is this helmet any good?

It's a cheap helmet. It's gonna wear like a cheap helmet. Save up for a little longer and get yourself a nicer carbon fiber or kevlar shell helmet. Shoei, Arai, AGV, Suomy, those are all at the top of the list and will cost around 3 times what the cheapies do. They cost more for a good reason, they're much better built. From those options it's mostly a matter of the shape of your head and which one fits best.

Stick with the bigger name stuff. I picked up Suomy for 129.00 brand new on ebay. Same design and shell as a Gunwind older model. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Suom...Z6749QQitemZ8068135989QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW

i have a icon mainframe alliance. its acutally pretty good, the fit / vents / noise . i have it in rubatone black. i cant say about the build bcuz ive never been down but ive heard good stuff about icon. i got mine for about 300can

I agree with a couple of guys here...save up some more. My wife and I went for cheapo helmets to start...about a month we been wearing them with the intention to upgrade later. Well, later came pretty quick. The vague fit, wind noise,overall disatisfaction, the lack of snell approval, we opted to buy better. The compfort is like night and day, outstanding fit, way less wind noise, alot cooler and lighter, not to mention the safety factor. About 3 monutes into the ride with the new helmet, I forgot about the cost factor and was very pleased that we had something that first, was better protection and second that fit litterally "like a glove". The riding experience on R baby was fantastic, now with the right helmets its exceptional. BTW we bought a pair of SHOEI and they were 600 a piece in cdn funds.

Cheers

i don't agree, plenty of helmets under $300 are actually pretty good and you could buy two of them for the price of a fancy helmet-they wear out too and most have the shell rating too-so just as safe.

sunofwolf said:

i don't agree, plenty of helmets under $300 are actually pretty good and you could buy two of them for the price of a fancy helmet-they wear out too and most have the shell rating too-so just as safe.

Click to expand...

You, sir obviously don't have any experience with top-shelf helmets do you? There is a huge difference.

Its not necceraly the price that makes the helmet more protective than other helmets because they all have to meet either snell dot regulations. Ive read up on this debate via sport compact bike magazine. What you realy are paying for is comfort level. I think that the helmet you picked is basic and wont feel as good as the more expensive ones. If your looking for function go for it. But if you realy want something that irritates you less while riding save up and get yourself something youd be happy with in the long run.

Pick up a OGK, they're clearing them out at ogk-helmet.com
Only $199, matches performance other more expensive helmets and no other helmet can match it in that price range.

$100 helmet for a $100 head. Don't skimp on gear, get a good quality helmet that fits and protects well.

I prefer Shoei and Arai but honestly there are some budget helmets out there that fit well and at least will meet DOT standards. There were some pretty good articles in Motor Cyclist last fall (October/Novermber) about the difference between a top end helmet and something you pick up for $99 and how they perform in crash tests. There is a significant difference, especially in comfort, weight, and performance in helmets. I would recommend prowling around the net and seeing if you can find a year or two old Arai or something nice that is overstock because you can pick them up for hundreds below retail.

how about a Shoei TZ-R TZR Full Face?

My scorpion 700 is $180 and my simpson street warrior $300 both excellent helmets with kevar and fiberglss and shell ratings. i would like to spend more, but don't want too-same safety as the highend ones,pass the same tests- I don't doubt the high end ones are better, but its mostly art work your paying for-buy a stcker for a few dollors and save you dough:rockingba

Fiberglass shells are a lot better than plastic shells. Plastic helmets transfer too many g's to the skull in a crash (like the HJC CL model - bad helmet due to it being too hard and causing concussions)
Another thing to look for is dual density foam, or special crumple zones in the foam. These things help to reduce impact force by slowing your head down over time.

Anyway, the Icon Helmets have a fiberglass shell and dual density foam... therefore they are a decent helmet. I picked one up and it was lighter than my Shoei RF-900. However I am still skeptical of Icon gear as it seems to be 'geared' toward squids...

The Icon helmet was designed with the rider's safety, fit and function in mind. The helmet features a venturi super-vent system for the ultimate in airflow. A three position forehead switch acts as an additional ram-air vent to significantly increase the overall cooling of the helmet. The shell is constructed of a Dyneema/Fiberglass composite and is lined with a dual-density styrene liner for incredible strength without undue weight. Also incorporated into the design are removable/washable cheek pads, removable anti-fog breath deflector, and the industrys easiest no-tool quick change shield. Meets all DOT and Snell standards.

Click to expand...