ECE 22.05 vs 22.06 helmets: what changed in the tests and when a 22.05 helmet still makes sense

ECE 22.06 keeps the core 7.5 m/s impact test of ECE 22.05 and adds five things: an oblique impact test that limits rotational acceleration, a faster 8.2 m/s linear impact, a slower 6.0 m/s linear impact, a chin-bar test raised from 5.5 to 6.0 m/s, and new visor tests. It also adds extra impact points chosen from a pool of 12. That is the whole difference in the tests. In ALLR's catalog 1,308 complete helmet pages state 22.05 and 7,112 state 22.06, and no page states both (ALLR data, 2026-10-24, spare parts excluded); the median lowest landed price is CA$300 for 22.05 pages and CA$417 for 22.06 pages. This guide sets the two series side by side, reports what an independent study found when it tested both, and ends with when a 22.05 helmet still makes sense. To check which series a helmet is, see how to check a helmet is ECE 22.06 certified.

Line by line: what changed

Two points help read the table. First, "unchanged" matters: every 22.06 helmet must still pass the 22.05-style 7.5 m/s test, so the new tests are additional hurdles rather than a different exam. Second, the lower 6.0 m/s impact has a stricter pass line (180 g) than the main test (275 g). The 22.05 baseline and the 22.06 linear table are as summarised in Bourdet et al., IRC-24-69; the 6.0 m/s chin-bar speed is from para 7.3.1.4 of the adopted regulation.

The rotational test, the biggest change

ECE 22.05 did include a tangential test, but only the force on the anvil was recorded. IRCOBI's authors note there was no consensus then on an injury criterion for rotation. The 06 series introduces one: the helmeted headform strikes a 45° anvil faced with abrasive paper at 8.0 m/s, and two numbers must stay under their limits at every impact site. The peak rotational acceleration must not exceed 10,400 rad/s², and the Brain Injury Criterion (BrIC), computed from peak angular velocities about the three axes, must not exceed 0.78. IRCOBI also notes that the friction coefficient between the helmet and the surrogate head must be kept at 0.3.

What an independent study found

A Strasbourg University team tested 63 helmet models, 47 approved to 22.05 and 16 to 22.06, with its own Certimoov protocol (18 impacts on six samples per model, 1,134 impacts in all). They reported marginal decreases in head kinematics for 22.06 helmets and "very little improvement" in modelled brain-injury risk, and concluded that 22.05 helmets do not look significantly different from 22.06 helmets in head protection. They noted large scatter between models. Read this fairly: the 22.06 group was small and early, the protocol differs from the regulation (for example P40 abrasive paper rather than P80, and a Hybrid III headform), and a standard sets a pass floor rather than a ranking. It does not say the new tests are pointless; it says model-to-model differences were larger than series-to-series differences.

The practical point is the same one SHARP's FAQ makes: its star rating shows no connection with price, so the label tells you what a helmet passed, not how well. For the price-versus-protection evidence, see do expensive helmets protect better?.

The 22.05 helmets in ALLR's catalog (ALLR data, 2026-10-24)

Of the 1,308 pages that state 22.05, 499 (38.1%) also state DOT and 809 (61.9%) state no DOT. The brands with the most 22.05 pages are HJC (80), LS2 (76), Premier (69), ICON (45), and Nexx and Troy Lee Designs (44 each). Examples with strong retailer coverage are the Scorpion EXO-GT930 Transformernotifications_active, the Scorpion EXO-T520notifications_active, the LS2 Thunder Carbonnotifications_active and the Bell Qualifiernotifications_active, each of which retailer pages describe as 22.05 and DOT. For comparison, widely stocked 22.06 helmets at lower prices include the HJC C10notifications_active and AGV K1 Snotifications_active, which state both 22.06 and DOT.

The price gap is not evidence of a safety gap. A 22.05 page may describe older stock or a model that has not been re-approved. Catalog data also cannot tell you whether a given retailer's copy is old stock; read the approval number on arrival.

When a 22.05 helmet still makes sense

About these figures

Catalog numbers are a dated snapshot (2026-10-24) of the public API, spare parts excluded; certification is what retailer pages state, not what we have verified on the label. Live numbers are on the helmets catalog and the method on the methodology page. Test figures come from the adopted UN Regulation No. 22, Revision 5, and the IRCOBI paper. For the comparison with Snell see ECE 22.06 vs Snell M2025, and for the US baseline ECE 22.06 vs DOT.