http://www.jejamescycles.co.uk/met-parachute-enduro-helmet-id33315.html

Has anyone ever used one of these, if so wht do you think. Does it give you the protection of a full face, but the comfort of a xc helmet?

Here we go

Not used one but saw loads in the Alps, and almost everyone wearing them looked a bit metrosexual.

Heard a few comments that the chin strap is pretty weak and wont hold up to any sort of impact.

avdave2, sorry not sure what you mean by "here we go"

Not used one myself but comments seemed to range from "It saved me from a 30mph face plant with no injuries" to "I brushed against a tree and it exploded filling my face with plastic shards" so it put me off getting one.

I know what avdave means 😉

Anecdotally the chin bar can splinter and that is not good. No hard evidence tho.

There is no polystyrene in the chinbar to absorb impact

The shape of the chinbar lends itself to catching on things and causing rotation.

The chinbar is not part of the standards testing.

Lighter than a true FF which is good

If you think of it as a brushguard to stop overhanging branches smacking you in the mouth then its OK. If you want a FF with FF protection for landing on your face at high impacts then get a real FF.

Is the casco viper still available? IMo by far the better design Poly in the chinbar and chinbar sat next to your face. Smooth shell.

I meant there was a thread on this a while ago and it went on a bit with lots of speculation and anecdotal evidence. For what it's worth it seems like a pretty good idea but I know if I had one I'd land on my face the first time I took the guard off. FuzzyWuzzy sums it up perfectly.

Thanks. thats what I thought, and I just found that other post. oops.

Think I'll need to look at investing in a full face as well as the xc helmet then. XC for everyday stuff and Fullface for stuff like Fort Bill.

Thanks. thats what I thought, and I just found that other post. oops.

Think I'll need to look at investing in a full face as well as the xc helmet then. XC for everyday stuff and Fullface for stuff like Fort Bill.

I had one for a bit. They're not bad, not a substitute for a full facer though (and neither is that Casco jobby unless it has proper padding round the cheekbones to absorb front-on impacts). For the price you can get a £50 full face and a £50 XC helmet and both will do the job better.

TJ

Is the casco viper still available? IMo by far the better design Poly in the chinbar and chinbar sat next to your face. Smooth shell.

IIRC Chin bar does not sit next to your face.

I thought it sat closer than many al? False memory syndrome again?

Mr agreeable – is the casco chinbar not made of poly? Thats what absorbs the impact not the soft padding

Closer maybe, but next the the face no. It's a while since I tried one.

I've just smashed up another one this weekend.

They are definitely not an alternative to fullface and wouldn't dream of wearing one for DH or in the Alps. But IMO they do offer more protection (from superficial damage like bruising and grazes) than a standard XC lid and have definitely saved my face numerous times.

I love riding with my MET for XC and feel exposed in a standard helmet now. Walkers tend to get out of the way quicker, I think they assume that (what they see as) a fullface means you're more likely to run them over 😆

Slightly OT – the crash replacement scheme is pretty dire though – Fisher Outdoor quoted £89.17 to replace mine (plus I'd have to add postage on top of that to send it to them) – I've just ordered a new one from Rutland for £84.99 p&p free.

My DH lid (a Bell Bellistic) doesn't have a poly chinbar and nor have any of the others I've tried on. Instead the chinbar is held away from your face by the cheek pads. So the protection you get from front-on impacts is two-fold – you get impact absorption from the padding and some degree of physical protection from the helmet shell. It's not ideal but then nor is a helmet than can pivot backwards and smack you in the face if you hit the chin bar – it seems like a trade-off between being hit hard with something soft, or being hit softly with something hard.

A proper full face helmet fits really snugly even with the straps undone – I've seen maybe one crash in a video where a rider lost his – but something like that Casco would probably just push up and back if hit from below, leaving your chin exposed. I know this is what my Parachute would do, which is one reason why it's not as good as a proper full face.

