So far I've got about 1000 miles on my Icon Domain 2 and thought I'd write up a review.
So far I'm loving this helmet. Compared with my GMax GM68 I started with, it's night and day.
Fit and Finish:
The only helmets I tried on (and I tired on pretty much every helmet model you can find in California) that felt like they were Higher quality were the Arai Corsair and the Shoei X-11 and X-12. There were a number of others out there that felt similar to it, but not really better. It's a very solid feeling helmet. The padding has that nice plush but not too soft feel to it. If I had to compare it to a Shoei as far as fit and finish, it was very close to the RF-1000. In fact my decision was between those two helmets. (I'll get into that in a bit.)
Visor and visor change out:
Both visors I have are perfect as far as there's no distortion what so ever with them. They're solid feeling and they seal very well against the helmet's rubber seals and the visor lock (a post on the helmet and a hole on in the visor) work extremely well. The clear "Fog Free" visor that comes with the helmet is far from fog free. Below 65ºF it'll fog up like crazy if you're going less than 10 mph and the visor is locked closed. However, just crack it open just a touch and it'll stop fogging quickly. DSR Powersports offers a free extra visor of your choice when ordering this helmet. I got the silver mirrored visor. This visor is great in the bright sun light, but that's really it. The mirror finish is so good that in the slightest bit of darkness (heavy cloud cover for instance) you're looking at your own eyes in the visor. It gets a bit distracting. So anyone who likes to use a tinted visor in the dark, this one probably won't work for you. It also tends to fog a lot if it's slightly cold out and you're not moving. I'll be getting the dark smoke visor soon.
The quick change mechanism took one ot two tries to get it down right, but once you get the hang of it, it's simple. They just don't explain in the instructions exactly how to make sure you get the latch over the small tab on the inside of the visor. But now that I've got it down, I can change a visor in all of 15 seconds. It's great.
Fit
I have a fairly large melon. And it seems to be a little wider and taller than it is longer front to back. (I hope that made since
) Like I mentioned earlier, I tried on just about every single helmet brand and model I could get my hands on. I really learned a lot about helmet fit doing so. For instance, just because one model of a particular brand fits well, doesn't mean all models by that manufacturer will. The helmet I really want to get was an Icon Airframe. That helmet was the most uncomfortable thing I've ever put on my head. Even the XL had major pressure points on my head. However, the Icon Domain 2 in a large fit very well. Very snug at first as to be expected of a brand new helmet that's not broken in, but no pressure points. The Shoei RF1000 also fit very similarly. A large was just right without any pressure points. The padding in the Shoei felt like it may have been slightly softer allowing for the same size and shape helmet to feel a little bigger than the Icon.
Looks:
This is something that is very subjective, I know. I personally love the look of this helmet. To me, most helmets out there with their plain rounded shape look boring. The big vents and structure just look bad ass IMO. The graphics are awesome! Very clean looking. Nothing is misaligned, no color bleeding, etc... Like I mentioned earlier, the decision for me was between this and the Shoei RF1000. With the end of year sales going on starting last month, I could have got an RF1000 plus a tinted visor for just a little more than I paid for the Icon with a free visor. (Around $350) So it really came down to fit (which I mentioned was almost identical to me) and the looks. I was looking for something black and red to match the bike and my riding gear. Nothing too extremely wild, but not just a plain black helmet like the last helmet I had. I couldn't find anything Shoei made that I really liked. Their paint was also incredible, but none of the graphic designs really jumped out at me. Then I saw the black and red Serpecant design on the Icon website and fell in love with it. Just a nice touch or red (just like on the bike) with a very cool dragon scale graphic background.
Value:
With so many helmet companies out there charging $500+ for their helmets that honestly pass the same SNELL approval that this helmet does for only $350 plus a free shield (if you order from DSR Powersports) you can't really go wrong IMO. There are a lot of helmets out there that are a bit cheaper as well, but I learned my lesson about buying cheap when it comes to helmets.
Overall
I'm very pleased with the helmet. I don't think you can get a whole lot better quality without spending $600 or more for a Arai or top of the line Shoei. There are a number of other helmets out there in this price range and maybe even a little less that all are of equal quality and are all SNELL approved. That's when it comes down to fit and looks and this helmet was the best fit all around for me.
