Some here might find interest in this.
I recently decided to purchase a new lid. In my search and reading many reviews on WebBike World I found the Akuma brand to have high reviews. The down side was Akuma does not have a flip up model yet. While searching their website I learned they are planning to release a flip-up, so I called them.
Carrie at Akuma told me the flip up model will not be released till mid 2010. But, I still asked a few questions such as; do you have a white or yellow helmet? I learned they recently discontinued the R2 Frost (white) model. Carrie explained the frost is the same as the R2 Specter (matt black) and R2 Onyx (gloss black.) The problem is the R2 Frost has color defects. In some places blue can be seen though the white on the helmet. So, it was discontinued.
She offered to sell the R2 Frost for $100, without a warranty. As it is discontinued and they are not getting more it could not be replaced under warranty. Hmm, $100 for a helmet with rear LEDs lights (just a novelty to me,) a map LED map light in the front, removable liners, DOT and ECE22-05 certification (I prefer the ECE cert over DOT,) and I could get one of the slickest visors I have ever seen. What should I do? I purchased one.
She suggested I use their measurement guide to pick my size. She mentioned that a size XL in a Shoei (Multi-Tec) would not match over to their sizes. According to their measurement guide I wear a size large so I ordered a large. The sizing was off, so Carrie happily exchanged the helmet for a XL, I paid $22 shipping both ways. The new XL had a minor hot spot that I corrected by pushing the foam liner in little bit, about the thickness of a dime near my forehead. The helmet fits great now.
The cheek pads are huge! There are two types of foam in the cheek pads. A harder density foam is close to the shell of the helmet and a soft density foam is close the face. This cheek pads make the helmet lock on to your face/head, while still being comfortable. The thing just seems to mold to my head.
I can’t reference the noise level as this is the first non flip up I have used in 6-7 years.
My two hours of riding time with the lid the temps were in the single digit so I did not test wind flow a lot. However, with the vents open I seemed to get a lot of (COLD) air flow.
Down sides, the black plastic strips on top of the helmet may be easy to break. They don’t seem be a very hard plastic and only appear to be cosmetic. I am concerned that may break easy. I can see the blue visible though the white. However, I knew this when I purchase it really is not an issue to me, but some may not like it.
For a $100 I figured some here might be interested.
The visor I mentioned is the AEGIS visor. It is covered in the second portion of this review and video at the bottom of this page: Link
I recently decided to purchase a new lid. In my search and reading many reviews on WebBike World I found the Akuma brand to have high reviews. The down side was Akuma does not have a flip up model yet. While searching their website I learned they are planning to release a flip-up, so I called them.
Carrie at Akuma told me the flip up model will not be released till mid 2010. But, I still asked a few questions such as; do you have a white or yellow helmet? I learned they recently discontinued the R2 Frost (white) model. Carrie explained the frost is the same as the R2 Specter (matt black) and R2 Onyx (gloss black.) The problem is the R2 Frost has color defects. In some places blue can be seen though the white on the helmet. So, it was discontinued.
She offered to sell the R2 Frost for $100, without a warranty. As it is discontinued and they are not getting more it could not be replaced under warranty. Hmm, $100 for a helmet with rear LEDs lights (just a novelty to me,) a map LED map light in the front, removable liners, DOT and ECE22-05 certification (I prefer the ECE cert over DOT,) and I could get one of the slickest visors I have ever seen. What should I do? I purchased one.
She suggested I use their measurement guide to pick my size. She mentioned that a size XL in a Shoei (Multi-Tec) would not match over to their sizes. According to their measurement guide I wear a size large so I ordered a large. The sizing was off, so Carrie happily exchanged the helmet for a XL, I paid $22 shipping both ways. The new XL had a minor hot spot that I corrected by pushing the foam liner in little bit, about the thickness of a dime near my forehead. The helmet fits great now.
The cheek pads are huge! There are two types of foam in the cheek pads. A harder density foam is close to the shell of the helmet and a soft density foam is close the face. This cheek pads make the helmet lock on to your face/head, while still being comfortable. The thing just seems to mold to my head.
I can’t reference the noise level as this is the first non flip up I have used in 6-7 years.
My two hours of riding time with the lid the temps were in the single digit so I did not test wind flow a lot. However, with the vents open I seemed to get a lot of (COLD) air flow.
Down sides, the black plastic strips on top of the helmet may be easy to break. They don’t seem be a very hard plastic and only appear to be cosmetic. I am concerned that may break easy. I can see the blue visible though the white. However, I knew this when I purchase it really is not an issue to me, but some may not like it.
For a $100 I figured some here might be interested.
The visor I mentioned is the AEGIS visor. It is covered in the second portion of this review and video at the bottom of this page: Link
