Helmet Reviews and Reccomendations

Hey yall moto-noob here again, I'm looking for helmet reviews of brands you've tried out. I'm looking into getting another helmet, but haven't really had any experience with anything other than Shoei, which I've been very pleased with. I live in muggy-butt Hotlanta, so my priorities are excellent ventilation, comfort, anti-fog, and of course overall quality. I know that you can pretty much trust the Arai, Bell, & Shoei brands, but I'm pretty lost on all the newer (& cheaper) brands out there. Any smoking deals for cost vs. quality? I'm not looking to skimp on my noggin, but I don't want to spend much more than $300 (about the price of my Shoei TZR). I'm kinda suspicious of the $100 helmets. None of them felt that great when I tried them on at the store, but I'm open to suggestions. If I had a bigger wad of cash I'd probably look at the Bell Star.

Icon & HJC: Crap or decent budget alternatives? Seem to be pretty popular. Specifically this Icon Domain helmet looks like it has good big vents and happens to be on-sale.

Suomy: Worth the extra $$$ or just fancy overpaid graphics?

AGV & Shark: Hadn't heard of them before, but look decent at first glance. Certainly aren't "cheap".

You'll find about as many helmet opinions as you'll find heads.

Shark is the best helmet I've put on my head, bar none. They were designed from the ground up based on real-word crash data, and I think they're the best thought-out, safest helmets available.

They have a proprietary inner foam design they call 'shark fins,' which line the crown of the helmet, and they serve as air space for a crumple zone, of sorts, in an impact. The side benefit is that those 'fins,' are located behind a big vent, so they allow for a lot of circulation.

It's also the lightest helmet I've ever worn by a damn sight, and has a one-button shield changing mechanism.

You should be able to get an RSI (the second rung from the bottom of their line, and the one I wear daily) in a solid color for right around $300.

Highly recommended.

Be sure to read the Motorcyclist helmet test from a few years ago, if you haven't already. It's long but entirely worth the read. (Abridged version: their study revealed that the SNELL standard is based on unrealistic standards that don't reflect realistic crash scenarios, and have, over the years, begat a helmet that's overly hard, which transmits more force to the brain.)

All that said, the SparX brand (which is owned by the big distributor Tucker Rocky, and was founded by a couple of the guys behind KBC, and which does have that silly capitalization) makes a shockingly nice helmet for just over $100. If you can find a shop in your area that carries them, put one on your noggin. You might like it. And, they're DOT/ECE certified, in line with the safest helmets from the Motorcyclist tests.

So, SparX or Shark. If you're willing to spend the coin, I think you'll be thrilled with the Shark.

And, yeah, I used to sell these things, so I've got a lot of these useless facts rattling around my brain.

Excellent info. This is exactly what I was looking for (especially the Crash Test link). Thanks again!

Personaly I love AGV helmets they fit my ugly head and are very well vented yet no yes NO wind noise! I ride mostly now with a HJC for plain economces of having to stock only one sheild for both the wife and I.
AGV's are hard to find in my area and hate to mail order this like sheilds. My last AGV was a tricomposite of carbon, kevlar and fiberglass it was 1/3 the weight of the HJC but it was $650 back in 96.

Asides from crash worthiness make sure the damn thing fits right, you dhould not be able to turn the helmet on your face, grab the chin bar and turn the helmet side to side while keeping your face straight a head. wear the helmet for a little while if you can, you shouldn't feel any pressure points, they will lead to fatigue and that's bad.

I've used my Shoei for the past 4 years and it is a great helmet. It was pretty pricey at 350$ but it fits me very well and is quite comfortable.

If you buy a nice helmet do yourself a favor and get a balaclava to keep your sweaty head from stinking the thing up. Also put a lock on your bike to lock it to, I think 9/10 of people who carry their helmets everywhere are posers.

