[Closed] What full face helmet for enduro

That article about the Archi Enduro is b*llocks. One stupid geezer has a badly fitted helmet, a stupid big crash and rather than look to himself as the cause of his accident, posts up a "review" that then gets reblogged and suddenly becomes "fact".

I stacked my old Archi Enduro onto rocks at Fort Bill on the black DH run, big old scratch in the lacquer so was replaced as a caution, but my face didn't get cut off by the helmet and it didn't snap either.

It was bad fit that made that yank's helmet rotate and then allow his lip to get cut.

Where have you seen the chinpiece snap off?

TBH I'm not sure of the point of the Archi-Enduro though... I've got a Down-o-Matic which I really rate highly, and the venting is superb- it's slightly more enclosed than the Archi but I'm not that convinced that it matters. I'd be as happy in the Down-o-matic as I would be in any full face for enduro, I reckon. (which is to say, not very)

This is the one:

http://forums.mtbr.com/utah/crash-report-urge-archi-enduro-helmet-795542.html

Incidentally, he says that it didn't actually break.

andyrm - Member
That article about the Archi Enduro is b*llocks. One stupid geezer has a badly fitted helmet, a stupid big crash and rather than look to himself as the cause of his accident, posts up a "review" that then gets reblogged and suddenly becomes "fact".

What's wrong with his post? How do we know it was badly fitted? Doesn't sound like it shifted around his head, there is no indication of the helmet moving that I can see. He happily admits that the crash was his fault, he had a full-on, no-hands, face digger into the ground.

Chinpiece didn't snap off there though. He is, as observed, a knobber- had an unfortunate accident, most likely caused by bad fit, draws unsupported conclusion. Helmets aren't magic forcefields.

How do we know it was badly fitted?

My theory is based on helping 5 different friends get the right size Archi Enduro and spending lots of time in our friendly LBS playing with pads, straps and the 2 sizes, messing round twisting, rotating and generally trying for fit. The only way we could make it move in such a way as to expose the lips like that was one a size too big and just cranked on the strap rather than properly padded out as Urge helmets need to be.

Yup, even a D2 chinguard got snapped at Fort Bill last year! The pyjama wearers little heads would explode if that was better known.

I tested the chinguard of my current full-facer a couple of weeks ago, luckily it passed.

Looking at doing a few gravity enduro events and am looking for a good full face helmet with good ventilation etc

Doesn't exist.

Apart from looking like a massive bellend in the Urge, just get a proper full face or one of the more AM orientated helmets like the Feature/etc.

I've only ever had an airflow issue on my D3 with goggles, racing the Mega. Rocking the Euro look of a full face & glasses was fine.

andyrm - Member
My theory is based on helping 5 different friends get the right size Archi Enduro and spending lots of time in our friendly LBS playing with pads, straps and the 2 sizes, messing round twisting, rotating and generally trying for fit. The only way we could make it move in such a way as to expose the lips like that was one a size too big and just cranked on the strap rather than properly padded out as Urge helmets need to be.

The chin guard took a digger into the soil, nothing mentioned about the helmet moving to expose his lip

Basically, the chin bar flexed/folded under impact, and the open face port/low-profile chin bar design allowed the helmet to act like a giant scoop. Good thing my Leatt stopped my head from tucking under...I'm absolutely certain that wouldn't have turned out well. The underside of my jaw was very bruised from contact with the Leatt platform

and perhaps most importantly when looking at the damage done:

There was a bit o' bad luck involved in this crash in that I happened to land on either a random stick or a piece of brush that had been cut down......the stick/piece of brush had it's way with my mouth in a bad way.

Yep, Legend- and from that bad luck he jumps off into "this helmet sucks". Nonsense really.

TBH his helmet sucks chat makes little sense at all when everything else is taken into account. Ok, so there is going to be [i]very slightly[/i] more chance that an normal FF would deflect the twig, and some more chance that the chin guard wouldn't have deflected so much - but it doesn't appear that the chain guard deflecting actually had anything to do with the injuries caused.

Just for balance:
[img] [/img]

At least he's still got his dignity.

Now I have read it again I have realised the chin piece didn't snap sorry guys , I'm assuming from this people rate it as a good helmet for enduro

I'm on the fence 😉 Not convinced there's any point to it, but I don't think there's much wrong with it either.

Fox Striker is a good helmet. How pretty are you?

I think any FF is going to boil your head on the transitions.

Never had any problem TBH on transitions - yeah it's a bit warm, but not terrible once you get used to it.

I had an Archi Enduro and cracked the chinguard in a crash.
I wouldn't rely on one again, the chinguard is too flexy/weak and offers very little protection. I have no doubt a proper full face would have easily stood up to the impact.

