Eyeglasses hurt under modular helmet

[Motogordo]

Sept 12, 2021

I purchased a new modular helmet and it hurts my nose and pushes on my ears when wearing my glasses. It is the BILT modular from CycleGear. It has the bluetooth on the outside and the two speakers on the inside with the boom mike. It works great but I don't know how to eliminate the pressure on ears and nose, besides not wearing my glasses, which I have already tried , and it works. LOL

Motogordo Spyderman

 

[shardt]

I had to try several helmets to find one that worked for me. I ended up with the Sedici from them. I can put it on and take it off without having to take my glasses off and have no issues with odd pressures. Make sure the helmet states that it is glasses friendly.

 

[Flamewinger]

Doesn't the BILT helmet have built in sun shield?

Like this

 

[JayBros]

Did you purchase it online or at a Cycle Gear store? If the former, you lost the gamble; if the latter and you've worn it riding you're in the same boat return-wise. You don't give much information about the type of glasses frame helmet is causing problems with. Have you presented the problem to your optometrist and gotten suggestions on solution(s) from that perspective?

 

[UtahPete]

I've had the same issue with HJC helmets. Sometimes going to thinner cheek pads helps. Other times I've had to create more room by judiciously removing bits of the foam. I've always been able to achieve the comfort I want from the lelmet.

 

[pidjones]

And wearing wire temples is more comfortable. In these Covid times, I've worn contacts very little, but my wire frames a lot when riding. I had a pair of cable temple wire frames that were great, but they don't make lenses to fit them anymore. HJCs have different thickness ear pads (find their thickness, don't go by helmet size). Maybe Bilt does too. Trimming foam can be tedious, but helmets must be comfortable.

 

[rjinaz86323]

If I am just riding locally I wear a half helmet, so no issue with the glasses. If I am taking a longer ride I will wear contacts. cutting foam out of a helmet is not always a good thing. A helmet is supposed to protect you, not make you comfortable. If you can achieve both then that is a good thing.

 

[cruisinTX]

Buying helmets these days is a gamble. I too, wear eye glasses and recently purchased one online in the same brand and but in a different model. Went from a Nolan N104 in XL to a Nolan N90-3 in XL. The N90 was so much tighter than the 5 year old N104 I knew it would never work. It made me bite the inside of my cheeks if I tried to talk as if I were using the comm. system and the inside of the chin guard was only about 3/8" away from my chin where the 104 was at least 1.25". A test ride of 100 miles gave me great discomfort around the circumference of my head. I contacted my vendor and arranged for an exchange for a XXL. The down side of that is that the shipping back to him cost me another 10% of the original cost. Now before the bandwagon gets loaded up, I did the test fit method shown on J & P Cycles web site. Plus, I've been riding AND wearing helmets 100% of the time since 1968 & have a pretty good sense of how a new helmet should feel including break-in time. The N104 was/is my 5th XL Nolan since I began riding again in 2000 and all of the previous N100 series have been perfect in that size until now.

The thing that bothers me the most is when I called the factory reps to discuss the differences in the way the N90 fit vs. the N104 is the myriad of excuses they threw back at me. Bottom line for me is they have no quality control when it comes to sizing. I think helmets across all brands should be like buying shoes; when you try on an 8 in one brand or style, it should be pretty darn close to an 8 in ANY other brand or style whether it's a tennis shoe or a roper. That would/should make buying online a bit safer. Another thing that was really disappointing is the Nolan sizing chart says based on my head measurement I should be wearing a medium. Given the fact that the XXL fits exactly like a new helmet should (very snug with room for break-in) I seriously doubt I could even get a medium as far down as to touch my ears much less all the way on without first undergoing surgery to remove about 3/4 the thickness of my skull.

Also in the "very disappointing" bin is the fact that when I called 17 dealers, not a single one had any Nolan helmets on the shelf for people to try on but said they would be more than happy to order one for me. While that would have eliminated my loss of return shipping, it would have also taken a lot longer to get a properly fitting helmet. I'm not sure what the solution would be except to say if/when you decide to purchase new helmet allow yourself plenty of time (several weeks) to get the correct size as it looks as though sizing charts are way off and dealers don't stock many, if any on the shelf which leaves you with the crap shoot as manufacturers don't seem to have any consistency in sizing even between their own models and year to year.

BTW: if you do order online or from a local dealer be sure to wear a nice clean new bandana when trying it on and testing, in the event you need to send one back, that shows some respect for your vendor. Remember, it's not the vendor's fault the helmet did not fit even though you ordered the same size as previously worn 20 years. If the vendor gets back a helmet that is still pristine inside he can resell as new, but if shows obvious signs and smells of being worn, he will have to discount the helmet and we need to keep our vendors in business.

