[Urban_Nomad]

Originally Posted by sai_ace

Ok, just read about snell. The Icon alliance helmet I was looking at seems to be snell M2000 certified. Now that adds to the confusion. Is the snell 2000 rating good enough?

Is it Snell certified? From the Revzilla descrition page:

All world standard, meets or exceeds the following: DOT FMVSS 218 (US), ECE 22-05 (EUROPE), SAI AS1698 (AUSTRALIA) and SG (JAPAN) safety and testing standards. Does not ship with SAI OR SG Certification stickers unless purchased from an authorized dealer in that country.

For Snell; IIRC higher the no. the more "up to date" certification. Current standard is Snell 2010. The EXO 700 is a Snell 2005 helmet.

IMO; any Snell certification would be better than a standard DOT certification any day. The only downside I see to these Snell helmets (in comparison to DOT or helmets with standard certifications like ECE) is the few additional grams of weight; given the added protection / reinforcement.

Icon is a great helmet though with excellent user reviews. It is more expensive than Scorpion though (would wary a lot depending on the graphics you go for) and this is just my opinion - I would happily choose protection over funky stickers; more so if I have to pay comparitively more for the latter.

Hope I did not add to your confusion. All the best!

[jkdas]

Just curious

How good is Rynox ?
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?f...levant_count=1

[GreaseMonk]

Originally Posted by jkdas

Just curious

How good is Rynox ?
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?f...levant_count=1

I've got a pair of these, and would recommend against it for the following reasons:

1. You can feel the stitching of the seams on the inside of a few of the fingers. Becomes uncomfortable after a few hours.
2. The air inlet scoops on the top of the fingers are just decorative. The glove has very little ventilation and due to its thick construction it gets very stuffy very quickly.
3. Again due to the thickness of the material, you tend to not be able to feel the controls that well. I.e. you are more disconnected from the bike. Also your range of motion is slightly limited. This is even after wearing the gloves for over 20 hours to break them in.

[Urban_Nomad]

Originally Posted by jkdas

Just curious

How good is Rynox ?
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?f...levant_count=1

For the same money; I would recommend the DSG Primal gloves. Very comfortable and you do not lose tactical feel of the controls. I personally found the fit to be perfect (Size Large).

Downside - Not suitable for warm weather riding & is not waterproof.

[kraft.wagen]

Originally Posted by sai_ace

I doubt i would be able to try an buy, making a small trip to the US, hence was planning to buy online stuff you cant get here and carry them back.

I would suggest you look at AGV K3 or K4. They will be little on the higher side of Icon but are much better. There are other sites which you can look for better deals. If you are planning to get it shipped to a local US address I can help you get look for some deals at local shops where I usually pick my stuff but they will ship only to US.

[Shubz]

Originally Posted by kraft.wagen

I would suggest you look at AGV K3 or K4. They will be little on the higher side of Icon but are much better. There are other sites which you can look for better deals. If you are planning to get it shipped to a local US address I can help you get look for some deals at local shops where I usually pick my stuff but they will ship only to US.

Talking of AGV, Dainese are going to open their store shortly in Bangalore and their online store is also going to be up soon.

[kraft.wagen]

Originally Posted by Shubz

Talking of AGV, Dainese are going to open their store shortly in Bangalore and their online store is also going to be up soon.

Wow that's a good news . The Dianese store here often has rebates. Hope the store in India does that and hit the right price

[Shubz]

Originally Posted by kraft.wagen

Wow that's a good news . The Dianese store here often has rebates. Hope the store in India does that and hit the right price

Don't think they may start off with rebates. They sure going to have the latest stuff though. Would be great if there are rebates. :-)

[Rachit.K.Dogra]

Got a New Helmet, Bell Vortex BS-54.

Here's the story. Some of my colleagues were going to the US. I wanted a new Riding Jacket. I was looking for Mesh Alpinestar jackets as I was kind of bored with my 4.5 years old DSG maze. I started looking for deals on the US websites. They had some really good deals but those deals were mainly on not regular sizes. While browsing I reached the helmet section. I thought my helmet is more than 5 years old now too. Plus I don’t have a clear visor for it and you don’t get them in the market now as the model is discontinued by Vega. I haven’t enjoyed riding in the night for the last 5 years because of my Dark tinted visors plus Gurgaon being so dusty that you cant ride with open Visor. So I started looking. They had some really really mouth watering deals (sportsbiketrackgear.com). But again most of the stand out deals were on non regular sizes eg. Bell's Top of the Line STAR helmet which retails for $630, one model was available for $225. But again not regular sizes. While browsing I reached this helmet. The price was good and all sizes were available. Read some reviews, consulted the higher authority (Wife) and got the helmet.

Overall Damages:
Retail Price: $210. Normal Graphics model were easily available everywhere for $180.
Discounted price: $100.

Since the Helmet comes with clear visor got one Dark Black Tinted visor as well $40. I think the visor is really expensive but its really good as well. More on that later.

Overall Damages $140 (Free Shipping in US). My colleagues gave the helmet to me today.

Here is one of the honest reviews I found about this helmet. (Most reviews praised it too much, I think. I assume reason being that Bell has a manufacturing plant in the US and hence most US websites wanted to really market it. Just an assumption)
http://www.webbikeworld.com/r2/motor...t/bell-vortex/

This website has some very interesting research on helmet noise.
http://www.webbikeworld.com/motorcyc...lmet-noise.htm

In the evening I went for a small ride with this helmet with the clear visor. After my short ride in the dark today with the clear visor, felt so good and relaxed, otherwise I was always kind of scared riding in the night because of visibility.


My observations are more from a comparison point of view with my Vega. I have not worn any other high end helmet so I might have limited perspective as to what to expect from a higher end helmet. Also I loved my Vega like anything, I still do.