I'm partial to GMAX helmets. I ponied up big money last year for a Fox mx helmet, had a reltively minor spill, and ended up with a bad concussion. I'm not blaming the Fox helmet, but I wouldn't buy another one. I tossed it helmet out, and bought a new GMAX. I like the way they fit, and they are reasonably priced.

http://www.webbikeworld.com/

Enjoy!

Helmets are like, condoms no one brand works for everyone. I want an Arai but HJCs fit my particular dome. I too sold helmets, I wouldn't let people out of the store with an I'll fitting helmet regardless of brand prefrence, customers hated me.

Yeah, for some reason telling people that their head is smaller/bigger than they thought is considered insulting to most people. Whatev, Kev.

they sell helmets for canoes too?

I have used HJC for a few years, and mine is comfortable and has held up well. No idea how it would do in a crash, I have not tested it and hopefully never will!

Just a note on hjc's

I wear one daily ( a cl-15) that fits entirely different than my other. Can't think of the model. But same size. Howevere after about 15 minutes I develope headaches wearing. Hence, it is my spare

Grtechguy wrote: Just a note on hjc's I wear one daily ( a cl-15) that fits entirely different than my other. Can't think of the model. But same size. However after about 15 minutes I develop headaches wearing. Hence, it is my spare

which one hurts, I'm not clear

My wife uses a CL-14 I use a AC-11 both take same sheild. We were going to get Arai's but could not get one to fit me even after 1 hour of messing around with the fitting pads and a pain in the ass sales man we left.

I hope to get another AGV soon.

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Werethemfmi, I believe the one that hurts is a cl-16, but its at home but will check tomorrow. The front foam pushes on my forehead to much. The cl-15 fits perfect

IMHO, Scorpion helmets are a great inexpensive helmet. They have some higher end features (removable liner and anti-fog shield, for example) and fit me extremely well. I have 2. My only complaint is that even with the optional chin guard, if I don't have sunglasses on, I get some turbulance blowing around my eyes.

I won't wear anything but Arais. Not even in my Auto-xer. Especially after this one saved my life:

I do agree though, fit is the most important thing about helmet shopping. My head will not fit a Shoei (big pocket in the back)

Glad to see you're still with us Zipty! Can't argue with a testament like that.

Do get a balaclava too, they keep your helmet cleaner and make you intimidating looking when you take the helmet off.

http://www.revzilla.com/product/schampa-coolskin-balaclava

I have a Scorpion and it is a very nice helmet for the money. I made the mistake of buying one that is slightly too small though and it gets slightly uncomfortable on longer rides.

Be prepared to spend hours trying helmets on. Also, helmets will "give" a very small amount, so slightly tight is good.

If it doesn't fit well, you'll hate it and do anything to keep it off your head.

Air flow through a helmet is important, and almost all of them are terrible at it. Shoe had the best design I ever ran across some years ago. So of course they changed it. I wish the makers would learn from the bicycle helmets.

Weight is important, but not as terribly important as fit or air flow. But if you have a weak neck, that could be different.

Visibility. Lots of helmets are interesting in how they cut off your side view. Bell has some of the worse, and some of the best.

Noise is important, and I know of no way to test this until you own it and ride with it. Both the amount of outside noise the helmet lets in, and the amount of wind noise the helmet generates. My current one is go awful noisy with wind noise it generates. Noise is exhausting.

I do not know the helmet mentioned in the opening post, but I have to admit, I'm awful interested in checking it out, based just on that post.

For the wind noise, ear plugs, 40mph of wind on the helmet can be up to 100db so that's bad, I prefer flanged earplugs, cause they don't fall out, though the cheap foamy ones are good too.

All the helmets mentioned in the opening post are good quality pieces, you need to weigh how much you want to spend vs how much you like the fit of the helmet. As for air flow look for the helmet that has front and rear openings, one big one in the chin bar, and two or even one big opening on the forehead, with matching exhausts on the rear top of the helmet. fogging can be eased by getting a nose breath guard, should be available as an add on, a chin valance is a good investment for the colder mornings too. I like to put a little rain-x on the visor seems to help, just make sure it's not going to hurt the polycarbonate on the shield.