Bell Sports is an American

bicycle A bicycle, also called a pedal cycle, bike, push-bike or cycle, is a human-powered transport, human-powered or motorized bicycle, motor-assisted, bicycle pedal, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, with two bicycle wheel, wheels attached to a ...

motorcycle A motorcycle (motorbike, bike; uni (if one-wheeled); trike (if three-wheeled); quad (if four-wheeled)) is a lightweight private 1-to-2 passenger personal motor vehicle Steering, steered by a Motorcycle handlebar, handlebar from a saddle-style ...

and

racing In sports, racing is a competition of speed, in which competitors try to complete a given task in the shortest amount of time. Typically this involves traversing some distance, but it can be any other task involving speed to reach a specific g ...

helmet manufacturer. The company is a

subsidiary A subsidiary, subsidiary company, or daughter company is a company (law), company completely or partially owned or controlled by another company, called the parent company or holding company, which has legal and financial control over the subsidia ...

of Revelyst having been previously owned by

Vista Outdoor Vista Outdoor Inc. was an American designer, manufacturer, and marketer that operated in two segments: shooting sports and outdoor products. It was a "house of brands" with more than 40 labels and subsidiaries. Vista Outdoor was the parent compan ...

and BRG Sports, which owned Riddell

football helmet A football helmet is a type of protective headgear used mainly in gridiron football, although a structural variation has occasional use in Australian rules football. It consists of a hard plastic shell with thick padding on the inside, a Face ma ...

s. BRG Sports had sold some of its brands (including Bell, Giro, C-Preme, and Blackburn) to Vista in 2016.

History

The company started in 1923 as "Bell Auto Parts," named for its location in

Bell, California Bell is an municipal corporation, incorporated city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Located near the center of the former San Antonio Township (abolished after 1960), its population was 33,559 at the 2020 United States census ...

. Roy Richter began working for Bell Auto Parts in 1933. In 1945, he purchased the store for $1,000. Richter produced his first race car helmets in 1954. The "Bell Helmet Company" was established as a division of Bell Auto Parts in 1956. Bell introduced its Star model, the first full-face motorcycle helmet on the market, in 1968. In 1971, Bell produced the first full-face off-road motorcycle helmet. Bell made its first production helmet in 1954. It was the result of months of research and development. Richter, with the help of veteran naval pilot Frank Heacox, reverse engineered numerous helmets, including some used in

military aviation Military aviation is the design, development and use of military aircraft and other flying machines for the purposes of conducting or enabling aerial warfare, including national airlift (air cargo) capacity to provide military logistics, logist ...

. Heacox played a key role in developing Bell Helmet's first products, most importantly by using the helmets himself, both in races and on the street. These experiences with the prototypes led to many useful suggestions. That first helmet, named the Bell 500, featured a

polyurethane Polyurethane (; often abbreviated PUR and PU) is a class of polymers composed of organic chemistry, organic units joined by carbamate (urethane) links. In contrast to other common polymers such as polyethylene and polystyrene, polyurethane term ...

foam liner inside a hand-laminated

fiberglass Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English) is a common type of fibre-reinforced plastic, fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened i ...

outer shell.

Laminating Simulated flight (using image stack created by μCT scanning) through the length of a knitting needle that consists of laminated wooden layers: the layers can be differentiated by the change of direction of the wood's vessels Shattered windshi ...

and polishing helmets by hand was relatively expensive but Richter believed it resulted in a stronger helmet. Several members of the famous Bill Stroppe

Lincoln Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the 16th president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincoln (na ...

Team wore the Bell 500 in the

Carrera Panamericana The Carrera Panamericana was a border-to-border sedan (stock and touring and sports car) rally racing event on open roads in Mexico similar to the Mille Miglia and Targa Florio in Italy. Running for five consecutive years from 1950 to 1954, i ...

Road Race in 1954. A Bell helmet was used in the

Indianapolis 500 The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly shortened to Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indian ...

for the first time by

Cal Niday Calvin Lee Niday (April 29, 1914 – February 14, 1988) was an American racecar driver who was born in Turlock, California and died in Lancaster, California. Biography He lost his leg in a motorcycle accident after high school, but it did not af ...

in 1955. Niday crashed during lap 177 of the race and suffered several major injuries. Despite suffering a skull fracture, Nidal credited the helmet for preventing even more serious injury. By 1956, helmet sales were far above projections. This resulted in the formation of the Bell Helmet Company as a subsidiary of Bell Auto Parts. The helmet operation employed at least four people working full-time producing helmets in a facility next door to the original Bell Auto Parts location. Bell moved to

Long Beach, California Long Beach is a coastal city in southeastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is the list of United States cities by population, 44th-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 451,307 as of 2022. A charter ci ...

in 1968. The first Bell helmet with full-face protection was developed at this location. In 1980, the company merged with football helmet maker Riddell to form "Bell-Riddell". The Bell-Riddell motorcycle division was sold in 1991, becoming "Bell Helmets". The remaining company was renamed "Bell Sports". In 1999, the auto racing division was sold and split into two separate companies called "Bell Racing Company" (North America) and "Bell Racing Europe" (Europe, Asia and Africa). Bell Sports reacquired Bell Helmets in 2002, creating Bell Powersports. In 2005, it reacquired Bell Racing Company, and was itself merged into Easton-Bell Sports in 2006. Vista Outdoor acquired the company in 2016. In 2023, Vista Outdoor laid off numerous employees at Bell Sports facility in Scotts Valley, California. This is part of an effort to integrate relevant brands into Fox Racing.

Products

The Bell Star MIPS (Multi-directional Impact Protection System) is the entry-level model of the Bell Star line of motorcycle helmets. It is made using a slip-plane design and a foam EPS liner. The EPS liner is designed to deal with main impact forces while the MIPS helps prevent brain injuries such as concussions by reducing rotational forces. Their Bell Star helmet was listed as the safest full-face road helmet after being tested by Australia's independent Consumer Rating and Assessment of Safety Helmets team.

Relationship to Bell Racing

Bell Racing USA and Bell Racing Europe were independent companies that used the Bell trademark under license. In 2019 OMP Racing acquired the majority of shares in Bell Racing Helmets Group and continues to use the Bell trademark under license.

References

External links

* {{American bicycle manufacturers Helmet manufacturers Manufacturing companies established in 1923 Companies based in Champaign County, Illinois Sporting goods manufacturers of the United States Cycle parts manufacturers Manufacturing companies based in Illinois 1923 establishments in California

History

Products

Relationship to Bell Racing

See also

References

External links