Modern Sports Helmet Turns 50; Bell Celebrates Birth of Protective Headgear.

Sports Editors/Business Editors

SANTA CRUZ, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 20, 2004

Fifty years ago, in a small auto-parts garage in Bell, Calif., Roy Richter set in motion a new era in the sports world by hand-crafting a simple laminated fiberglass helmet designed to save the lives of his auto-racing buddies. The helmet, called the Bell 500 in honor of the famed 500-mile races, was deemed protective because it superceded inferior racing headgear made of boiled leather, pith, felt and linen-and-shellack mixtures.

The Bell 500 gave birth to a lineage of protective helmets that has grown beyond motorsports race tracks and into everyday life, from skate parks and mountain bike trails, to ski resorts, school bike routes and neighborhoods across the country. Today, Americans buy 15 million helmets per year for wheeled and extreme sports.

The Bell 500 prompted Richter's Bell Auto Parts shop to evolve into an industry-leading helmet company that has created many firsts, including the first full-face motorcycle helmet and the first protective bicycling helmet to use expanded polystyrene (EPS) liners, now the industry standard.

The importance of helmets in everyday life cannot be over-emphasized. In bicycling alone, more than 65 million Americans ride for fitness and recreation. Bicycle helmets have been proven to reduce the risk of brain injury by up to 88 percent in the event of a crash, according to the Harbor View Medical Center. Further, the Consumer Product Safety Commission found that as bicycle helmet use has increased among children 15 years and younger, bike-related head injuries and deaths have decreased by 20 percent.

Unfortunately, the opposite is true for motorcyclists. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that injuries and fatalities have risen as helmet use among motorcyclists fell from 2000 to 2002.

Heritage in Protective Headgear

In 1946 Roy Richter lost the second of two close friends in an auto racing accident. Richter vowed to build a better helmet - one that would allow his friends to pursue their passion for motorsports and live to tell about it. In 1954, he made good on his word. Bell subsequently was the first company to pass the auto racing helmet safety standards established by the Snell Memorial Foundation.

In 1957, Bell discovered the superior impact absorbing capabilities of expanded polystyrene (EPS) and was first to build helmets with this material. EPS is still the industry standard in motorsports, extreme sports and cycling helmets worldwide.

Today, the company is celebrating its heritage with an all-new helmet called the Metro - representing the culmination of 50 years of protective headgear technology. The Metro is the world's first helmet custom-designed for bike commuters and the burgeoning comfort riding market. It sports an all-new streamlined shape, plus a modular design to allow riders to customize the helmet with a folding Flip Mirror, snap-on Rain Shield, Winter Kit and integrated VistaLite(TM) clip - solutions for all seasons and riding conditions.

Time-Tested Performance

The world has watched as Bell helmets have been put to the test:

-- Evel Knievel crashed while trying to jump the Caesar's Palace

fountains in Las Vegas in 1968. When he woke from a 28-day

coma, Knievel credited his Bell helmet for saving his life.

-- "Driver of the Century" Mario Andretti walked away from a

200-mph-crash while testing his son's car during Indy 500

practice earlier this year. Every competitive driver in the

Andretti family wears Bell.

About Bell Sports

Bell Sports is the world's leading designer and marketer of helmets and accessories for bicycling and other active sports. The company markets helmets and accessories under the Bell, Giro(R), Blackburn(R), VistaLite(TM), CoPilot(TM), X Games, Barbie(TM), Hot Wheels(TM) and Fisher Price(TM) brands. Headquartered in Irving, Texas, the company has operations in Santa Cruz, Calif.; Rantoul, Ill.; York, Penn.; Hong Kong; and Limerick, Ireland. Bell Sports distributes its products in 45 countries. More information is available at www.bellsports.com.