[brendanfalkowski]

I've had bikes for about six years, but never rode more than an hour at time (just around town). I'm doing longer rides since getting my Scrambler and my forehead started hurting after an hour. If I jump on the highway (never used to) it happens pretty quick with wind pressure.

I spent 2 hours at the Revzilla store trying on new helmets. I ordered a Schuberth C3 Pro because it felt great in the store. The Shoei Neotec and GT Air did too, but the C3 was better quality all around.

I've been wearing the helmet today while working on the computer. One hour later — right on queue — my foreheads starts hurting. I know front-to-back doesn't break in nearly as much as cheek pads do. I'm expecting it to feel worse in the wind.

Can anyone wear their helmet all day without pain? Does wind make every helmet hurt eventually? Do I have a freak head?

 

[brendanfalkowski]

Sidebar: the Schuberth website has a Scrambler rider. I really want to like the helmet but I might need to go back and spend a full day sitting at the store with helmets on for hours.

C3 Pro - Schuberth

 

[TC3]

Have worn my C3 Pro for hours on end while on a 10 day tour with no discomfort. Took a good few days before trip to break helmet in. I have the silver colour but if there were so many options with graphics when I bought mine would have gone for one of those

 

[greer]

A helmet absolutely can be comfortable all day. We've had to tweak a new helmet from time to time, though. Try this in the Google box: motorcycle helmet hurts my forehead

Folks argue back and forth about it, but we've been making minor adjustments for years. If it is truly an ill-fitting helmet you need to go back and swap it out. Read thru some of the google hits and see what you think.

Sarah

 

[DaveInWoodland]

My Shoei RF-1000 has always been all day comfortable, but you do get a small amount of chafing on your ears but nothing painful.

 

[Xtyling]

When you get to he right helmet and size you will barely even notice when it when wearing it. Putting it on and taking it off is easy and pain free. I only had a few helmets but the first few were a bit uncomfortable.. Either too heavy or too snug. In the too smug department, I had one where whenever putting on/taking off the helmet my ears would feel like they were being ripped off because it was too right. Once on, it was comfy.. But the pain when transitioning on and off was not tolerable so I ditched the helmet and never looked back.

My experience on heavy helmets was that I once went from a simple, no frills, light weight helmet to a full featured convertible helmet with extra sun visor. The fit was fine but the added weight was not. It didn't feel balanced and my lazy/weak neck muscles were sore for days. So quickly sold it off and went back to no frills.

The old saying (paraphrased).. if something is uncomfortable no matter how expensive, great and many features it has.. You are less likely to wear it when given other options. So it becomes a shelf dresser and eventually obsolete.

 

[brendanfalkowski]

My snowboard helmet feels great all day but it also weighs 25% what these do.

My old full-face Sparx does the ear ripping, but feels fine once on. The forehead pain doesn't start with it or the Schuberth until the one hour mark.

Guess I just have to go back and sit at the dealer with a DVD and wait for the pressure to build. Maybe need a bigger shell size and extra thick cheek pads to balance out my head shape.

 

[Xtyling]

Also note, that head size can slightly vary with environmental conditions. So your helmet will usually get tighter if you are riding in warmer weather or higher stress where your head swells due to vasodilation.

 

[rider]

Ha Ha , yep, just thought about what heads do to the poor old helmet !

 

[Joooooooosh]

Just sounds like a fit issue.
My friend has a similar problem, as he has a very oddly shaped forehead.

You need a long oval fit. Not easy to find because most premium brands are intermediate oval. Which is your standard Caucasian average.
I know Shoei do and I'm sure Schuberth will also have interchangeable liners for your helmet, so you could try a thinner liner, that gives you more room.

I wear a large but got the cheek pads from a small. As helmets usually only come in 3/4 shell sizes and its the pads that change the sizing.

Just to confuse things, sometimes the complete opposite is true. A helmet that is too loose will shift towards your face from wind pressure and focus the weight on a pressure point. Unlike a correctly fitted helmet, which will better distribute the force on your head.
A new helmet should be VERY tight around your cheeks and squeeze them a bit. I'm sure you know most of this already.

 

[Joe Bar]

I can wear my Arai helmet all day, every day on tour for up to 12 hours no problem. But when I switched to a Shoei Neotec last year as I fancied a flip front I couldn't do more than a couple of hours without a headache. Sold it, went back to an Arai and no problem.

