Post by jhobe6678 on Nov 11, 2014 18:22:34 GMT -5
So I broke down and went cheap. I was looking for a full helmet because my 3/4 helmet was a PITA when it came to daytime and night time riding. Switching the face shield was a pain and carrying sunglasses and clear safety glasses was also bad for me because well, I forget.
So I got this Black Star Matte Dual Visor Helmet off of eBay. $27.98 + $14.95 UPS Shipping.
The seller shipped fairly quickly, though UPS had a delay as always with me.
I took a test ride with it tonight as soon as I got home, I made sure I drove in all four directions. North, South, East and West. I wanted to test out the visibility, the breathability (air flow inside the helmet) and also how it felt on my head while riding.
First. The helmet is cheap, yes. It's light weight, doesn't look like it would stop anything at 120+mph. But that's not what I got it for. A little piece of mind but mostly to stop bugs and dirt from hitting me in the face and to also dampen some of the wind. Well it does just that while not feeling cumbersome or blocking my view. I was able to maintain good peripheral vision and was able to look down at my speedometer and further down at my ad-on tach while riding. In other words, the field of view wasn't too narrow, I still had to tilt my head obviously.
I have a pretty fat head so I ordered a XXL size, the largest I could find short of a fish bowl. The first time I tried it on was the first time I tried on a full helmet in years. Never rode with one though. It was a bit snug, but I had to make some adjustments and learn how to slide it on and off of my fat head. It will take some getting used to for sure.
The Ride: Well like I said, it's light weight. You feel almost no drag doing 40+ mph and turning my head didn't feel like I was going to have my head ripped off. Which means the wind passes it easily in all directions. So that's a plus.
Visibility: The dual shield is nice. Though the internal sun shield could cover a bit more I think, it leaks a little light on the very sides, but that didn't seem to bother me as much as I thought. The clear visor is very clear, having the lever on the side to flip the internal sun visor up and down is nice. It doesn't flip all the way up, I guess if that lever ever breaks you can always manually pull the sun visor up and down. It's not really in the way though of your field of view. The sun visor does an excellent job directly in the sun! I was surprised how well I was able to see with little to no glare. I was actually riding with it down most of the time. It was approaching dusk towards the end of my ride so I eventually flipped it up.
Fog: While sitting, I breathed out of my nose and heavily out of my mouth to see if it would fog. It does, though it has a little guard that's supposed to sit above your nose, I'll attribute that to my oddly round fat head again. So it fogs up, but as soon as you get moving or just flip the clear visor open, the fog goes away. It's not really that cool out just yet, maybe lower 70's when I went for the ride. So maybe I'll have to look into anti-fog methods for the inside, but it's not a big deal really. It can't be as bad as a cheap diving mask!
All in all, for the price I'm happy with it. The padding is plenty inside. You can remove the padding, which is attached by little button fasteners. Like I said it's not really warm nor cold out so my head was quite comfortable inside of it during the 10+ mile ride I did. The wind resistance was nil, I was checking my speeds and even tucked down for a stretch to watch my scooters speedo get buried. I need to do an electrical mod so I can slap my GPS on and off easily without opening up the battery compartment on it, otherwise I'd tell you exactly how fast I was going.
So if you're in the market for a budget helmet in a pinch, this one isn't too bad really. I don't have a lot of experience to speak of on helmets and I know there's much better out there, but for a n00b like myself I'm happy with it. Now to see how long it will last.
So I got this Black Star Matte Dual Visor Helmet off of eBay. $27.98 + $14.95 UPS Shipping.
The seller shipped fairly quickly, though UPS had a delay as always with me.
I took a test ride with it tonight as soon as I got home, I made sure I drove in all four directions. North, South, East and West. I wanted to test out the visibility, the breathability (air flow inside the helmet) and also how it felt on my head while riding.
First. The helmet is cheap, yes. It's light weight, doesn't look like it would stop anything at 120+mph. But that's not what I got it for. A little piece of mind but mostly to stop bugs and dirt from hitting me in the face and to also dampen some of the wind. Well it does just that while not feeling cumbersome or blocking my view. I was able to maintain good peripheral vision and was able to look down at my speedometer and further down at my ad-on tach while riding. In other words, the field of view wasn't too narrow, I still had to tilt my head obviously.
I have a pretty fat head so I ordered a XXL size, the largest I could find short of a fish bowl. The first time I tried it on was the first time I tried on a full helmet in years. Never rode with one though. It was a bit snug, but I had to make some adjustments and learn how to slide it on and off of my fat head. It will take some getting used to for sure. The Ride: Well like I said, it's light weight. You feel almost no drag doing 40+ mph and turning my head didn't feel like I was going to have my head ripped off. Which means the wind passes it easily in all directions. So that's a plus.
Visibility: The dual shield is nice. Though the internal sun shield could cover a bit more I think, it leaks a little light on the very sides, but that didn't seem to bother me as much as I thought. The clear visor is very clear, having the lever on the side to flip the internal sun visor up and down is nice. It doesn't flip all the way up, I guess if that lever ever breaks you can always manually pull the sun visor up and down. It's not really in the way though of your field of view. The sun visor does an excellent job directly in the sun! I was surprised how well I was able to see with little to no glare. I was actually riding with it down most of the time. It was approaching dusk towards the end of my ride so I eventually flipped it up.
Fog: While sitting, I breathed out of my nose and heavily out of my mouth to see if it would fog. It does, though it has a little guard that's supposed to sit above your nose, I'll attribute that to my oddly round fat head again. So it fogs up, but as soon as you get moving or just flip the clear visor open, the fog goes away. It's not really that cool out just yet, maybe lower 70's when I went for the ride. So maybe I'll have to look into anti-fog methods for the inside, but it's not a big deal really. It can't be as bad as a cheap diving mask!
All in all, for the price I'm happy with it. The padding is plenty inside. You can remove the padding, which is attached by little button fasteners. Like I said it's not really warm nor cold out so my head was quite comfortable inside of it during the 10+ mile ride I did. The wind resistance was nil, I was checking my speeds and even tucked down for a stretch to watch my scooters speedo get buried. I need to do an electrical mod so I can slap my GPS on and off easily without opening up the battery compartment on it, otherwise I'd tell you exactly how fast I was going.
So if you're in the market for a budget helmet in a pinch, this one isn't too bad really. I don't have a lot of experience to speak of on helmets and I know there's much better out there, but for a n00b like myself I'm happy with it. Now to see how long it will last.
