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Full face helmet for general trail/enduro riding

konifere

konifere

Monkey
Dec 20, 2021
531
661
Ok so I ended up getting two Leatt Gravity 1.0 (they were 110$cdn and finding one that fit well is worth more than that!)... not the same luxurious feeling as the TLD D4, but after 30 seconds I can't see any difference. They'll be hotter than the Stage for sure, but oh well, they fit better so I went with that.

Weighted on my scale (sorry no pics!) :
-TLD D4 composite Large : 1057g
-Leatt Gravity 1.0 Large : 960g
 
konifere

konifere

Monkey
Dec 20, 2021
531
661
Yeah I couldn't pass up. They had a bucnh of stock in the plain black colorway (the new ones are ugly IMO) so I grabbed two. I'm hoping not to try the turbines, but looking at it, they don't seem like they'd do much since they're spaced pretty far apart. You can buy them seperately so I guess I could stuff more in there if I really wanted to haha
 
A

Andeh

Customer Title
Mar 3, 2020
1,011
987
Anyone tried on a Giro Insurgent, or have thoughts on how Giros tend to fit relative to TLD & Fox? TLD fits me really well, Fox close behind but a tad looser. Bell is too narrow. POC I'm between sizes (M/L I can't get on my head, XL/XXL is loose). Leatt I recall being a bit loose (had to max out the ratchet on an XL but the L was too small). My head measures ~59.6 or so, so right at the breakpoint between a lot of brand's sizing.
 
DaveW

DaveW

Space Monkey
Jul 2, 2001
11,205
2,729
The bunker at parliament
konifere said:
Yeah I couldn't pass up. They had a bucnh of stock in the plain black colorway (the new ones are ugly IMO) so I grabbed two. I'm hoping not to try the turbines, but looking at it, they don't seem like they'd do much since they're spaced pretty far apart. You can buy them seperately so I guess I could stuff more in there if I really wanted to haha
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The Leatt turbines are made from armogel and are a compression medium as well as for rotational forces (Unlike MIPS).
At the end of the day the comfortable helmet is most likely the best fit for your head shape so I always tend to point people at that as the main decider.... fuck everything else.... Is it comfortable?
 
mykel

mykel

closer to Periwinkle
Apr 19, 2013
5,104
3,820
sw ontario canada
kidwoo said:
Made the mistake of wearing the D4 snowmobiling today. WAY too vented and cold :rofl:

this ain't no D3 for sure. Should stay pretty cool this summer. I'm going back to my 'a little too close to an xc lid' asessment
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So what your saying is keep the D3 and not to bother looking at the D4 as a proper big bike helmet?
 
kidwoo

kidwoo

Artisanal Tweet Curator
Aug 25, 2003
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Squirtin ketchup n' mustard on charred flesh
mykel said:
So what your saying is keep the D3 and not to bother looking at the D4 as a proper big bike helmet?
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My d3 never really fit my head that well but I ate shit in it pretty damn hard a few times. Some hard enough that I remember being pretty astounded that I didn't have a concussion. The D4 just feels like it isn't that. Could be psychosomatic from the venting and light weight feeling like nothing. There's almost no padding in it to make room for the Mips slider. I'm fine with the d4 for what I bought it for but it's so mips-ed and vented out there's just not really much meat there anymore. They do seem to fit me (and most people) better than the d3s.

Compared to how I rode dh bikes, my dirtbiking is several notches down in terms of danger. I think the d4 will be fine for what I bought it for, which is keeping cool in slow rocky dirtbike stuff. But I'm not so sure I'd say it will pad your noggin as much as the d3s do when you smack your head. I think the pursuit of lightweight, venting and rotational hoopla may have compromised some of the old school padding approach.

Check one out and you'll see what I mean. They made ear cutouts for headphones......should be a warning sign.

FWIW my very first crash in a fox rampage mips helmet resulted in a concussion with a crash I wouldn't really consider that gnarly. I've seen a few people talking about how mips, although rotationally better, is actually a step backwards in terms of impact protection because of the lack of padding. At least the way the d4 is implemented I see their point.


Some of the moto companies/helmets are making some mips helmets that approach 6d level dome headedness to do both the mips slider and maintain some padding. I'm starting to understand that now.
 
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mykel

mykel

closer to Periwinkle
Apr 19, 2013
5,104
3,820
sw ontario canada
kidwoo said:
My d3 never really fit my head that well but I ate shit in it pretty damn hard a few times. Some hard enough that I remember being pretty astounded that I didn't have a concussion. The D4 isn't that. There's almost no padding in it to make room for the Mips slider. I'm fine with the d4 for what I bought it for but it's so mips-ed and vented out there's just not really much meat there anymore. They do seem to fit me (and most people) better than the d3s.

