Help me decide on my next helmet

[phoebus]

My GT-AIR is getting a bit old (seals are not doing their job anymore) and I'm looking for a new lid, but can't decide on one. I never really liked the GT-Air, but I was perfectly happy with XR1100 I had before (more below).

I'm from the continent, driving almost all-year round (0°C ... 35°C), due to little children mostly on shorter trips (work and back; highway, twisties and slow city riding). So I'm looking for impossible: warm (and not misty) in the winter and cool in the summer city riding. I'm riding in sport-touring position (tracer 7, eyeing the Tiger 900).

XR-1100 was a perfect fit and was a great helmet for me. I missed the sun visor, it was a bit loud and cold in the winter after a couple of years, but in general I loved it. I never had problems with misting (I used pinlock).

But GT-Air... I really made a bad choice. In theory, it should be perfect for me. So many favourable reviews! The sun visor, silent, warm in winter times, """"superb ventilation""""... well...:

- Yes, it was quieter than XR; yes, it was warmer in the cold days, but in the colder months, the misting was off-the-scale despite the pinlock (I'm talking main visor, not the sunvisor). I was in shop a couple of times and they tried adjusting the pinlock, replacing it,... and finnalysaid it was "too much humidity and the pinlock got saturated". I know I should open the vent despite pinlock, but I didn't gave to ride with open vent at 5 degrees on highway on the XR...
- The new visor mechanism should, in theory, make it seal better for a longer time. After only cca 4 years, the shop wasn't able to make it seal perfectly, anymore. The seals were just done, and you can't replace them on a Shoei (Nolan shop says they can on theirs).
- Then, the sun visor - no one told me you get all the wind in your eyes when you're riding [gt-air] with the sun visor only. So there I am in the city traffic doing << 50kmh with my helmet closed..... is that the case with all sun visors on all such helmets? I never had any problems with sunglasses (I know, they are closer)...
- And the worst was the fit - the shape didn't suit me (XR1100 was a perfect fit, so it's not a "shoei" problem).


So no GT-Air 2 for me

I'd like to have sunvisor, *if it won't buffet all the wind in my eyes*. Do the flip-up helmets solve this problem, or do you still get all the wind in your eyes?

In essence, I'm looking at "good" helmets like:
- NXR2 (XR successor) [+ sunglasses]
- C5
- Neotec 2
- Maybe AGV? Arai?


Nolan / X-lite has really good support where I live, but I'm not sure, I remember Nolans as cheaper things we had on scooters. I know, 105 should be a premium helmet...

Do you have any suggestions? Most of all, I'm interested about wind in the eyes & the sun visor on flip-ups...[/list]

[Weisse Schlange]

I have a suggestion.

Buy the one that fits you best when you try them on.
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Hing Oan

[pepperami]

A purple one
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I am the sum total of my own existence, what went before makes me who I am now!

[Freddyfruitba...]

[MCN]

Schuberth are good.
Shoei are good.
Arai are good.
Shark are good.
AGV are good.

As said, Pick the one that fits your heid. Some shells are more ball shaped than the 'out-of-round' type shells.

Try b4 u by.
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Disclaimer: The comments above may be predicted text and not necessarily the opinion of MCN.

[xX-Alex-Xx]

[Fat Angry Scotsman]

[Ste]

Fuck SHARP scores, fuck what people have to say about which lid is the best, fuck what people have to say about the different brands, the only thing which matters is which lid fits you the best.

[B1N]

[phoebus]

Thanks Yea I bought my current GT-air too quickly thinking it was "a shoei shape like the XR1100" and had it on only for about 5 minutes in the shop.... it is obviously a different shape. And the misting... it was (and is) driving me mad.

I suppose I'll just stay in the shop a bit longer and try it for a longer time before committing, like I did with the XR before.

I'm even torn between flip-up and full-face... I guess I'll take some time and go shopping. Hope I make better choice (for my shape of head and use) than I did last time.

Hope I find some dope graphics that will fit my head

[Weisse Schlange]

"Dope graphics."


I despair .
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Hing Oan

[phoebus]

I went to a couple of shops and did two test rides. Contrary to my strong opinion on GT-air (1), a properly "fitted" (they changed the lining to better suit me) GT-air2 was a perfect fit with no hot spots on an hour long test ride. Despite the vents looking the same, it also vented a little better than gt-air 1 and the first position of the screen (venting) is just a little lower so it doesn't blow in the eyes - which should help with the misting.

NXR 2 was a bit louder (upright riding position) with no sun visor, so I passed it.

And then there's the neotec (ii) which was comfortable, too, but they didn't have a test one to ride (I just had it on in the shop) so I don't know about the noise.
TBH, I prefer both shoeis over Nolan I also tried.

I'll test schubert C5 today.
Most likely, I'll take GT-Air 2, but I'm still a little torn whether a flip-up would be a more practical thing.

Shoei dealer says I wouldn't personally benefit from it as I'm not a "professional" (teaching, policing) or a long-distance commuter on a large bike; plus they say Neotec and flip-ups in general are louder than GT-Air.
Schubert dealer said quite the opposite (once again, I have yet to test it on the road today): that flip-up is more silent and best thing since the sliced bread

[xX-Alex-Xx]

I wouldn't factor in noise at all. You do wear ear plugs, right?
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DILLIGAF

[phoebus]

[arry]

[MCN]

[Fat Angry Scotsman]

[phoebus]

So here comes the unexpected conclusion
After testing a couple of helmets, I decided on the helmet I thought I'd never chose [again] - (a fitted) gt-air2. It felt best of all test lids; I had a "better feeling" in it than in flip-up Neotec 2 and C5.

Today, I tested it in wost possible scenario for misting (cold, it was raining during night, even just breathing outside made clouds ), but it had *none* on new gt-air.

So far, I'm super happy, the venting is a little better than in first gt-air, I have no hot spots,...

...and I even got some cool graphics :-p

In essence, testing is eessential and proved I was wrong in assumming GT-air 2 would be a bad decision for me.

[Ste]

So then, did you buy from the shop where you tried the lids or did you buy it from somewhere online?

[ThunderGuts]

[phoebus]

I bought it from the same shop where I tried the lids. Yes, it was a tiny bit dearer than online, but given their effort, it was well worth it.

[ThunderGuts]

[Skudd]

I too had the Shoei XR1000 and XR1100, lovely lids, but when I went to get another lid from Shoei they had daft bluetooth things on the side that prevented you putting your own bluetooth on and just looked stupid. I went for the Arai Tour X4, lovely fit, but for the money doesn't seem to be as robust and the graffics have scuffed and chipped very easily. The visor is a bugger to get on and off to clean, visibility isn't as good nor are the air vents. I doubt that I will get another.
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