SkooterG
Purveyor of Crooked Facts
Ha ha ha ha. Helmets, tires, suspension settings - one may's joy is another's nightmare.
I have a thin head and big ol ears sticking out. Oh, the nicknames I could recite when growing up........ Wingnut. Dumbo. Howdy-Doody. Alfred E Newman........ The list goes on..........
I have found two helmet companies that fit my head: HJC and Shoei. I don't even bother with any others anymore. If it works, it works. I wear a size small for both.
HJC definitely has more of a pocket for the ears - probably because of less outer shell sizes than Shoei, but for the most part the Shoeis don't give me problems. Anything pushing on my ears will cause discomfort, and then lots of pain after hours in the saddle. I can't use helmet speakers for that reason. Can't get them close enough to my ears for them to work well without causing pain. So, for 20 years now I have been using earbud speakers. The S-Plugs are by far the best as they are the smallest and softest. I can wear them for hours upon hours. Of course the other huge benefit is that the music or phone sound quality is going to be an order of magnitude better than helmet speakers, either with, or without earplugs.
Original Neotec fit good. A little loose after years of wear. Neotec 2 fits well too. Smaller pocket for the ears, or located a little different but that doesn't cause me much of an issue as long as I am careful except for one thing. The wire coming out of my ear for the S-Plug. I have to make sure I route it a certain way otherwise the Shoei interior pad will push the wire against the lower part of my ear and after a few hours, pain! Oh, and I always use a skull cap/helmet liner. Both as a sweat barrier, and to assist in putting on, and taking off the helmet with the earbud speakers in my ears.
The HJCs I don't have the wire issue. The ear pocket is bigger or the padding is more loose.
The old HJC IS-Max fit great! I prefer the Shoei quality but the HJC is a great value. I use them for my summer helmets here in Arizona when I am always sweating and replace them every two years. The high $$$ Neotecs I use for winter/touring and keep them a lot longer.
Unfortunately, the I90 was not an improvement for me. I get pressure on my forehead and some discomfort on long days. Also, it's much more difficult to install my Sena headset mount. The tinted sunshade mechanism on the I90 uses a cable inside the left side of the helmet. When I installed the Sena mount I fubar'd the cable. Luckily, a nice gentleman at HJC USA sent me replacement parts for free and walked me through the replacement on the phone. I now use the stick-on mount but it doesn't last.
What a pain in the ass! I miss the old IS-Max! Eventually, I guess I will try the new I91. It is nice to have a cheaper helmet for my everyday use, especially in the summer when sweating a lot. I bought my I90 from Chromeburner in Germany back in 2020. Got it in a cool Hi-Viz color that they don't offer here in the USA. It matches one of my equally obnoxious Aerostich Roadcrafter suits! There are some things you just can't un-see!!!
I have a thin head and big ol ears sticking out. Oh, the nicknames I could recite when growing up........ Wingnut. Dumbo. Howdy-Doody. Alfred E Newman........ The list goes on..........
I have found two helmet companies that fit my head: HJC and Shoei. I don't even bother with any others anymore. If it works, it works. I wear a size small for both.
HJC definitely has more of a pocket for the ears - probably because of less outer shell sizes than Shoei, but for the most part the Shoeis don't give me problems. Anything pushing on my ears will cause discomfort, and then lots of pain after hours in the saddle. I can't use helmet speakers for that reason. Can't get them close enough to my ears for them to work well without causing pain. So, for 20 years now I have been using earbud speakers. The S-Plugs are by far the best as they are the smallest and softest. I can wear them for hours upon hours. Of course the other huge benefit is that the music or phone sound quality is going to be an order of magnitude better than helmet speakers, either with, or without earplugs.
Original Neotec fit good. A little loose after years of wear. Neotec 2 fits well too. Smaller pocket for the ears, or located a little different but that doesn't cause me much of an issue as long as I am careful except for one thing. The wire coming out of my ear for the S-Plug. I have to make sure I route it a certain way otherwise the Shoei interior pad will push the wire against the lower part of my ear and after a few hours, pain! Oh, and I always use a skull cap/helmet liner. Both as a sweat barrier, and to assist in putting on, and taking off the helmet with the earbud speakers in my ears.
The HJCs I don't have the wire issue. The ear pocket is bigger or the padding is more loose.
The old HJC IS-Max fit great! I prefer the Shoei quality but the HJC is a great value. I use them for my summer helmets here in Arizona when I am always sweating and replace them every two years. The high $$$ Neotecs I use for winter/touring and keep them a lot longer.
Unfortunately, the I90 was not an improvement for me. I get pressure on my forehead and some discomfort on long days. Also, it's much more difficult to install my Sena headset mount. The tinted sunshade mechanism on the I90 uses a cable inside the left side of the helmet. When I installed the Sena mount I fubar'd the cable. Luckily, a nice gentleman at HJC USA sent me replacement parts for free and walked me through the replacement on the phone. I now use the stick-on mount but it doesn't last.
What a pain in the ass! I miss the old IS-Max! Eventually, I guess I will try the new I91. It is nice to have a cheaper helmet for my everyday use, especially in the summer when sweating a lot. I bought my I90 from Chromeburner in Germany back in 2020. Got it in a cool Hi-Viz color that they don't offer here in the USA. It matches one of my equally obnoxious Aerostich Roadcrafter suits! There are some things you just can't un-see!!!
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