I am looking to get a new helmet and was most likely going ot buy one with the chin section that flips open. I have found the following on the market:
AGF - GT-O Modular
HJC - SY-MAX
SHOEI - SYNCROTEC
NOLAN - N100E Classic
THH - T-795 Topgun
GMax - GM14X
Vega - Summit XPV
I know Shoei and HJC are major brands, but does anyone know how hte others (AGF, NOLAN, THH, GMAX or VEGA) reat in quality or own any of the above?
As far as I know, none of the flip-face helmets are Snell certified.
Might make a difference for your purposes; it might not.
Quote from: CraigAGF - GT-O Modular
HJC - SY-MAX
SHOEI - SYNCROTEC
NOLAN - N100E Classic
AGF? You mean AGV? AGV-good, AGF-?
all others above are good quality. buy the one that fits best. My friend has the Nolan and loves it...but make sure it fits well!
Quote from: Craig
THH - T-795 Topgun
GMax - GM14X
Vega - Summit XPV
THH-? Other two above are lower spec. Still protect you same as others but may be more heavy, etc. Recommend any of the 4 avove, not these three.
Any of the lower cost helmets typically only make one shell size that will pass the tests with the foam for the XL size. They then make the foam thicker and thicker for the smaller sized helmets, with the same shell.
They probably work fine, and may actually have more shock absorbtion in the smaller sizes because of the thick polystyrene. But if you take one of the smaller sizes, your head will look huge compared to your body, they will have a *lot* more air drag, and they will weigh substantially more than the helmets with the shells sized for each helmet.
The lower cost ones also typically use polycarbonate molded shells. These have lower energy abosrbtion than the composite shells the expensive helmets use. The polycarbonate also has to be thicker to have the same strength as the composites, and it is much heavier. This results in them having to use thicker polystyrene to make up for the poorer energy absorbtion of the polycarbonate, and you again end up with the helmet being much bigger, heavier and draggier.
There are reasons the expensive helmets are expensive. A day long ride on the bike can quickly convince your neck muscles the expensive helmets are worth it.
I have the Gmax 14x. i like it. the only complaints i have is that you get a lot of wind noise at speed (especially at high speed), my vents don't like to stay closed, it sometimes makes my sunglasses hurt if i don't put them just right, and if you try to take it off with opening the flip face, get ready to get your ears and nose ripped off. other than that, i like it. not too expensive.
I have the schuberth concept flip up and i like it alot. Especially the cool internal flip down sun visor.
None of the flip ups are snell rated, but that's because snell refuses to test them, not because they can not pass the snell test. As a matter of fact a magazine duplicated the snell tests most of the flip up brands you named and they all passed, and none of them flipped open when they shouldn't have. I wish i could remember where that article was, but if you do a search on this board, the name of it is somewhere.
I guess you're talking about this:
http://www.motorcyclecruiser.com/accessoriesandgear/fliphelmets/
AFAIK, Snell does not refuse to test them, but no maufacturer has submited one to Snell.
BTW, my next helmet will very likely be a Jarow (arrow in the review above) Mono X2. See it here:
http://www.flipopen.com/
Quote from: pantabloQuote from: CraigAGF - GT-O Modular
HJC - SY-MAX
SHOEI - SYNCROTEC
NOLAN - N100E Classic
THH-? Other two above are lower spec. Still protect you same as others but may be more heavy, etc. Recommend any of the 4 avove, not these three.
I've got a THH dirtbike helmet that I bought a while back. It definitely makes your head look HUGE, and it is kind of heavy, but if it keeps me from busting my head open on a rock in the trail or something then its all good.
Later,
John L.