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CPSC Findings on Bicycle Buckles


Summary: CPSC's lab has occasionally broken bicycle helmet buckles.


For Starters: Our own Opinion on This Issue:

1. Some buckles have broken when tested to the ASTM standard by Consumer Reports' labs or CPSC.
2. Buckles are not breaking when tested to Snell or ANSI.
3. No buckles should break under ASTM, and suppliers should strengthen them if they do.
4. Buckles that meet Snell and ANSI are entirely adequate, even if they do break when tested to ASTM,
so the bottom line is:
5. There is no cause for consumer alarm about any of these helmets.



U.S. CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION
WASHINGTON. D.C. 20207


Office of the Secretary, Freedom of Information Division
4340 East West Highway, Room 502, Bethesda, MD 20814-4408
Telephone (301) 504-0785, Facsimile (301) 504-0127, E-Mail www,cpsc-os@cpsc.gov


AUG 27 1997


Mr. Randy Swart
Director
Bicycle Helmet Safety Institute
4611 Seventh Street South
Arlington, VA 22204-1419

Re: FOIA Request S704092: Commission Testing of Bicycle Helmets Mfrd. by Troxel Cycling and Fitness Bell Sport. Inc.. Rollerblade. Inc. and Giro Sports Design

Dear Mr. Swart:

Thank you for your Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request seeking records from the Commission. Enclosed are copies of the correspondence and testing results of bicycle helmets made by or for Troxel Cycling and Fitness, Bell Sport, Inc., Rollerblade, Inc. and Giro Sports Design. The records include file information generated by the Commission itself for regulatory or enforcement purposes. The Commission has established management systems under which supervisors are responsible for reviewing the work of their employees or contractors. The file information materials are final and have been prepared and accepted by the Commission's staff under such review systems. The Commission believes that it has taken reasonable steps to assure the accuracy of the information.

Giro Sport Design Inc., has requested that the disclosure include their following comments: "In fact, the Interim Rule requires compliance with only one of three standards-Snell B-90, ANSI Z90.4-1984, or ASTM F-1447--and all Giro helmets passed at least two of the standards. We are concerned, however, that the CPSC's statement that two Giro helmet buckles did not pass ASTM F-1447 may be used improperly. This statement provides no meaningful information to consumers--and, in fact, is misleading--because the Giro helmets satisfy the CPSC's Interim Rule and because Giro does not claim to certify its buckles to ASTM F-1447. As the CPSC would agree, the fact that two Giro helmets did not pass ASTM F-1447--when they fully complied with the Snell and ANSI standards--in no way indicates that those Giro helmets are unsafe or would fail to protect the rider in an accident."

The cost to the Commission to perform the file searches and prepare this information was $80.00. In this instance we have decided to waive the charges.

Sincerely

Todd A. Stevenson
Deputy Secretary and
Freedom of Information Officer
Office of the Secretary

Enclosures


And here is the letter to Giro.

Please note their comments above, which we
consider valid regarding Giro's own models.




U.S. CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20207-0001

JUN 09 1997



OFFICE OF COMPLIANCE
Division of
Regulatory Management

Frank Krivda
Compliance Officer
Tel: 301-504 0400 EXT. 1372
Fax: 301-504-0359




Bill Hannemann,
President
Giro Sports Design
380 Encinal St.
Santa Cruz CA 95060-2101


Dear Mr. Hannemann:
The staff of the Consumer Product Safety Commission collected two Giro bicycle helmet models in response to Consumer Report, June 1997 article. In the article, Consumer Union reported that certain bicycle helmets failed to meet the retention requirements under the ASTM F-1447 and Snell B-95 because of buckle failure. The two helmet models collected had buckles labeled, "ITW Nexus TSK 63."

The Safety Standards For Bicycle Helmets, 16 CFR 1203, is considered a consumer product safety standard issued under the Consumer Product Safety Act (CPSA). Bicycle helmets manufactured, either domestically or by a foreign firm for export into the United States, on or after the March 16, 1995 effective date, must comply with at least one of the interim standards. The staff conducted testing on two bicycle helmet models to determine compliance with the Interim Rule: Safety Standards for Bicycle Helmets. Retention testing was conducted under the following three standards ASTM F-1447, American National Standards Institute (ANSI),Z90.4-1984, and Snell Memorial Foundation (Snell) B-90. The staff limited its testing only to the retention testing portion of each of these standards and did not test to the remaining provisions of the standards.

The following bicycle helmet models were tested using the retention test under each of the above standards. The testing results are:

Sample #      Model          Labeled           Buckle
                             Standard

97 830-3835   Supermoto RL   SNELL B-90/ANSI  ITW Nexus TSK 63

97 830-3836   Mudshaker      SNELL B-90       ITW Nexus TSK 63


Both models passed the retention system requirements under ANSI and SNELL B-90, however, one each of the two models tested for the ASTM F-1447 standard failed to meet that retention system requirement. The staff would not consider the failure to meet the ASTM F-1447 retention system requirements a failure to meet the Interim Rule as both models did comply with SNELL B-90 and ANSI retention system requirements when tested to these standards.
If you have any questions, please feel free to give me a call or write to me at the above address.

Sincerely,

Francis J. Krivda



And here is the letter to Rollerblade.



