I'm rather fond of the Nutcase helmet I wear when I commute by bike in Portland. It's comfortable. It's made by a local company. I even like the color ("shark skin" gray).

And looking around Portland's bike lanes, I'm far from the only bicyclist who is counting on a Nutcase helmet to do its job if a nasty collision occurs.

According to a new Consumer Reports test of nine bike helmets, however, we should be considering another brand of brain protection.

Bike Portland reports that the popular Street Sport model from Nutcase received a score of only 14 out of 100 in impact tests (second worst to only Bern's Brighton Thin Shell EPS, which received a 13).

Ouch!

Apparently, those helmets were the only two to receive a "poor" rating.

As anyone who reads this blog or my Oregonian column knows, I'm a huge advocate of wearing a bike helmet. So, these test results are disturbing – and revealing. No matter how cool they look, every helmet on the market should score at least above a 50 in these tests, demonstrating that they do more good than harm.

Bike Portland reports:

Southeast Portland-based Nutcase told the bike blog the review is "concerning" and that they are "proactively evaluating" the results. "To learn more, Nutcase has requested a full report of the test protocols used by Consumer Reports."

The top-rated helmet? The Echelon model by Specialized with 73 points.