If you want a full face lid, buy a troy lee.

dirtydog - Member

I had an Archi Enduro and cracked the chinguard in a crash.
I wouldn't rely on one again, the chinguard is too flexy/weak and offers very little protection. I have no doubt a proper full face would have easily stood up to the impact.

Ooh, interesting! Out of curiosity, do you reckon it still did its job in the crash or did it just fail outright without helping? I guess the other question is, if you'd hit another helmet as hard, would you keep wearing it or would you replace anyway? Pics would be cool...

Giro Remedy? Specialized Deviant?

Northwind - Member

dirtydog - Member

I had an Archi Enduro and cracked the chinguard in a crash.
I wouldn't rely on one again, the chinguard is too flexy/weak and offers very little protection. I have no doubt a proper full face would have easily stood up to the impact.

Ooh, interesting! Out of curiosity, do you reckon it still did its job in the crash or did it just fail outright without helping? I guess the other question is, if you'd hit another helmet as hard, would you keep wearing it or would you replace anyway

I'm not sure it really helped, the chinguard cracked where it had flexed and touched my chin, it was the flex that caused the crack not the impact.

If it hadn't flexed to the point it touched my chin it wouldn't have cracked!

I replaced it with a Giro Remedy and the chinguard is night and day.

uselesshippy - Member
If you want a full face lid, buy a troy lee.

It's true, even if you only have £10 to your name and just need a helmet for one day, it can ONLY be Troy Lee. Believe teh hype!

Im doing the QECP Gravity Enduro in July, and Im planning on 2 helmets, a crappy xc for the transitions and a FF strapped to my pack for the stages. Maybe I wont need it, but thats my current thinking.

Oh, and its an Urge Down o Matic.

The Urge is my helmet of choice, and i have had a massive stack on mine....face planted at v high speed when my front whell gave way on a slippy wooden bridge.

My face hi the ground and disloged a rock....the chin piece on my urge received a hairline crack and the visor exploded........

The helmet did its job....and did it well.

I am a MTB guide and protection is paramount to me.

Whats important with helmets is fit, some helmets fit well others dont....so try some out.

I don't understand why people are critisising the chin guard because it cracked. Surely that's better than it being your face? It sounds like it was just doing its job to me

Specialized Deviant for ventilation and it is still hot ime.

iridebikes - Member
I don't understand why people are critisising the chin guard because it cracked.

General mis-understanding of how things work I reckon.

I'm not sure it really helped, the chinguard cracked where it had flexed and touched my chin, it was the flex that caused the crack not the impact.

the flex is the impact (the guard wouldn't have flexed when not impacting the ground). Stiffer doesn't necessarily = stronger, it just may have cracked when further from your face. Think of the flex as being like the crumple zones in a car, there do give you a more gradual deceleration.

dirtydog - Member

I'm not sure it really helped, the chinguard cracked where it had flexed and touched my chin, it was the flex that caused the crack not the impact.

Sounds like it did its job then tbh! Hard to say obviously, but helmets don't protect from impacts by being hard, they protect by being soft- a totally rigid helmet would be great for stopping sharp things from sticking into your brain, but useless for protecting against blunt force, which is more important. Flexing too much is a problem, but bending and even cracking isn't necessarily.

But obviously not saying you're wrong, wasn't there- just saying it's not simple.

iridebikes - Member

I don't understand why people are critisising the chin guard because it cracked. Surely that's better than it being your face? It sounds like it was just doing its job to me

Posted 1 hour ago #

I'm sharing my experience.

IMO It was a light impact, any harder and it would have been my face.

If you want to believe that an Archi Enduro will protect your face in the event of an off then your welcome to do so.

Sorry I mentioned it 😕

Yeah, apparently you're not allowed to critize them.

dirtydog - Member

I'm sharing my experience.

I think "it was the flex that caused the crack not the impact" maybe set people off a bit?

Sorry, it wasn't very clear to me that was what you meant. So how do you think something like a troy lee, or giro remedy would have coped? I'd imagine better, but I thought the urge would surely be better than a normal helmet?

Northwind - Member

dirtydog - Member

I'm sharing my experience.

I think "it was the flex that caused the crack not the impact" maybe set people off a bit?

Agreed!

Believe it or not guys I do understand there's a balance to be struck between flex and stiffness otherwise they would just shatter upon impact, I shouldn't have mentioned flex as it confuses things and adds nothing.

So flex/stifness aside....... IMO The chinguard is not strong enough and I wouldn't have another.

Hope this clarifies things. 😉