Hello! I'm RyanF9 and if I'm buying a
full face, it will be one of these four.
Correction! If I'm buying a full face, and
I ride a naked bike, it'll be one of one -
this one. The Arai Defiant Pro-Cruise.
This helmet was specifically designed for use
on fairingless motorcycles and that's a
rare thing. In an upright position and
facing an unadulterated blast of wind,
the Arai Defiant transmits the least
amount of wind noise and turbulence.
Perfect for naked bikes. This lower
spoiler deflects air away from the
neckroll, which is where the majority of
wind noise would otherwise sneak in.
Also, we have Arai's pull down chin
curtain, which seals that same gap and
the style is technically aggressive with
all these vent cowlings and - Tada! - the Sun
peak. This was born from Arai's desire
to pass Snell ratings, by the way. See, Snell
doesn't like internal sunvisors because
they create a discontinuity in the shell
and the EPS foam where that inner visor
would retract, so Arai beat the problem
by designing an external drop-down visor
that doesn't mess with inner safety
structures at all; and it worked!
Snell had to suck it up and slap a
sticker on here, but that still doesn't
mean the sun visor is any good. Coverage
is fine from the front but Arai trimmed it
way too high at the side so a lot of glare
leaks in. Of course, I have almost no
alternatives when it comes to Snell
helmets with sun shades so don't
complain too loud. Other pros and cons:
Pro: these visor vens actually flow air
into channels that run back to the
temples which cools your blood better.
Pro: this sliding lock lets you open the
visor by just a crack to defog the lens,
which is cool. and Con: the liner is
unusually scratchy for $750 helmet.
Fitment-wise, the Arai Defiant is a neutral
head shape with 5 millimeters of peel-away
foam on each pad, so pretty much anyone
can get a good customized fit. This size
large ways 1765 grams which is really
too much for fancy aerospace fiberglass
shell, but some of that weight
undoubtedly comes from the wider and
heavier lower bottom lip which Arai
did on purpose because it makes the
helmet easier to pull on and it lowers
the center of gravity for stability. Now
obviously, I could fill this list with
thousand-dollar buckets, but that would
be too
easy, too boring, and totally disregarding
for any sense of value. So, instead, I
chose a budget alternative to every
premium helmet on this list and for the
Arai Defiant see Icon Alliance GT. This is
an upright or slightly tuck touring and
commuting helmet just like the Arai, but
it costs $300 or less.
The Alliance GT has that aggressive look,
too. Icon's famously funky graphics help
with that; same with the gilded sunvisor.
Bling bling. And, unlike the Arai, this sun
shade actually shades all of your eyes
from the Sun. If you prefer having a dark
face shield to a drop-down visor, then
you can get the Icon Alliance Dark for
$100 less. This one does come with two
different face shields in the box and it
is a killer deal although it did take me
about five minutes to swap the dark one
for this clear visor while I can do this
in half a second, so for me,
goodbye Alliance Dark. I love how the
Alliance GT screws with premium
competitors like the Arai Defiant.
It's a basic Polycarp shelling yet
somehow it manages to weigh nearly a
hundred grams less. The inner lining is
Hydradry, it's one of the softest and
nicest in the industry which puts the
Arai Defiant's liner to shame.
And while Arai was busy molding
expensive visor vents and designing that
fog-learing slide lock, Icon just cut a
big freaking hold that flows an equal
amount of air. Also, the Alliance GT has
a similarly precise fit and I could
barely tell that it was any louder.
I'm gonna get crucified by the Arai army for
saying that but it's the truth. Of course,
Icon did get caught with their pants
down in other places. This shield log
could have been designed by a caveman. It's
just a peg in a hole.
I can't imagine why Icon thought that
was a good idea; it's really difficult to
open.
I think the Alliance GT is one of the
best most versatile faces for my money
only problem is that it's a long oval
head shape and that's not gonna work for
round noggins.
Also, there is no speaker cutouts in this
helmet and on a narrow lid, that means it's
actually damn difficult to install a
comm system. So, we've seen two
bread-and-butter full faces but now
let's get specific with the sport
category. On the premium side I choose
the Bell Race Star because it's
[FortNine] gorgeous. Que that montage. [Funky Music]
Alright, cool down. Two-tone carbon fiber,
glittering gold, and an Ace Cafe patch aren't
the only reasons I picked this lid. The
real reason I love the Race Star is
because it is the perfect middle ground
in Bell's family. You have the basic Star
for $500, this Race Star for $850, and
then the Pro Star for $1300; and I can say
with full confidence that the Race
Star gets all of the important upgrades
and none of the useless expensive ones.
