Customer Reviews

Giro Rodeo Youth Bike Helmet (Blue Mike and the Bike, Youth)

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I was looking for a high quality bicycle helmet that my 2 year old daughter would actuallly want to wear. She loves this bicycle helmet! She loves the way it looks, and loves to wear it when she rides her bicycle. The adjustable dial makes it easy to get a comfortable fit, and also provides room to grow, so she can wear the helmet a couple of years before she outgrows it. Would highly recommend.

This helmet is great! It's simple to adjust just a turn of the knob. The chin strap buckle is shaped in a way so you can't pinch their skin. My daughter is 11 months old it fits her very comfortably with tons of room to grow. The colors are great not to babyish so as she gets older she will still like it. Lots of vents so when it's hot she doesn't over heat.

Our son has been wearing a Giro Me2 Infant Bike Helmet since he was 12 months old. He's 2 years 4 months now, and in the 70th size percentile for his age. His head, as measured per Giro's guidelines just above the eyebrows and ears, is 19½ inches / 49.5cm. This puts him only midway through the infant Me2's fit range (48-52cm), and right at the start of the RODEO's range (50-57 cm, per Giro's web site). Apologies if your eyes just crossed! :D

Before deciding to purchase this less expensive RODEO, we also looked at the slightly costlier Giro Rascal Child Bike Helmet, giving it a thorough in-person checkout at REI. Initially I was puzzled as to why Giro was offering two similar products (actually, three, considering the infant Me2's size range overlap), but reminded myself that these are all focused at different price points & market segments, with slight feature and styling differences, just like with Giro's adult helmets. Anyway...

(Just a tiny bit of background: the Me2 is being handed down to our youngest son. The older boy's new bike is black and yellow, so we were looking at the black/yellow Livestrong color scheme, offered with both the Rascal and this RODEO.)

Interestingly, the RODEO's exterior polycarbonate shell appears to be the exact same molding as the one used on the infant Me2. All of the vent holes, recesses, and details appear to be the same, right down to the length and width. Holding the two helmets next to each other in various orientations, their dimensions appear identical.

But closer observation of the actual EPS (foam) helmet reveals subtle differences: the slightly arching ear cutouts have moved, and the interior head band has two additional anchor points fused into the EPS foam.

Weight of the RODEO is 255g, only 20 grams more than the infant Me2. I've seen the Rascal listed at a surprising 288g, and while the 33 gram difference isn't necessarily significant, it represents an unnecessary 13% weight increase on a big bobblehead perched atop a scrawny neck. It's clear to me the lighter helmet wins this contest.

Giro hypes the pricier Rascal's "one step" easy fit, which is really just the use of an elastic strap joining two pieces around the back of the headband, pulling the headband in to the base of the skull. It replaces any sort of manual fit device. Well, I'm going to counter that "feature" with:
(1) the "difficult fit" of any helmet is setting the chin strap just right, and the Rascal's system does nothing to help there -- it's the same as the RODEO.
(2) the RODEO has an easy-to-use thumbwheel adjust system that's similar (though not identical) to the infant Me2, and that allows very quick and hassle-free size adjustment of the headband -- not once have I had a problem using this on the Me2, and rarely do I need to adjust it (just a quick turn of the thumb wheel occasionally to adjust for growth).
(3) I believe (not 100% certain) that the Rascal's elastic auto-adjustment is the reason it fits a smaller size range (50 to 54 cm) versus the RODEO (again, 50 to 57 cm according to the Giro website).
(4) I can't help but believe the "fixed" fit of the RODEO's headband exhibits superior helmet retention properties when compared to a helmet with a headband secured with elastic. In actual use, this probably won't make a difference, and I'm sure Giro thoroughly tests their products before releasing them.

Compared to the Rascal, the RODEO has a !cheap! *taped-on* polycarbonate shell, as do many cheaper adult helmets. The tape is not so obvious in the black/yellow product photo on Amazon, but the tape stands out on other color schemes such as the "Lavender Glitter" mode. This is in comparison to Giro's In-Mold technology used in the Rascal (also on their premium adult helmets) that directly fuses the shell to the EPS. What this means in the real world is that if you subject the RODEO to abuse and possibly storage in hot cars, the taped-on shell can become detached, whereas the shell on the more expensive Rascal should hold on even if the EPS cracks in half. BUT, in the year-and-a-half of moderate use our infant Me2 has seen, the taped-on poly shell has held up fine, and looks like it will survive being handed down to our youngest.

The more expensive Rascal also offers up 12 ventilation holes as a "feature," doubling the 6 vents on the RODEO (and the Me2). I don't put much stock in this, especially at this age. I do think vents make a difference in hotter climates for long rides and at higher speeds, but I just don't expect this to make a lick of difference for they casual, shorter duration riding kids do. For what it's worth, my son has never expressed any discomfort wearing the Me2 (nor, at this point, the RODEO).

The Rascal adds two LED lights built in to the back of the helmet. No doubt, they're a cool feature designed to attract both kids and their parents. This might be a consideration if my son were going to be riding unattended in the street in the dark, but...

The last comparison point worth mentioning is that the cheaper RODEO has a flat/matte black finish, while the Rascal is glossy black.

With all that in mind, we based our choice primarily on the lower weight and manual fit of the value-priced RODEO. I don't think we would have been unhappy with either helmet. I certainly wish the RODEO had the In-Mold shell.

BTW, unrelated to all of this, we got frequent complaints from our son (in the form of yelps, screams, shrieks and crys) that Giro's so-called "pinch free" chinstrap buckle was anything but. I think he was overreacting most of the time, but nevertheless, I replaced the stock buckles on both helmets with this magnetic buckle from helmet manufacturer Lazer: Lazer Magic Buckle for Regular straps: Magnetic Assist Closure. Simply put, they're awesome, but they do require a bit of effort to install since the chinstrap must be unlaced from the helmet then relaced. For us, it was well worth the minor bother.

I love the helmet we picked for our son! It fits really well and looks like it would protect him well. It is also VERY CUTE! :) He got used to wearing it really quickly. It's excellent! Highly recommend!

we ordered this for our 19 month old son. He loves it, doesn't mind wearing it and we like it too! Fits well and is very adjustable! Will work for a while! We will buy another Giro for him when he outgrows this one! We also really liked the fact that we could get one that looked cool...and not with cheesy cartoon characters.

I love that this helmet adjusts for a custom fit. I bought it for my six year old an dit fits well. She loves it and I don't know how we got by using a lesser brand item for so long.

this is a awesome helmet and would recommend it to anyone who is looking for one for a toddler that will jive you several years of use.

- Great looking / durable helmet.
- My kid gets admiring looks whenever he wears it.
- Matte black finish is very nice.

Great bike helmet, sturdy construction, cute design & excellent price! Who could ask for more. Fits my 4 yr old perfectly.

I bought these for my 2 and 4 year olds (and a different style Giro for my 8yo), and they fit all of my kids great, with plenty of room to grow. MUCH better fit than what is available from most big box stores.. the Acu Dial fit system is very easy to adjust and the no-pinch buckle makes putting on these helmets much easier than most.