often have something else 'thrown in' as an apparent 'thank you'.Here is the problem. If a helmet can be sold for $95, why the hell is the retail price $200?!
All good points, but let's face it, how many people do you know that primarily shop overseas?Probably because he has made a complete loss on one helmet to either a favoured customer or because of other products he has also purchased. Happens all the time - spend $1000 or 2 (or 3 or 4) in one shop and you can often have something else 'thrown in' as an apparent 'thank you'.
Can also be a copuple of other reasons - one ofwhich is the product being heavily discounted simply isn't selling so by doing this (apparent highly cut price) it gets him some money back for what he has paid to have it in stock AND got it off his shelf.
Quite a few - but they also balance it up with requirements for local support, warranty etc. And don't be surprised if, at some time in the near future, you start seeing things happen as they do with vehicles - if they don;t comply, they won't be allowed in. It only needs a Gerry Harvey to make enough noise about it....All good points, but let's face it, how many people do you know that primarily shop overseas?
We all know that that there is alot of room to move with RRP, so instead of complaining, why not try to bring some of the people who shop overseas back locally?
Simple, as per the Australian Standards testing, all of the procedures for worldwide testing are set out in a manual. Here it is called the Australian Standard - other places it's called something elseHow does she know for certain ? How can anyone working here know 100% for fact that something done overseas is the same, different, better, worse, unless they have worked in the industry in every place in the world ?
well, a complete loss would infer that he gave it away. If LBS owner lost all of his stock he would claim it on insurance if he had it. This isn't a chicken and egg argument. The reason he is selling the helmet at a discount is because someone asked him to. The reason that he can is because of a large markup. Poor choices in stock acquisitions, yes, he may need to cut prices to recoup losses, but this is not what we are talking about.Probably because he has made a complete loss on one helmet to either a favoured customer or because of other products he has also purchased. Happens all the time - spend $1000 or 2 (or 3 or 4) in one shop and you can often have something else 'thrown in' as an apparent 'thank you'.
Can also be a copuple of other reasons - one ofwhich is the product being heavily discounted simply isn't selling so by doing this (apparent highly cut price) it gets him some money back for what he has paid to have it in stock AND got it off his shelf.
You clearly know nothing about online shops. TBSM? No staff? No stock? Just drop into their store one day. CRC? Ditto (check their website - they provide employment for a whole town!).You alse need to realise that a shop price cannot be realistically be compared to an on-lione price - for the simple reason, selling on line doesn't incur the cost of staff, shop rental and other associated costs. In may cases on line sellers quite often don;t even carry stock - they are ordered in as required.
Let's be realistic here. If a event refuses to cover the medical expenses of a rider who suffers head injuries while wearing a reputable brand of helmet sold elsewhere in the world then they're going to get sued for failing to provide a safe course or event, which is a far worse outcome. And speaking as someone who's been through the insurance claim process twice after being hit by cars on the road, I can confirm the biggest insurance companies in Australia are only interested in whether you are wearing a helmet at all, not with whether it was approved to AS/NZ standards.Nope - having a good one actually. I drew the same conclusions in my response to the ones that rone has been drawing all along - fanciful and wild. But hey, never let saving a few dollars stand in the way of the possibility of having to fork out medical costs, ambulance costs and so on if an insurance company decides to wipe you from coverage because you didn't follow the requirements for the event you signed up for (you being general terms here).
I think that is a BS argument for the most part (sure there are some online stores that operate that way - Both in Australia and overseas) but let's look at some of the big online sellers that we are all familiar with (and that most people would buy from).You alse need to realise that a shop price cannot be realistically be compared to an on-lione price - for the simple reason, selling on line doesn't incur the cost of staff, shop rental and other associated costs.
The same can be said for most LBS too. As they don't hold large volumes of stock in an array of sizes.In may cases on line sellers quite often don;t even carry stock - they are ordered in as required.