A friend is currently recovering from a serious car crash which caused major facial injuries. He’s keen to get back on the bike as soon as possible but is understandably a bit reluctant to take any risks with his re-build face…

So the hunt is on for a full face helmet that can be worn for the climbs without overheating. I’ve identified the Met Parachute and Spesh Deviant as claiming to be well-cooled; anybody have any experience? Or other suggestions?

TIA!

http://172.24.16.25/cycling-clothing/full-face-helmets/giro-cipher-full-face-helmet

all the way…

Deviant II user here. If it fits well, I can’t fault it. Light, relatively cool and feels pretty solid.
I mention the fit as the difference between medium and large seems to be quite a lot.
The current colour/paint design is gawd awful though. White with black, purple and neon green ‘sicked’ over the front….still, I can’t see it when I’m wearing it, so what’s it matter?!

Urge Down-o-matic and Archi-Enduro are well vented for full-on dh fullfaces but still unpleasant to pedal in. TBH if I decided I wanted to wear a fullface for everyday descending, I’d just stop wearing a helmet for climbing rather than trying to get one that worked for both. (I really dislike carrying 2 helmets- basic safety issues there as well as practicality)

A third way might be the Bell 2R- it looks well vented anyway and has the option of being an open face for climbing then a fullface for descending.

Isn’t the new Met parachute a fullface now? The chin guard doesn’t come off so I think it’s been tested to “fullface” standards.

The Met passes the downhill helmet standard- but it seems like that doesn’t guarantee it was tested as a fullface, the standard is for openface and fullface helmets and while “faceguards” specifically have to be tested if present, “chinpieces” are also mentioned, and not required to be tested. I’ve not seen the full standard as you have to pay money for that 😉 But the manufacturer’s briefing suggests that a helmet with a “chinpiece” not designed to be as protective as a normal fullface helmet can still pass F1952 without testing the “chinpiece”. Sort of like how a pressure suit can be CE-approved even if parts of the armour don’t pass CE.

You’d hope it was tested as a proper fullface though. Anything else would be pretty iffy.

Kali helmets are supposed to be good for ventilation and protection based on what I’ve read. If I / my kids were going to get a FF it would be a Kali.

I strongly recommend anyone considering an Urge Archi-Enduro checks out the thread (on MTBR I recall) of a guy that crash tested one, and made a complete mess of his face. The wide opening probably contributed to the injuries sustained.

IMHO if you’re wanting face protection, get a decent FF, and put up with / take it off for the hard climbs.

On a similar theme, it always makes me cringe when I see people ride motorbikes in an open helmet. I had a (not own fault) low speed impact into the side of a black cab wearing a top of the range Arai and I was knocked out and cracked a small part of the chin piece. I hate to think what my face would have been like if I was wearing an open face helmet.

I strongly recommend anyone considering an Urge Archi-Enduro checks out the thread (on MTBR I recall) of a guy that crash tested one, and made a complete mess of his face.

Wrote mine off in an OTB incident, not going to go into detail but I wouldn’t have another even if I was given one.

Edit:That’s ^ not strictly true, I’d sell it and buy someting with a decent chinguard.

I have a Spec Deviant Carbon. For XC rides its going to be hot, it does have lots of ventilation holes but its no where near to a normal open face helmet. Weight is not too bad. I only use mine for DH and don’t mind it too much.

For a long term solution I’ll be looking at other solutions. But if it is just a short term solution while he recovers fully or till he gets his confidence back it’ll probably be OK. Weather is getting colder and if just doing short rides he can probably cope with the downsides.

I loved my Deviant. Would have bought another to replace when it finally died after 5 years, but none in my stock at the time.