Well I finally got out for a ride in this new helmet for the first time today. I haven't ridden in over a month due to injury and weather. But I got out this morning for a quick though freezing cold (literally) ride. I got the helmet in last night and had to try it out. I had a lot of reservations last year when I heard that Bell was getting back into the streetbike market with real high quality helmets. They've spent a lot of years making discount, cheap, Wal-Mart like helmets and they kind of earned the stigma of making crap. But they decided to get serious about their race inspired helmets again and when I tried on a Bell Star, (the new 2010 and newer models, not the $120 2009 models, they're completely different helmets and are like comparing Fiat to a Ferrari) I was sold and have been looking for a chance to get a hold of one.
Quality:
First thing you notice when pulling out one of the new generation Bell helmets, you can feel the solid quality of the helmet. The liner is plush but substantial, and the surface is super soft and comfy. Kind of microfiber feeling. This is great when the helmet is on, but it makes putting it on and taking it off a little more work. This helmet is one step down from the Bell Star but in all honesty, the only thing I could really find that made the Star a higher Quality helmet was that little things like the visor locking/cracking system is metal on the Star and plastic on the RS-1, and the top of the line Star is Carbon Fiber, this one is Fiberglass like 99% of all helmets out there. Everything else is just as good and I got this helmet on mega sale for $199. It's normally $400 and the quality and feel is far higher than any other helmet in that range I've ever tried on. I'd even say it's higher than the feel of the $900 Arai I tried on. The graphics are extremely vibrant and crisp looking, adding to the high quality look of the helmet.
Looks:
The styling is great. A little more conservative than the Bell Star but still a nice looking shape. (I read an article on this helmet describing the shape as having the style knob turned to 8 of 10 where the Bell Star is pegged at 10) The shell is actually fairly large and has thick padding so on some people it may look a little bubble headed. But on me it fits with my larger stature.
Sizing:
Be Careful here! This is actually the second one of these I've received. This helmet runs small. Even compared to the Bell Star. I was told they had a very similar shape. I was able to try on a Star and the large was perfect. So I ordered the large RS-1. It was WAY small. Very tight all the way around the crown of my head. I looked at the webbing and it said it was a 58-59cm helmet. That's a normal medium size for most helmets. So I sent it back and got an XL. That did the trick. I've been using a Large Shoei RF1000 and that fit was good and quite snug. This helmet in an XL is like 1/3 of a size larger than that helmet in a large. There's no gaps and the helmet isn't loose on my head, but it's not as tight at the Shoei. Like I said, the shell is big when you jump to an XL size, and one thing I really like is how far down the lower jawline it covers. The Shoei always felt like it was too short, i.e. you could see my chin under the helmet. This helmet comes much father down and covers everything.
Venting/Fogging:
The #1 complaint I have and anyone I know who has a Shoei RF1000 is that it fogs like crazy. I've tried every anti fog treatment I could find. The only thing that works is Cat Crap and all it does is lets the fog dissipate faster while you're moving. But anything below 45ºF, that thing fogged up no matter what. The anti fog coating and the venting for the visor on the Bell RS-1 works brilliantly. I treated the smoked visor with Cat Crap out of habit before I went out this morning. I took the bike up to Mt. Laguna @ 6000 ft elevation this morning. It was about 30ºF and not one hint of fogging. It was so cold (for me being a San Diego native) that I was shivering on the bike, and the visor didn't fog at all. The cold brings me to the venting. This thing moves some serious air through it. I had to shut the main vent (I left the visor vents open to keep it from fogging) because the top of my head and my ears were getting so cold.
Aero:
The Shoei was pretty well balanced at high speed but did suffer a little from high speed buffeting. The Icon Domain2 that I have is odd with the big channels and spoiler because you could feel the wind grabbing the spoiler and pulling the head straight. At the same time it pulled the head back and seemed to have more drag to it. But this helmet I felt little to no aero pull, buffet, etc... It was extremely stable even at some freeway speeds trying to get home to some warmth at the end of the ride that could probably get me into some serious trouble.
Overall:
This is by far the best helmet I've had to date. It's my 4th helmet and I just keep going up the ladder in quality. I got extremely lucky to pick this thing up on a big 3 day sale Competition Accessories was having for $199. But I would have paid the full $400 price for it if I had to. The look is great, the fit an finish is impeccable, and to me the biggest plus is the lack of fogging. Also if you're someone who does a lot of commuting and riding in both day and night conditions, for $120 you can get the Bell Transitions visor and never have to worry about changing visors.