Pros:
1) Paint Quality and Build Quality is really awesome. All the vents and switches have tactile feel while closing and opening and feels solidly built.
2) I loved my Vegas fit and interior feel. This is slightly better in terms of amount of Padding and plus it has Neck and Chin curtains as well. Not sure if they make a difference but they look cool and give a very snug fit. So I would say slightly very slightly better than my Vega.
3) Perfect fit. Bell vortex has very accurate sizing guide. Mine fits perfectly to me.
4) Visor & Visor changing mechanism. A lot of reviews said it has the best shield changing mechanism. I kind of agree. In my 5 years with my Vega I didn’t change the shield even once. I saw the shop keeper change it once and the effort he put in, made me scared that he might break something. I never attempted it myself hence. This helmets shield, I changed 3 times in the first day. Super easy. The visor are Anti fog coated and scratch resistant (Nothing is scratch resistant in this world). Visibility is good. Visor open and close very nicely with fixed slots and stays in half open positions as well. I would rate this helmets visor opening/closing/changing system very very highly. Definitely the most defining feature for me for this helmet.
5)Ventilation: Some good reviews in the internet, a lot of vents but I cant comment as of now whether it works that well or not. During my short ride today felt ok. Slightly better than my Vega proabably.
6) Safety standards met: Vortex is both DOT and SNELL 2010 approved. I dont think my Vega was SNELL approved.
7) External dimensions: Almost similar to my Vega. Probably a hair bit smaller in some areas.

Cons:
1) Weight: Its slightly heavier than my Vega. I weighed the 2 on the digital scale. Vega was 1460 Gms and this one was around 1760 gms. But honestly while riding didnt feel significantly heavier.
2) Wind Noise: As the review points out, I also observed Wind noise near the ear areas. This helmet comes with some recesses for bluetooth earpieces. I think that hollow area results in more wind noise. At about 80-90 Km/hr, I felt the helmet normal, probably slightly quiter than my Vega (Not sure). But definitely around 120 more wind noise around ears than my Vega. Even while crouching too. I read somewhere stuffing some foam in those recesses will solve it. Will give it a go. Honestly I think my Vega performed really well in this area hence I felt this helmet more noisy. I think a lot of indian helmets will be noisier than this. But definately a con for this helmet.

So finally no riding jacket, but instead got a new helmet from US. I am happy with the purchase. My old helmet is still going strong, so for mundane here and there rides will use that one.

Some Pics, some are with my old helmet:

By the way 54 on the helmet stands for 1954, the year Bell started making automobile helmets.

Some pics:

[Urban_Nomad]

Originally Posted by Rachit.K.Dogra

Got a New Helmet, Bell Vortex BS-54

A wonderful; VFM purchase. Conratulations. Revzilla has this one listed for $179.

I was eyeing the Scorpion EXO for 700 my next helmet (with a bike upgrade ). But if this can be had for $100; I am definitely gonna keep an eye out for this one.

Just out of curiosity - whats your ride?

[Rachit.K.Dogra]

Originally Posted by Urban_Nomad

A wonderful; VFM purchase. Conratulations. Revzilla has this one listed for $179.

I was eyeing the Scorpion EXO for 700 my next helmet (with a bike upgrade ). But if this can be had for $100; I am definitely gonna keep an eye out for this one.

Just out of curiosity - whats your ride?

Yeah, Everywhere I could find this and the same helmet with other designs for 179. Ebay and amazon had some for as low as 139. But $100 was the lowest that I could find. I think sportbiketrackgear.com still has some left.
http://stores.sportbiketrackgear.com...l.bok?no=11583
The medium is sold out which I think will be the most common size.

I ride a slightly performance modified Karizma and yes I am too hoping and dreaming of a bike upgrade.

You stay in Delhi? If you would like to check the helmet out in person let me know. We can talk bikes too.

Regards
Rachit

[kraft.wagen]

Originally Posted by Rachit.K.Dogra

Got a New Helmet, Bell Vortex BS-54.

Great buy and a very good review Rachit stg usually has very good prices on a lot of gear.
Yea its crazy the visors are so expensive esp when we get such good deals on the helmets you end up paying for the visors

[Rachit.K.Dogra]

Originally Posted by kraft.wagen

Great buy and a very good review Rachit stg usually has very good prices on a lot of gear.
Yea its crazy the visors are so expensive esp when we get such good deals on the helmets you end up paying for the visors

Thanks mate. Yeah I agree the Visor was expensive. 40% of the cost of helmet if you think from that angle.

Bell has one more special visor known was photochromatic shield or something. It acts as a clear visor in dark and automatically darkens up depending upon the light falling on it. But it was $139.

Regards
Rachit

[kraft.wagen]

Originally Posted by Rachit.K.Dogra

Thanks mate. Yeah I agree the Visor was expensive. 40% of the cost of helmet if you think from that angle.

Bell has one more special visor known was photochromatic shield or something. It acts as a clear visor in dark and automatically darkens up depending upon the light falling on it. But it was $139.

I have been contemplating to buy the Alpinestar mesh jackets. I am bored of my DSG maze. I was slightly confused between the TGP-Air and TGP Pro. Would really appreciate if you could share your feedback or opinion.

Regards
Rachit

Yea one of my riding buddy has the photo chromatic visor that he uses on his Bell Star. Its pretty cool and I think only Bell has this visor so far.

[Urban_Nomad]

Originally Posted by Rachit.K.Dogra

You stay in Delhi? If you would like to check the helmet out in person let me know. We can talk bikes too.

Yessir, Dwarka to be precise.

Wish I had seen your reply sooner. I went for a ride on the ggn fbd road today, we could have caught up.

Thanks for the offer n yes I love to check it out in person. I'm sure we can plan to catch up over the weekend. Take care bud!