U.S. CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20207-0001

JUN 09 1997



OFFICE OF COMPLIANCE
Division of
Regulatory Management

Frank Krivda
Compliance Officer
Tel: 301-504 0400 EXT. 1372
Fax: 301-504-0359




John Hetterick, President
Rollerblade, Inc.
5101 Shady Oak Rd.
Minnetonka, MN 55343

Dear Mr. Hetterick:

The staff of the Consumer Product Safety Commission collected one City Gear bicycle helmet in response to Consumer Report, June, 1997 article. In the article, Consumer Union reported that certain bicycle helmets failed to meet the retention requirements under the ASTM F-1447 and Snell B-95 because the buckles failed. The buckle on the helmet model was labeled, "ITW Nexus TSK 63." The Safety Standards For Bicycle Helmets, 16 CFR 1203, is considered a consumer product safety standard issued under the

Consumer Product Safety Act (CPSA). Bicycle helmets manufactured, either domestically or by a foreign firm for export into the United States, on or after the March 16, 1995 effective date, must comply with at least one of the interim standards. The staff conducted testing on the helmet model to determine compliance with the Interim Rule: Safety Standards for Bicycle Helmets for retention. The helmet model passed the retention system requirements of the ASTM F-1447 standard. The staff limited its testing only to the retention testing portion of the standard and did not test to the remaining provisions of the ASTM standard.

Two units were tested of this model using the retention test under ASTM F-1447:


Sample #          Model       Labeled      Buckle
                              Standard

97 830-4194       City Gear   ASTM/ANSI    ITW Nexus TSK 63

If you have any questions, please feel free to give me a ca11 or write to me at the above address.

Sincerely,

Francis J. Krivda



And here is the letter to Bell Sports.





U.S. CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20207-0001

JUN 09 1997



OFFICE OF COMPLIANCE
Division of
Regulatory Management


Frank Krivda
Compliance Officer
Tel: 301-504 0400 EXT. 1372
Fax: 301-504-0359


Mary George, Chief Operating Officer
Bell Sports, Inc.
6350 San Ignacio
San Jose, CA 90010


Dear Ms. George:

The staff of the Consumer Product Safety Commission collected six Bell Sport bicycle helmets in response to Consumer Report, June, 1997 article. In the article, Consumer Union reported that certain bicycle helmets failed to meet the retention requirements under the ASTM F-1447 and Snell B-95 because the buckles failed. The buckles on the helmet models collected were labeled either, "ITW Nexus TSK 63" or "Pinchguard".

The Safety Standards For Bicycle Helmets, 16 CFR 1203, is considered a consumer product safety standard issued under the Consumer Product Safety Act (CPSA). Bicycle helmets manufactured, either domestically or by a foreign firm for export into the United States, on or after the March 16, 1995 effective date, must comply with at least one of the interim standards. The staff conducted testing on six bicycle helmet models to determine compliance with the Interim Rule: Safety Standards for Bicycle Helmets for retention. All the helmet models passed the retention system requirements of the ASTM F-1447 standard. The staff limited its testing only to the retention testing portion of the standard and did not test to the remaining provisions of the ASTM standard.

Two units of each of the following bicycle helmet models were tested using the retention test under ASTM F-1447:


Sample #       Model        Labeled          Buckle
                            Standard

97 860-6328   Tsunami Pro   ASTM/ANSI    ITW Nexus TSK 63

97 860-6325   Warped        ASTM/ANSI    ITW Nexus TSK 63

97 860-6329   Maniac Pro    ASTM/ANSI    Pinchguard

97 860-6330   Lil Bell      ASTM/ANSI    Pinchguard
              Shell Pro

97 860-6326   BSI Headwinds ASTM/ANSI    ITW Nexus TSK 63

97 860-6327   BSI Headwinds ASTM/ANSI    ITW Nexus TSK 63
              Toddler

If you have any questions, please feel free to give me a call or write to me at the above address.

Sincerely,

Francis J. Krivda



And here is the letter to Troxel.


U.S. CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20207-0001

JUN 09 1997

OFFICE OF COMPLIANCE
Division of
Regulatory Management

Frank Krivda
Compliance Officer
Tel: 301-504 0400 EXT. 1372
Fax: 301-504-0359




Richard Timms, President
Troxel Cycling and Fitness
1333 30th Street
San Diego, CA 92154


Dear Mr. Timms:

The staff of the Consumer Product Safety Commission collected one Pro-Action Radio Active bicycle helmet in response to Consumer Report, June, 1997 article. In the article, Consumer Union reported that certain bicycle helmets failed to meet the retention requirements under the ASTM F-1447 and Snell B-95 because the buckles failed The buckle on the helmet model was labeled, "ITW Nexus TSK 63."

The Safety Standards For Bicycle Helmets, 16 CFR 1203, is considered a consumer product safety standard issued under the Consumer Product Safety Act (CPSA). Bicycle helmets manufactured, either domestically or by a foreign firm for export into the United States, on or after the March 16, 1995 effective date, must comply with at least one of the interim standards. The staff conducted testing on the helmet model to determine compliance with the Interim Rule: Safety Standards for Bicycle Helmets for retention. The helmet model passed the retention system requirements of the ASTM F-1447 standard. The staff limited its testing only to the retention testing portion of the standard and did not test to the remaining provisions of the ASTM standard.

Two units were tested of this model using the retention test under ASTM F-1447

Sample #        Model          Labeled           Buckle
                               Standard

97 800-1222     Pro-Action     ASTM/ANSI       ITW Nexus TSK 63
                Radio

If you have any questions, please feel free to a call or write to me at the above address.

Sincerely,

Francis J. Krivda