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-   -   Which Helmet? Tips on buying a good helmet (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/ride-safe/19699-helmet-tips-buying-good-helmet-221.html)

Bell MX 9 has somehow become the favorite dual sport lid among people I know, but the shell size feels too big to me, I'll look like a bobblehead with it on.

Have you checked out Held Makan? It has that pump system too that can help get a snug fit. There's a cheaper one as well on the LABS site, Held Alcatar.

One thing, dual sport helmets don't seem to get SHARP rated as far as I can see. Maybe because of the shape they can't run standard tests on them? ECE is all you'll get I think.

Thanks for throwing up those suggestions. Will try to see if its available locally and then try it on.

In terms of rating the more the merrier.
However, the fit matters more as I would believe that majority of helmets in 20k budget would provide sufficient protection.

Looking forward to some more suggestions from other folks.

Get the Leatt offroad helmet and use ear plugs when riding to the trail.

Get a proper road helmet that insulates you well for road journeys alone.

Thanks for the suggestion and pushing me back to the confusion pit or offroad vs adventure helmet :D

However, I feel that off road lid on the highways will be bit cumbersome. I don't wants bugs to enter my lid at any cost.

How I wish I could borrow an off road lid for couple of days and decide pragmatically !!

That's why you wear good goggles. One helmet for everything makes sense only if you buy some top the line ADV lid like Arai, or Shoe. Everything else is rubbish or a compromise.

Also the adv lids are far heavier on the trail. I myself was considering buying the leatt, but after my fall have gone off trail riding completely and will not return unless I buy something like an Xpulse or whatever.

Off-road helmets absolutely suck on the highway (80+ kph), which you said was 60% of your usage. With goggles and earplugs you should be fine, but the main problem is the peak, it catches the wind and things can get very uncomfortable. On my cheapo MT Falcon off-road helmet you can remove the peak and put it back on easily though. Last weekend I did a ~100 km ride with the peak, 90% highways, but it was in the mountains so speeds were always under 80, which was manageable.

Like Red Liner mentioned, dual sport lids can be quite heavy, and they still come with a peak, although smaller. That peak may not always be removable, depends on the helmet. Like all things designed to work in very different situations, dual sport helmets are a compromise. You may consider buying an MT Falcon to test how you like off-road lids, it's one the cheapest name brand ones at 7k. Should still be left with 13k for a full-face/Dual-sport one if the experiment fails :D

Wish I had that much money to blow :D
Anyways, the LS2 explorer which I mentioned above sits at 1420 gms, which I think should be better. My current helmet is 1590 gms. So I will rely on relativity to kick in and make me feel better !!

I am surprised that the carbon and non carbon version differ in just weight (carbon is approx 80 gms lighter) and closure system (DD rings of carbon vs micrometric of non carbon). Not sure if 10k price difference justifies going for carbon version :confused:

I was checking the LS2 carbon site and I noticed that they dont mention that it is a carbon fiber helmet. They just mention carbon. I dont know if I am being pedantic or not but maybe that is why there is hardly any difference in the weights.

Another option for you to consider is the Caberg Tourmax Marathon. I dont know how new it will be, but if you can find one in your local Spartan retailer, it could be a good bet.

Overall, I think this is the best recommendation for nitinkbhaskar. One low priced dual sport option like the MT Falcon. And one road based helmet with the balance amount. It will still cost the same as a new LS2 explorer. Horses for courses.

I have been using Caberg Drift Evo Carbon Pro for past few months, and i'm absolutely loving it. It does an excellent job in cutting down the wind noise up to 110kmph speed, but on a windy-day things are little different ( same goes with any helmet I guess ), So.. I purchased a "No Noise" earplug and now I'm super comfortable even at 140kmph. I did speak to few other experienced riders and got to know- "Silent Helmet is a myth"... one should always, ALWAYS pair the helmet with a good pair of earplugs.

Sun-visor is awesome but it gets foggy at low speeds (is there a Pinlock for SV? :confused:)

It doesn't come with any Emergency Quick Release for cheek pads, but I don't think Emergency Responders in our country is trained to do that anyway, so It didn't bother me much.

Thanks for the feedback mate, I actually got it few weeks back and like you I am also loving it, the weight or lack of there of is felt immediately coming from my HJC RPHA. The gloss finish is amazing, and looks way more premium.

My thoughts are aligned with you on the noise, also it is a track focussed helmet first a tourer later so can't complain much. I love the snug fit too. Not sure about SV fogging up, haven't used it till now.

Only issue I found was changing the visor was a bit of struggle, specially coming from HJC where it was a breeze. Overall I found this to be an extremely VFM product and think Caberg is pretty underrated in india.

:thumbs up:thumbs up
Changing the Visor- I spent 15min to understand how the mechanism works, I would suggest you to first unhook the Slider (not the ratchet ) and then remove ratchet itself by aligning it to the slot available. Yes it's not that easy, but with the SV provided, I have the clear Visor on always.
Yes, Caberg here is highly underrated as you said. I bought this over Scorpion EXO ST1400, saved some cash for good boots ;)

Oh it was the same for both of us took me almost 10 minutes, and I was scared I will end up breaking it. The mechanism really needs some work, HJC on other hand, 20 seconds and done. That said the helmet does looks much more awesome with the black visor IMO!!

Guess what, I picked it over the Scorpion EXO-1440 Carbon Air Drik Red too, the cash saved is helping me to get the Sena Clamp for this helmet!!

Yes yes, with the Dark Visor it looks stunning with all black look, but it's a pain to go though the process of changing the visors based on the ride! so I had to settle with Clear one & expecting SV to the rescue.

I was too scared to push the Sena Parani M10's clamp up the shell thinking that would damage the finish, I ended up using the 3M sticker M10 came with, have used it on couple of long rides and to my surprise, it holds well!!

What is your take on the base of the helmet? Is it too narrow?

I was at a Spartan store and tried this helmet on. The base of it was way too narrow for me. The sales executive was trying to tell me that you have to really pull the straps wide and then slide it in from the back etc. I had to pull it so much that the helmet was creaking, before I could slide it on. There is no way that I would buy a helmet and subject it to such torture every time I wear it. So the sales guy was quite misinformed but I thought Ill just check with you guys on this. Do you guys also find the same or does it fit like any other helmet?

I am a little puzzled by the market positioning of this helmet. The marvellous carbon fiber finish, sporty shape and the inner liners, all point to a track helmet but it also comes with a drop down sun visor! So its for touring also? Or both? The sun visor was an unusual addition to the helmet.

RRR, the sale guy told me that there is a lever on the side that pushes the visor (main, not inner sun visor) forward a bit. That will allow some air flow and hence there shouldnt be fogging. Try that technique.

I actually saw the narrow part and thought it will be an issue, but it slid right in, I did not have to resort to pulling the strap too much, maybe it is the face shape. The helmet did not feel uncomfortable at all. That said I have only wore it for couple of times and a long term review has to await, but as for fit, I really did not have an issue.

Positioning of this helmet is a good question, but the sun visor is also detachable, so you can remove the visor while on the track, they have a video showing the same, guess they also know not many will be spending much time on track, hence versatility is a good. For me this will become my morning ride helmet now, when going far I will switch to HJC.