cheesemethod
12th January 2010, 22:44
A while ago my old FFM helmet started to become a bit loose, the padding had slowly flattened with age and the helmet could move around when I moved my head from side to side. Time for a new lid, methinks. Being a Cycletreads loyalist, they were my first port of call. I tried on a few of the cheaper Sharks, wasn't having much luck with sizing, and wasn't a big fan of the quck release buckle. Being that I had a reasonable budget, and you only get one head, I raised my price range a bit. At first I tried a Nolan Casey Stoner, which was a fantastic fit, but I was a little put off by the Kangaroo graphics :sick:
I first tried the Shark RSI in XL - a logical choice as my FFM was XL - but it was just too big. Being that the intersting shape was growing on me, I tried the L. The fit was perfect. Very snug and secure inside, and after chatting the the salesman for 5 mintues with the helmet on, still felt snug and secure, no strange pressure points that some helmets have. The traditional double-d buckle is easy to secure, and has a couple of little innovations. The strap end has its own keeper so the tail of the strap doesn't spend the whole time slapping against your kneck, and there's a little tag to pull that loosens off the buckle slightly to make it easier to get off, but not big enough that it would catch on anything during a crash. Best of all, the strap sits further forward, under your chin rather than digging into your throat.
I won't try and bore you with some technical jargon that I don't properly understand, but what I will say about the design of the helmet itself is that it is fantastic. It's fantastaclly light, but something about it just hints that it's still as strong as hell. The shape is fantastic - the pointed front end and the little spoiler on the back are more than decorations - I immediately noticed less wind resistance and less noise on the first ride.
The visor system is another great innovation. Being able to change from clear to tinted in about 5 seconds is fantastic. The tinted visor works very well on sunny days, and perhaps even better on overcast days. Both visors have good anti-fog coatings, I've hyperventolated in it several times as a test and I can't get either visor to fog up at all.
There's only one minor flaw with it - the two tone matt and gloss finish is peeling slightly where the two finishes meet. It's only really noticable if you look at it really close, and I'm not going to take it back over a minor cosmetic flaw. The rest of the finsh seems to be very durable, not a scratch on it after about 5 months of ownership.
So overall, I'm very happy with my purchase. At $479 (not including tinted visor) for the helmet I consider it to be good value for money and would highly recommend it to anybody who's after a good road helmet in the sub $500 bracket.
http://www.cycletreads.co.nz/products/202-full_face/2288-shark_rsi_helmet.aspx
I first tried the Shark RSI in XL - a logical choice as my FFM was XL - but it was just too big. Being that the intersting shape was growing on me, I tried the L. The fit was perfect. Very snug and secure inside, and after chatting the the salesman for 5 mintues with the helmet on, still felt snug and secure, no strange pressure points that some helmets have. The traditional double-d buckle is easy to secure, and has a couple of little innovations. The strap end has its own keeper so the tail of the strap doesn't spend the whole time slapping against your kneck, and there's a little tag to pull that loosens off the buckle slightly to make it easier to get off, but not big enough that it would catch on anything during a crash. Best of all, the strap sits further forward, under your chin rather than digging into your throat.
I won't try and bore you with some technical jargon that I don't properly understand, but what I will say about the design of the helmet itself is that it is fantastic. It's fantastaclly light, but something about it just hints that it's still as strong as hell. The shape is fantastic - the pointed front end and the little spoiler on the back are more than decorations - I immediately noticed less wind resistance and less noise on the first ride.
The visor system is another great innovation. Being able to change from clear to tinted in about 5 seconds is fantastic. The tinted visor works very well on sunny days, and perhaps even better on overcast days. Both visors have good anti-fog coatings, I've hyperventolated in it several times as a test and I can't get either visor to fog up at all.
There's only one minor flaw with it - the two tone matt and gloss finish is peeling slightly where the two finishes meet. It's only really noticable if you look at it really close, and I'm not going to take it back over a minor cosmetic flaw. The rest of the finsh seems to be very durable, not a scratch on it after about 5 months of ownership.
So overall, I'm very happy with my purchase. At $479 (not including tinted visor) for the helmet I consider it to be good value for money and would highly recommend it to anybody who's after a good road helmet in the sub $500 bracket.
http://www.cycletreads.co.nz/products/202-full_face/2288-shark_rsi_helmet.aspx