Which brings me to, does a $1,400 helmet offer better protection than a $140 helmet?
That $1400 does include my intercom system, Michael...so it's roughly a thousand for the helmet on it's own.
As to your question, as all the helmets are required to pass the appropriate standards one would assume they would all offer similar protection.
I believe the extra dollars are paying for the extra comfort, better aerodynamics and more exotic construction materials and probably much bigger profits...lol.
I think cheaper helmets are more likely to be constructed from polycarbonate while the more expensive ones tend to be made from fibreglass, carbon fibre and aramid.
I haven't been a fan of polycarbonate helmets ever since a salesman showed me how well they bounce on concrete!
I know he was probably doing that to sell me a more expensive helmet at the time but ever since I can't get the image of that cheap helmet bouncing and thinking that would be doing the same thing in an accident but with my head inside it...lol.