The more material you have at the bottom the more uncomfortable it is to wear too, as it feels like you can't breathe freely. You would get terrible problems with, for example, goggles fogging up with a chinbar that was solid all the way across. I did find the chin guard on the Met a bit annoying – it deflects your breath back at you when you climb for example – and it's pretty much the most minimalist design out there.

I had the Casco. It saved my stunning good looks in a number of low speed crashes, then bit the dust in a high speed crash which tacoed my front wheel and forced the chinguard into the main shell. When I tried to remove the chinguard it snapped off. They are basically disposable after a major fall.

I was learning at the time and having a lot of silly falls and it was good for that. Obviously you don't want to hit a tree in it but you are going to be a lot better off than an XC lid. Its still pretty claustrophobic when you're climbing, although it doesn't feel like you are actually boiling your head. I just have an XC lid and a full face now.

I have one – has saved my chin from a few scrapes, but these have been fairly low speed crashes.

I used to feel a bit silly wearing it (looks a bit overkill) but I hated the idea of getting my face all cut up and bruised. I feel much more confident with the chin guard although I'm fully aware it's not going to stand up to major impact.

FWIW, I've never had trouble with air flow/feelings of restriction but I've never worn anything else!

Mr agreeable – you simply fail to understand how helmets work. I suggest you go and have a look at the research. A helmet without polystyrene in the chinbar will not absorb much impact – it will transfer it elsewhere. a hard shell spreads impact but does not absorb much of it ( a little thruu flexing)

those soft pads you mention are for comfort – they do nothing to dissipate energy.

The lack of poly in the chinbars is a major flawe in FF helmets. This is because the chinbar is not tested. High quality motorcycle helmets have poly in the chinbar

Bought one as it liked cool and funky.
Wore it, found it VERY uncomfortable and claustrophobic everytime I wore it (I could only smell my own breath…all the time), so sold it onto my buddy, he loves it!

I now use a Bell Full Face helmet (not breath issues!) and a Catlike XC helmet as my best fit solutions!

Bought a Met Parachute a few years ago. They're a good idea, and surprised more manufacturers have not developed something similar.

I didn't buy it thinking that it would replace a full face helmet, and simply just wanted a little bit of extra protection to my stunningly handsome features (not). I found it a bit uncomfortable, chin strap particularly. Very good airflow through the helmet though.

I wouldn't buy another one, but would consider something similar, of better design, if it was available.

those soft pads you mention are for comfort – they do nothing to dissipate energy.

I'm no engineer but this is twaddle. Try jumping onto a mattress and then jumping on to a bare floor. Admittedly it's only a couple of centimetres of padding but it does help to absorb impacts. It probably wouldn't be much use in a full-on 20mph tree to the face incident, but then as you are so fond of pointing out on other helmet threads, neither would a thin layer of polystyrene.

Maybe DH helmet manufacturers could add more shock absorbing material into their helmets but that would start to seriously compromise how comfortable they are to wear. If you want more protection you can always wear an MX lid (and some riders do, like gnar king Elbry) but they are a lot hotter and heavier. You are far more likely to have an accident if you are knackered and dehydrated so there is a primary safety issue there.

it's not a full on full face!!! but I loved mine my GF got one too and wore the chin guard a few times for more confidence.

As for crash reports

the failure rates seem comaprable with other lids I have searched and searched and not really found any shattered into hundreds or pieces.

I have hit the floor a lot with it through pushing myself too hard and come off ok, it deflected my face away from the ground.

Without he guard it has a better all round coverage than a lot of other lids and comes down more like a piss pot at the back.

I've since got a fox flux (slightly cheaper for back of head protection) and touch wood I dont fall off as much.

Summing up

I wouldn't do a 20-30km ride with a full on FF even my spec deviant is way too hot for that.

Most XC/trail lids will smash with enough impact so if one give me a little extra face protection i'll have it. I'm not relying on it but its better than nothing. As for spinning round etc never happened but mine fitted properly