So far I'm loving this helmet. Compared with my GMax GM68 I started with, it's night and day.
Fit and Finish:
The only helmets I tried on (and I tired on pretty much every helmet model you can find in California) that felt like they were Higher quality were the Arai Corsair and the Shoei X-11 and X-12. There were a number of others out there that felt similar to it, but not really better. It's a very solid feeling helmet. The padding has that nice plush but not too soft feel to it. If I had to compare it to a Shoei as far as fit and finish, it was very close to the RF-1000. In fact my decision was between those two helmets. (I'll get into that in a bit.)
Visor and visor change out:
Both visors I have are perfect as far as there's no distortion what so ever with them. They're solid feeling and they seal very well against the helmet's rubber seals and the visor lock (a post on the helmet and a hole on in the visor) work extremely well. The clear "Fog Free" visor that comes with the helmet is far from fog free. Below 65ºF it'll fog up like crazy if you're going less than 10 mph and the visor is locked closed. However, just crack it open just a touch and it'll stop fogging quickly. DSR Powersports offers a free extra visor of your choice when ordering this helmet. I got the silver mirrored visor. This visor is great in the bright sun light, but that's really it. The mirror finish is so good that in the slightest bit of darkness (heavy cloud cover for instance) you're looking at your own eyes in the visor. It gets a bit distracting. So anyone who likes to use a tinted visor in the dark, this one probably won't work for you. It also tends to fog a lot if it's slightly cold out and you're not moving. I'll be getting the dark smoke visor soon.
The quick change mechanism took one ot two tries to get it down right, but once you get the hang of it, it's simple. They just don't explain in the instructions exactly how to make sure you get the latch over the small tab on the inside of the visor. But now that I've got it down, I can change a visor in all of 15 seconds. It's great.
Fit
I have a fairly large melon. And it seems to be a little wider and taller than it is longer front to back. (I hope that made since
) Like I mentioned earlier, I tried on just about every single helmet brand and model I could get my hands on. I really learned a lot about helmet fit doing so. For instance, just because one model of a particular brand fits well, doesn't mean all models by that manufacturer will. The helmet I really want to get was an Icon Airframe. That helmet was the most uncomfortable thing I've ever put on my head. Even the XL had major pressure points on my head. However, the Icon Domain 2 in a large fit very well. Very snug at first as to be expected of a brand new helmet that's not broken in, but no pressure points. The Shoei RF1000 also fit very similarly. A large was just right without any pressure points. The padding in the Shoei felt like it may have been slightly softer allowing for the same size and shape helmet to feel a little bigger than the Icon. Looks:
This is something that is very subjective, I know. I personally love the look of this helmet. To me, most helmets out there with their plain rounded shape look boring. The big vents and structure just look bad ass IMO. The graphics are awesome! Very clean looking. Nothing is misaligned, no color bleeding, etc... Like I mentioned earlier, the decision for me was between this and the Shoei RF1000. With the end of year sales going on starting last month, I could have got an RF1000 plus a tinted visor for just a little more than I paid for the Icon with a free visor. (Around $350) So it really came down to fit (which I mentioned was almost identical to me) and the looks. I was looking for something black and red to match the bike and my riding gear. Nothing too extremely wild, but not just a plain black helmet like the last helmet I had. I couldn't find anything Shoei made that I really liked. Their paint was also incredible, but none of the graphic designs really jumped out at me. Then I saw the black and red Serpecant design on the Icon website and fell in love with it. Just a nice touch or red (just like on the bike) with a very cool dragon scale graphic background.
Value:
With so many helmet companies out there charging $500+ for their helmets that honestly pass the same SNELL approval that this helmet does for only $350 plus a free shield (if you order from DSR Powersports) you can't really go wrong IMO. There are a lot of helmets out there that are a bit cheaper as well, but I learned my lesson about buying cheap when it comes to helmets.
Overall
I'm very pleased with the helmet. I don't think you can get a whole lot better quality without spending $600 or more for a Arai or top of the line Shoei. There are a number of other helmets out there in this price range and maybe even a little less that all are of equal quality and are all SNELL approved. That's when it comes down to fit and looks and this helmet was the best fit all around for me.