Compared to how I rode dh bikes, my dirtbiking is several notches down in terms of danger. I think the d4 will be fine for what I bought it for, which is keeping cool in slow rocky dirtbike stuff. But I'm not so sure I'd say it will pad your noggin as much as the d3s do when you smack your head. I think the pursuit of lightweight, venting and rotational hoopla may have compromised some of the old school padding approach.

Check one out and you'll see what I mean. They made ear cutouts for headphones......should be a warning sign.

FWIW my very first crash in a fox rampage mips helmet resulted in a concussion. I've seen a few people talking about how mips, although rotationally better, is actually a step backwards in terms of impact protection because of the lack of padding. At least the way the d4 is implemented I see their point.


Some of the moto companies/helmets are making some mips helmets that approach 6d level dome headedness to do both the mips slider and maintain some padding. I'm starting to understand that now.
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Thanks 'Woo.

I have never had a problem with fit or with heat in the D3, but then again I'm not trail riding with it. My current one is pre MIPS and has only had a glancing blow with the ground, but has now got a few years on it. Was kicking around replacing it. Sounds like the D4 is not of interest. Looks like the D3 is only available in Fiberlite, which looks to be below both Carbon and Composite...
 
kidwoo

kidwoo

Artisanal Tweet Curator
Aug 25, 2003
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Squirtin ketchup n' mustard on charred flesh
mykel said:
Thanks 'Woo.

I have never had a problem with fit or with heat in the D3, but then again I'm not trail riding with it. My current one is pre MIPS and has only had a glancing blow with the ground, but has now got a few years on it. Was kicking around replacing it. Sounds like the D4 is not of interest. Looks like the D3 is only available in Fiberlite, which looks to be below both Carbon and Composite...
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I would just try and find one so you can check it out. I did some deep dives into some moto helmet testing and as much as I hate consumerism, carbon does seem to be a better puncture resistant shell than some of the fiberglass composites.

FWIW, the last dh helmet I bought for the purpose was a 6d ATB. If you're pushing 5+ years on that D3, I genuinely still think that's about the best helmet going in terms of outright safety. They're very well made. And let's be honest, that's the design that pretty much revolutionized helmet tech. It's hot though.

I've never used a fullface for trailriding either for what it's worth. Same here with dh riding with a d3. Heat is a secondary concern. You and I both have a pretty rich history with head bangin.

This thing that konifere bought does look pretty intriguing. Carries the euro dirtbike safety cert. For dh riding, I'd definitely look at this or the 6d before a d4

leatt.com

leatt

Protective Neck Braces, Body Armour & Sports Gear
leatt.com leatt.com
 
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Flo33

Flo33

Turbo Monkey
Mar 3, 2015
2,067
1,306
Styria
toodles said:
nsmb.com

NSMB.com - POC Otocon Race MIPS

POC’s DH rated, lightweight and extremely breathable enduro full-face
nsmb.com nsmb.com

NSMB review of the Octocon. It 'looks' more solid than some of the enduro full faces, so I'm surprised they're saying it breathes so well.
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Saw it as well, price is steep though. I'll try to find one at a shop to get my dirty hands on it. On the other hand I'll never use it for trail riding and have my Bell Full 9 for lift sessions.
 
A

Andeh

Customer Title
Mar 3, 2020
1,011
987
I ordered a Giro Insurgent Spherical yesterday on sale after thinking about getting a full DH certified helmet for a while. I'll report how it fits relative to the Stage after it arrives.

There wasn't any one single thing that made me decide to get a full DH rated helmet, but a bunch of factors. A few weeks ago, a buddy who's ridden moto forever ejected OTB into a boulder at 25mph and walked (hobbled) away with a minor concussion and severe bruising, because he was wearing a proper moto helmet. I noticed while riding the ebike I got for Christmas that while descending, when I start pedaling to go faster because it feels too slow, the throttle limiter kicks on immediately, which tells me that most of my descending at speed is >20mph. Finally, a buddy had a weird crash going into his driveway that he caught on his Ring camera, where he bounced his helmet off the curb. The lesson I took from that is that saying we ride within our limits is all well and good, but tiny mistakes can still happen on the simplest shit. I have gotten myself trained to (almost) always wear the Stage on the ebike, which isn't bad since I'm not sweating like crazy like I do on the real bike, so it shouldn't be tough to transition to the Insurgent for that.
 
A

Andeh

Customer Title
Mar 3, 2020
1,011
987
I've gotten a few rides in with the Insurgent and have some first impressions. It's pretty comfortable, except the pleather cover on the chin strap is kind of irritating my throat. I might take the cover off. The spherical function works so well that I had to tighten up my goggle strap because while descending it was pushing my goggles down. (The Vital review mentioned this also.) It's very quiet in a couple ways: no creaking like MIPS, but it also blocks out noise more than I'm used to with the Stage. I guess that's a pro in that I can't hear my bike's creaks as well, a con that it's harder to hear people. Temps have been pretty mild, so can't comment on ventilation. It's definitely got a bit more heft than the Stage, but not to the point where my neck is tired after a ride.
 
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