 

[Plarimer]

About the only helmet that fits my big head and the glasses, is the Pilot brand from Harley Davidson. I like the idea that you can change it into three different configurations and the built-in sun shield is a bonus. The other thing I found with helmets is size. For example I wear a large hat, but when it comes to motorcycle helmets with all the padding and everything I have to move up to an extra large. Much more comfortable that way.

 

[Pooch]

My new HJC I90..large.. was way too tight…I wear a medium. Have worn HJC helmets for several years so I knew to expect that.
In the past I have worn an XXL in that brand to get away from the fat pads….it fit fine til recently when it was 9 years old and just too loose.
HJC always provides an eyeglass channel in the design and its much appreciated.
Tried to order the slimmer pads for the medium … out of stock.. for months.. February to August.
In the meantime I put 3 books between the cheek areas to hopefully compress the pads and left it sitting on a shelf.

Bought an open-face medium Sedici helmet which I tried on at Cycle Gear. Put a dark tinted full shield on it.
Really do like this helmet but not sure it actually provides an eyeglass channel..but have no problem with my glasses.
My glasses have those thin, flexible titanium arms.

Finally, I got notice from Revzilla that the smaller cheek pads are in stock for the HJC. Ordered 2 different size smallers..just in case…. Installed the proper size pads…now waiting for winter to wear this HJC brand-new modular helmet….

But sure am liking the summertime Sedici….

 

[honsfun]

if the helmet is pushing down on glasses you can add a little padding to the inside top which may take the pressure off. I was able to purchase safety glasses with readers in the bottom which work for me.

 

[pidjones]

My new HJC I90..large.. was way too tight…I wear a medium. Have worn HJC helmets for several years so I knew to expect that.
In the past I have worn an XXL in that brand to get away from the fat pads….it fit fine til recently when it was 9 years old and just too loose.
HJC always provides an eyeglass channel in the design and its much appreciated.
Tried to order the slimmer pads for the medium … out of stock.. for months.. February to August.
In the meantime I put 3 books between the cheek areas to hopefully compress the pads and left it sitting on a shelf.

Bought an open-face medium Sedici helmet which I tried on at Cycle Gear. Put a dark tinted full shield on it.
Really do like this helmet but not sure it actually provides an eyeglass channel..but have no problem with my glasses.
My glasses have those thin, flexible titanium arms.

Finally, I got notice from Revzilla that the smaller cheek pads are in stock for the HJC. Ordered 2 different size smallers..just in case…. Installed the proper size pads…now waiting for winter to wear this HJC brand-new modular helmet….

But sure am liking the summertime Sedici….

I should be receiving 4xl cheek pads for my ISMAX today. Purchased through Amazon. 4xls are 17mm thick - the thinnest they make for this model. They will go in my Medium as it causes me to bite my cheeks.

 

[Motogordo]

Sept 14, 2021

Yes it does and I tried ryding without the glasses. It wasn't too bad.

 

[Yabbadabbadoo]

I was having the same problem. I found that I could push my helmet up and it would temporarily relieve the push on the glasses. However that wouldn't last very long. So when I had to replace my glasses I got a different frame that was a bit smaller. Now the helmet doesn't push on these as much and is much more comfortable.

 

[spyder01]

My HJC was pushing down on the top of my glasses and tight on my cheeks so I took the liner out and using an exacto knife I carved away about a half inch of the foam just above the where the glasses touched and I also cut a strip of foam from a beer can cozy and glued it to the top of the helmet to help raise it just a little.I got the skinny cheek pads from I think Revzilla and put those in.Ive spent hours on this helmet between the comfort mods and installing a Sena 10c evo and adding larger louder speakers,but its comfortable and sounds great.

 

[vito1943]

Ordering from Revzilla will get you free returns as well as a very broad selection of styles and brands. I've bought several helmets from them over the years, often returning the original purchase for a different size and/or model. I have found that with a snug fitting helmet, the way its supposed to fit, I often have trouble getting my wire frame glasses on under the helmet, so several years ago I switched to plastic frames (which I have come to prefer anyway). A proper fitting helmet should feel good right away. If you are told it takes time to break in to be tolerable, you are being sold the wrong helmet.

FWIW, on the Spyder I most often wear a 3/4, open face helmet. In general that makes it a lot easier to find a comfortable fit with glasses than with a full face conventional helmet.

 

[pidjones]

My wire rims are comfortable, the horn rims not so much. I have changed the cheek pads in my HJC ISMAX2 to the thinnest available (4xl which are 17mm) which has fixed the cheek chewing problem. Just need to remember to swap to the wire rims (or contacts) when I ride. I keep the wire rims in the garage to remind me.