 

[Joooooooosh]

I can wear my Arai helmet all day, every day on tour for up to 12 hours no problem. But when I switched to a Shoei Neotec last year as I fancied a flip front I couldn't do more than a couple of hours without a headache. Sold it, went back to an Arai and no problem.

That's probably a limitation of flip-front helmets, more than a reflection on Shoei. I've used a couple of flip fronts and I guess it's just unavoidable that they end up being noisier.
Presumably because there is a seam in the shell and they pretty much all have a lot less padding and noise insulation around the cheeks and jaw.

Absolutely love my GT Air. Great helmet.

 

[gcduc]

I can wear my GT-Air all day no probs. I've always had great success with Shoei over other helmet brands.

My approach to fitting has been to ask the sales clerk to remove the cheek pads of the helmets I am interested in so I can get a proper feel for a snug and consistently even pressure on the crown of my head. Once I find a helmet that does that I put the cheek pads in and try it again. Works for me.

I have an all day helmet but a far from all day stock icon seat. I am looking at options for a new seat.

 

[Joe Bar]

That's probably a limitation of flip-front helmets, more than a reflection on Shoei. I've used a couple of flip fronts and I guess it's just unavoidable that they end up being noisier.
Presumably because there is a seam in the shell and they pretty much all have a lot less padding and noise insulation around the cheeks and jaw.

Absolutely love my GT Air. Great helmet.

It would seem you have taken my comments as a criticism of Shoei who do make some excellent helmets. But, it has nothing to do with being a flip front or a Shoei, and everything to do with the shape and design of the shell / inner shell lining. By design flip fronts tend to be noisy, but this isn't a major issue for me as I always wear ear plugs, plus Arai's in general have a reputation for being fairly noisy as well. The shape of the Neotec simply put a slight pressure onto my forehead, fine for 50 miles or so, but it started to ache after then. Slightly compressing the polystyrene inner at the front relieved it slightly and I could ride 100 miles or so before it started, but ultimately however much I tried tweaking it, it just wasn't as comfortable a fit as an Arai (for me), so I ended up going back to what I knew. Arai do not make a flip front, and I wanted to try one as several friends have them and rate them, but of the ones I tried from BMW, Schuberth, X-Lite and Shoei, the Neotec felt the best when trying it on in the shop.

I tried on helmets from all the major brands before buying my latest Aarai, and for me none had the fit and comfort of an Arai. The helmet I most wanted to buy was an X-Lite Carbon, the quality and lightness was superb, but it simpy wasn't a good fit. This isn't a question about which is the best helmet, there are a lot of really excellent quality helmets on the market now, but they are all slightly different, just as we are. The best one is simply the the one that fits your head best. To answer the original poster's question, can a helmet be all day comfortable, the answer is definitely yes, but none of us here can tell him which helmet that is. He will have to find that part out for himself.

 

[nictim]

Just sounds like a fit issue.
My friend has a similar problem, as he has a very oddly shaped forehead.

You need a long oval fit. Not easy to find because most premium brands are intermediate oval. Which is your standard Caucasian average.
I know Shoei do and I'm sure Schuberth will also have interchangeable liners for your helmet, so you could try a thinner liner, that gives you more room.

I wear a large but got the cheek pads from a small. As helmets usually only come in 3/4 shell sizes and its the pads that change the sizing.

Just to confuse things, sometimes the complete opposite is true. A helmet that is too loose will shift towards your face from wind pressure and focus the weight on a pressure point. Unlike a correctly fitted helmet, which will better distribute the force on your head.
A new helmet should be VERY tight around your cheeks and squeeze them a bit. I'm sure you know most of this already.

Agree 100% if you head is bouncing around on the Hwy chances are the helmet's to big, if your helmet is quite easy to put on chances are it's to big, My new Shoei is a small with one size smaller cheek pads, took about 2 weeks to settle in but I ride 6 days a week 2 hours each way and now forget it's even on.

 

[vincelp]

Hello

I have had several helmets that could be worn all-day long without any issue :
- Schuberth R1 and S1, previously
- Shoei GT-Air

This is not only a brand and model issue, but also a careful choice between your helmet and your head. I always request a test before buying a helmet. Just try it in the store is not enough... If the helmet doesn't fit your head, you don't need a very long time to know. Just ride 1 hour or so and you know.

 

[Mr Munck]

Have you considered these folks?

What We Do

They send you out a kit to take all sorts of measurements for your head. They then use those to help you select helmets that should fit correctly.
haven't tried them yet personally but am planning to for my net helmet purchase.

