I know this is probably a dumb question but here it goes. My wife needs a new helmet and picked out ones that come in gloss black and matte black. I want to know which would be cooler to wear. I know black is hot but which finish absorbs less heat.
I put both finish types out in the sun for about 15 minutes and checked the temps with an infared thermometer. The gloss read about 14 degrees hotter but is that because it reflects the heat back to the thermometer.
Tomorrow I am putting the helmets out again and checking the inside temps. I'll post my results.

 

The styrofoam liner inside the helmet that protects your head also acts like a insulator. The color of the helmet should not make any difference.

 

Technically, the gloss reflects back more light than the flat, consequently the shiny should be cooler. But, probably not by much. White reflects back the most light so should be the coolest.

 

A good helmet not only protects but has vents to keep the air flowing inside.

 

Wow, i'm surprise no one has said.."No Helmet is coolest" (thats not an endorsement to ride lidless)

 

i don't know about 'coolest', but i do know that i won't buy another matte black helmet again. here in la, it would get so hot outside, that the matte finish would soften and get 'sticky', and soft enough that you could easily peel it off. which is what i ended up doing. scraped it all off and went with the carbon fiber look.

 

Sounds like a low quality helmet has more to do with the peeling than the color itself.

 

I would not get too excited about the vents that allow cool air to circulate. I've had several helmets with these and I have yet to feel any cool air circulating... maybe it works for others.

 

different emmissivity of paints makes the comparison meaningless.

read up on the physics.

 

See Black Body Radiation