With the rise of enduro mountain biking races, all of the major manufacturers have been jumping on the vented, enduro style full face helmets. Riders looking for extra protection on technical descents without having their face melt off due to heat finally have a product that might work for them.
A Personal Look at Vented Full Face Helmets
I am going to go ahead and say that I am biased on this subject matter. About 10 years ago now, I got in a nasty wreck on one of our easy local trails. It was a freak accient where my front tire washed and my face hit a tree at full tilt. My helmet wasn’t hit at all…only the side of my face. I had splinters running from my neck up to my ear. A massive cut inside my jawline and nerve damage that…to this day…leaves parts of my face numb.
It wasn’t supposed to happen like that. It was a local trail that I had ridden a thousand times and even beginners are welcome on. Back then vented full face helmets were limited and I wouldn’t have worm one there even if they were readily available. My wife did make me wear a vented Specialized one that we found weeks leading up to our wedding after experiencing that.
Mountain Bikers and Protection Equipment
Mountain bikers (and cyclists in general) have often been hesitant about protective gear at least on the XC/AM side of the sport. I can remember getting hell for wearing 661 knee pads on trail rides. “Why do you need those? They are hot and uncomfortable!” Fast forward to now and it is hard to find riders without them. Of course they have gotten more comfortable and more ventilated but mountain bikers seem to be more on the protection bandwagon now than ever before. Don’t get me started on roadies…I still see some riding in traffic without helmets on fully kitted up.
The Vented Full Face Enduro Helmet
Enter the vented full face helmet. We recently received the Smith Mainline in for review featuring everything from MIPS to Koroyd to 21 vents in a light weight package. Helmets like these and from almost every single other major manufacturer are aimed at providing ventilation and heat dissipation for long climbs so you can really bomb these enduro style (I call backwoods) mountain biking trails. You now have the security, protection and ease of mind to really let loose.
Now that we are even seeing more mountain bikers sporting goggles for better eye protection, will full face helmets that you can actually wear in the heat go the way of knee pads where they are seen more and more on trails that aren’t considered DH?
3 comments
very nice… i really like your blog…
Great timing. I’m actually looking at a Fox ProFrame, having gotten one for the boy. Super light, and seemingly well vented, it’s already saved his chin on a rock skinny. may check out some of the other options in your Jensen link.
The Smith is pretty light too. I used it at BC in our humidity and it wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be. The Troy Lee Stage looks pretty good as well.