Just and idea.

 

[brendanfalkowski]

Some thoughts after wearing a helmet indoors at my desk all week (can't return it after road use):

Schuberth C3 Pro: breaks in nicely
The Schuberth is actually breaking in pretty well. The first two days I got the same forehead pressure as my old helmet after an hour. But after 5 hours on my head it's gone. I'm probably up to 12 hours now and it's as comfortable at 1 hour as 3 hours. I still feel the helmet and expect to until days of break in, but it feels good now. Not perfect, but pretty good.

Arai Signet-Q: the long oval
I tracked down a store with Arai Signet-Q, which is supposed to be the longest long oval. The upper head fit was excellent. I could press hard toward my face simulating wind, and didn't feel any pressure focused on my forehead. It was distributed evenly across the padding, so that's legit possible.

Press testing the Shoei Neotec vs Schuberth
I repeated the face press test with Shoei Neotec in the store. The shape is closer to the Schuberth but the forehead padding is so thin already that it was immediately irritating with wind pressure. When I got home, I press tested the Schuberth and surprisingly it's fine. The forehead padding is thick but has just the right amount of flex for me. I could press really hard on the chin bar and forehead, and before the forehead fully compresses it's being distributed evenly across my brow and cheeks.

Conclusion
In theory I should buy the Arai Signet Q because it's the perfect crown fit, but I'm going to keep the Schuberth for three reasons:

1. I rarely ride over 2 hours and 80% of my riding is 30-50 mph. Riding on the highway sucks, destroys your ears, and feels like a death trap. I'm pretty sure I could wear the Schuberth all day with a lunch stop and never feel bad. 5 hours straight at 75 mph... maybe not, but really I wouldn't do that ride. I'd take the slow roads or drive a car.

2. I know Arai is a premium brand, but it just feels cheap vs the Schuberth. Probably the demo model was abused to death, but still wasn't impressed (aside from crown fit). The lining looks like a 1995 Ford Taurus carpet (fuzzy loose fibers). It feels fine on my skin, but it just looks/feels inferior in your hands. The visor lock is hard as a rock and detents felt non-existent. Racers probably like that, but for the street riding it feels like the visor is either locked or open — and that's it. The cheek pads have multiple density foam so the jaw line stays stiff but the cheek feels very compressible. For the proper shell size, it made it feel very loose laterally. I could squish it 1-2cm just by pressing sideways on the helmet. The in-store model was a Pro with the exterior sun shield and that felt like total crap. Got jammed up and had poor sun coverage. I did like the venting, but the whole package just didn't feel like a $600 helmet.

By comparison the Schuberth just spoils you. After trying a dozen helmets from the top brands, nobody is close to their liner feeling. It's this coolmax/thermocool blend that feels like somebody turned suede into a technical fabric. It's just butter soft. The padding feels even density all around, but definitely encompasses your head with the thick neckroll. I don't mind that because it feels secure and "there" without being loose or tight. I love their outer visor because it has finger tabs on both sides, and it's the only helmet I tried that (a) can be opened one-handed (b) can switch detents without abrupt skips (c) doesn't twist like crazy. The inner sun visor I really liked in the store. It felt smooth and they met some intense Australian optical standard with it. My specific unit has a stiff opening and has an annoying wavy distortion right in my eye line. So I need to exchange it regardless. The venting is limited compared to full face helmets. Probably it's mostly to minimize noise. For $770 it feels like you're getting a lot more helmet.

I'd be hard pressed to say the Arai was significantly more refined than a $250 Scorpion. The shape was right, but everything else felt off to me. If Schuberth does a C4 with multiple head shapes I think they'd kill it.

3. Better options for communication systems on the Schuberth. Their SRC is apparently crap, so I bought a Sena 10u at the same time (haven't opened) because it has that OEM-style integration. There's supposedly a fit problem with the L and smaller shells (I'm a large). Waiting for some feedback on ADV Rider from other owners of this pairing.

So yeah, I kind of backtracked on the "all day comfort" aspect, but I believe it'd be possible with the perfect shell fit now. For my riding style I'm happier with quality feel wherever I touch it. The Schuberth break in changed my mind and I'm glad I lived in the helmet for a week. If it hadn't softed up I wouldn't have kept it.

If you're on the edge in the shop, buy one, bring it home, and wear it whenever your face is clean. I think that's the only way to get a real assessment if it's your 1st/2nd helmet. Then hopefully you can stick to a model line.