We both have Nolan's, I've got the flip front and other than wind noise it's good. If you wear earplugs it would probably be brilliant, but I can't stand sticking things in my ears. It also has the drop down sun visor which is a boon as I don't have to worry about smoked visors, haven't tried putting glasses on with it though as I had my eyes lasered 8 years ago.
Arai - couple of thoughts: I had a Haga Rep Quantum (can be seen in the Track Day pix thread) which was brilliant - a really superb helmet. I now have an Arai McCoy Rep RX-7 or something - still one of their top of the range helmets. This is nothing like so good. It's bloody noisy, actually. Size is the same, and my head is the same. So they have changed their shell shape. I wouldn't buy another Arai like the one I currently have. But check this out - they have reintroduced the Quantum, if you read on a few helmet sites, because apparently, customers like me preferred it. So there is a good chance I'd buy another Arai after all. I still think they are over-priced and you can't say they have bristled with innovation over the past 20 years. Also, most of their paint schemes are really uninspiring. As for helmet quality, I did a lot of internet research on this a few years ago - read piles of bumph about testing procedures and the like and the upshot was this: any approved helmet on sale will give you the protection you need. Buying more expensively does not give you more protection - even cheapy polycarbonate helmets will give you perfect protection (or as much as you can expect in a helmet). Buying expensively gives you more comfort, more bells and whistles, better design, ventilation etc. Or at least that's the theory. So don't feel you have to go top of the range to give your head a chance. Sorry I no longer have all the links to what I read but it wasn't just bike magazine stuff.
Cabergs are quite noisy, quite heavy and I always found mine when I had it prone to steaming up (I also wear glasses). I wear a Shoei XR1100, which has slots for spectacle legs. What I would advise is to get titanium framed spectacles. These are becoming quite common, and the titanium will flex slightly without breaking - unlike plastic legged spectacles, or whatever metal the cheaper ones are made out of. I've been riding for almost ten years (I think) and my Oakleys which I've had all that time are still going strong!
The SHARP system has some lovely flaws in it...such as the assumption that you never hit your head twice in a crash. At the end of the day, the most important aspect of helmets is always the fit. The finest helmet in the world can be useless if it doesn't fit properly.
Helmet City have £100's off of Arais - but only if you have a small or xtra large head I've just bought an RX-7GP for £399 instead of £699
Some good bargains to be had here then Arai Helmets, Axces II, RX7-GP, Rebel, Tour-X4, Rebel, Quantum, Quantum ST, Chaser-V, Chaser at Helmet City
Been searching all afternoon and apart from the deal above no-one else is doing deals on Arai's :frown: I'll wait till the bad weather kicks in I think. :smile:
If it weren't for the fact that helmets have a time lifespan i'd get another RX7-GP at that price for when my current helmet needed replacing
What is the timespan for a lid? Appreciate that its aging is accelerated by sunlight but is there a respected average? I suspect my favorite is possibly overdue replacement.....
I was always under the impression that a good lid should last about 5 years, provided its looked after. We all know that you should replace it if dropped or you've had an accident, but normal use should give a decent life span. Polycarbonate lids I was told should be changed after 3. Something to do with the degradation caused by sunlight, mind you, with our recent run of summers, maybe they'd last 5 years now!
Interestingly Mr Arai says that you don't always need to replace if it's dropped, assuming no visible sign of damage. There is a speech on you tube somewhere where he explains that the single use impact issue is more to do with the inner being compressed - as it doesn't rebound its single use only. If it is dropped empty that inner doesn't get compressed.
5 years of regular usage .. but what is 'regular' and what if it hardly gets used at all, or even sits in a box not being used? Personally, provided it hasn't been dropped badly, I go on feel rather than a strict timeframe.
I'm in that position too. I have a Suomy Gunwind which despite having had leass than 500 miles on it, the lining's foam padding has started to disintegrate. The visor mechanism tabs are broken and with no hope of spares its time to go shopping again. I've looked at arai, yes they are Arai, but the cost is still eye watering. I was looking at agv again. I quite like the idea of those ones with the integrated sun shade. Has anyone had any experience of these first hand?
I think Shark is good VFM. I'll probably end up buying another one when the time comes. A lot more comfortable than my Arai (doesn't impersonate a wind tunnel).
Sev, I can't speak for the AGV sunshade but the ones in our Nolan's work pretty well. The only criticism is that they could be a bit darker for that crappy moment when you're riding directly towards a setting sun.
