A well-designed helmet throughout
ARAIS have been my helmets of choice for years for a simple reason: they fit me well.
Occasionally I’ve tried an alternative, sometimes with a price tag over £400, only to find I can’t get on with it because it’s the wrong shape – too round, instead of oval.
So I was pleased to try this Schuberth S2 Sport and find that it is also correctly proportioned for a human skull.
When a helmet is the right shape, it can have a smaller internal circumference, making a snugger fit all round. I’ve had 59cm helmets that feel tight at the front and back of my head. This one’s 56/57cm and it doesn’t create uncomfortable pressure anywhere. It’s really comfortable.
It came with a Pinlock insert in the visor, so it doesn’t mist up. It’s also got an internal dark visor, so you don’t have to carry a spare.
I’ve got another helmet with a similar arrangement: an outer visor with a Pinlock insert and an integral tinted one. Although the outer visor doesn’t mist up, the tinted one inside does, and I can’t use it in town as a result.
Somehow the tinted visor in the Schuberth doesn’t. The breadth of the chin-bar may help deflect my breath.
The internal visor is also easy to open and close, with a slide-lever on the left-hand side of the shell.
It seems like a well-designed helmet throughout and it weighs 230g less than my Arai, at 1,450g.
It’s got a composite shell and a built-in Bluetooth and radio antennae for compatibility with Schuberth’s intercom system, which I haven’t tried.
A foam insert under my chin is helping to keep my face warm in winter.
It’s for touring, sports-touring and ‘even the occasional trip to the race track’ according to Schuberth.
The firm also says it’s ‘streamlined and extremely quiet’. I’m not sure any helmet is extremely quiet but it’s not loud.
Interestingly, it only gets three out of a maximum five stars in the Government’s Sharp helmet rating scheme, performing well in frontal and crown impacts but less so in blows to the temple area.
Product tested: Schuberth S2 Sport helmet
Price: £449.99