Let me explain: the Race Star has
"raceview" ergonomics meaning it's meant
to be used in the full tuck position and
eye-port has been hugely extended both
vertically and horizontally since the
old Star model. You really want that when
you got Johnny track day hanging over
your shoulder. The Race Star has it, so
does the Pro, but the base Star model is
more of an upright touring viewport so
forget about it.
This helmet also gets a three-layer
impact liner. Look at it here: light
density for small impacts, medium for
medium, and heavy density for big crashes.
This is one of the safest racing helmets
on the market, thanks that triple density
foam, and of course the Race and Pro Star's
get it while the base Star does not. Next.
This liner is called virus Jade power
mesh. Why you name an antibacterial
fabric virus is kind of beyond me, but it
does do an amazing job of keeping you
cool in the heat of the race. There're Jade
minerals embedded into the fabric itself
and that has a natural cooling effect. As
you probably guessed, the Race Star gets
this system as does the Pro, but the
base Star misses out again. So, obviously, the
Race Star is worth the $300 over the
base model, but should I spend another
$450 for the Pro Star? Noooo! The Race and
Pro Star both get full carbon shells, so
you're just paying for a slightly
thinner type of carbon fiber by choosing
the Pro; but listen guys, the Star was
never going to be a light helmet to begin
with. This long profile weighs something,
the aerodynamic spoiler weighs something, the
triple density foam weighs a lot of
something; so shaving a few grams on a
$450 shell upgrade with an already
pretty heavy helmet is shtupid. A few last
things I like about the Race Star: these
emergency cheek pads are held in place
by magnets. The medics certainly won't
struggle with them and neither will you
if you knock them out by accident. The
chinstrap snap
is magnetic, too; and this duffel helmet
bag is included, which is nice. I mean
Bell could charge $50 for this
on its own and they do. Fitment-wise, the Race
Star is snug snug snug. My 58 centimeter
head puts me in a medium and I can
barely get it on.
Of course, I do want that precise fit
when I'm taking this helmet to the track,
and since it has a Snell sticker all
those tracks should be open to me. You
might remember that the old Star helmet
was loud as hell, well know that this new
generation is not. Just the face shield
whistles like a banshee when its open,
but nobody really rides like that anyway.
Now, a cheaper alternative to the Race Star
would be HJC's new RPHA 11 Pro.
$500 might not sound like a budget
choice, but it really is when you
consider the league this helmet plays in.
1420 grams makes
it one of the lightest sport helmets out
there - far lighter and slimmer than the
Race Star, which is wild because it's
only partially carbon fiber. PIM Plus
means HJC filled in the rest with
fiberglass and air beds. In terms of
ventilation this helmet is in a league
of its own. The RPHA 11 Pro is a tornado
machine. More airflow than almost
anything I've worn. The eye-port is decently
large, too, and has been extended
vertically to improve my field of view
in that full tuck position. It's also a
centerlocking visor, just like the Race
Star, which is nice because lefties
always seem to get screwed on that. The
only downside is these tear-off tags.
They are enormous and they totally
annoy my peripheries. In general, though,
yeah, the optics are premium level and HJC
even threw in a tinted visor in the box.
Ergonomics are in the elite class, as well.
Oriented for a full tuck, HJC also cropped
the shell up at the sides
to aid in shoulder checks. You might
remember that from Shoei's legendary RF
1200 and now that we've brought up the
elephant in the room,
yeah, the RPHA 11 Pro is essentially an
RF 1200 that costs $100
less. Only difference is that this HJC
is loud as shit, but you sport riders
should be using earplugs anyway. That and
it misses out on a Snell sticker, which
is a bummer for some tracks that require it.
Oh, I almost forgot: order a size larger
than usual because the RPHA 11 Pro fits
way too small. So, naked helmet, cheapest
helmet, safest helmet, lightest helmet,
casual helmet, sport helmets - collectively,
my favorite, lovely to wear full-face
helmets.
Thanks for watching.