I'm too lazy to take good pics of my helmet so here's some stock images. But pics don't do the graphics justice.
Quality:
First thing you notice when pulling out one of the new generation Bell helmets, you can feel the solid quality of the helmet. The liner is plush but substantial, and the surface is super soft and comfy. Kind of microfiber feeling. This is great when the helmet is on, but it makes putting it on and taking it off a little more work. This helmet is one step down from the Bell Star but in all honesty, the only thing I could really find that made the Star a higher Quality helmet was that little things like the visor locking/cracking system is metal on the Star and plastic on the RS-1, and the top of the line Star is Carbon Fiber, this one is Fiberglass like 99% of all helmets out there. Everything else is just as good and I got this helmet on mega sale for $199. It's normally $400 and the quality and feel is far higher than any other helmet in that range I've ever tried on. I'd even say it's higher than the feel of the $900 Arai I tried on. The graphics are extremely vibrant and crisp looking, adding to the high quality look of the helmet.
Looks:
The styling is great. A little more conservative than the Bell Star but still a nice looking shape. (I read an article on this helmet describing the shape as having the style knob turned to 8 of 10 where the Bell Star is pegged at 10) The shell is actually fairly large and has thick padding so on some people it may look a little bubble headed. But on me it fits with my larger stature.
Sizing:
Be Careful here! This is actually the second one of these I've received. This helmet runs small. Even compared to the Bell Star. I was told they had a very similar shape. I was able to try on a Star and the large was perfect. So I ordered the large RS-1. It was WAY small. Very tight all the way around the crown of my head. I looked at the webbing and it said it was a 58-59cm helmet. That's a normal medium size for most helmets. So I sent it back and got an XL. That did the trick. I've been using a Large Shoei RF1000 and that fit was good and quite snug. This helmet in an XL is like 1/3 of a size larger than that helmet in a large. There's no gaps and the helmet isn't loose on my head, but it's not as tight at the Shoei. Like I said, the shell is big when you jump to an XL size, and one thing I really like is how far down the lower jawline it covers. The Shoei always felt like it was too short, i.e. you could see my chin under the helmet. This helmet comes much father down and covers everything.
Venting/Fogging:
The #1 complaint I have and anyone I know who has a Shoei RF1000 is that it fogs like crazy. I've tried every anti fog treatment I could find. The only thing that works is Cat Crap and all it does is lets the fog dissipate faster while you're moving. But anything below 45ºF, that thing fogged up no matter what. The anti fog coating and the venting for the visor on the Bell RS-1 works brilliantly. I treated the smoked visor with Cat Crap out of habit before I went out this morning. I took the bike up to Mt. Laguna @ 6000 ft elevation this morning. It was about 30ºF and not one hint of fogging. It was so cold (for me being a San Diego native) that I was shivering on the bike, and the visor didn't fog at all. The cold brings me to the venting. This thing moves some serious air through it. I had to shut the main vent (I left the visor vents open to keep it from fogging) because the top of my head and my ears were getting so cold.
Aero:
The Shoei was pretty well balanced at high speed but did suffer a little from high speed buffeting. The Icon Domain2 that I have is odd with the big channels and spoiler because you could feel the wind grabbing the spoiler and pulling the head straight. At the same time it pulled the head back and seemed to have more drag to it. But this helmet I felt little to no aero pull, buffet, etc... It was extremely stable even at some freeway speeds trying to get home to some warmth at the end of the ride that could probably get me into some serious trouble.
Overall:
This is by far the best helmet I've had to date. It's my 4th helmet and I just keep going up the ladder in quality. I got extremely lucky to pick this thing up on a big 3 day sale Competition Accessories was having for $199. But I would have paid the full $400 price for it if I had to. The look is great, the fit an finish is impeccable, and to me the biggest plus is the lack of fogging. Also if you're someone who does a lot of commuting and riding in both day and night conditions, for $120 you can get the Bell Transitions visor and never have to worry about changing visors.
I'm too lazy to take good pics of my helmet so here's some stock images. But pics don't do the graphics justice.
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