daveinva
New member
After six weeks of surgery-enforced idleness, I finally got back to riding last week, and this allowed me to try out my new helmet, the Shoei Qwest.
Short review: I love this thing, man.
Longer review: My first helmet on the Spyder was an HJC CL-16. At $150, it was reasonably priced "starter helmet" that I enjoyed throughout the summer. No qualms about recommending HJC to anyone, they make good stuff.
BUT... it was loud. Not terribly so, but loud enough, even while wearing earplugs. Around town it's no bother, but seeing how much I like to ride far out of DC to the Shenandoah and points west, the HJC was turning into a real bear at sustained highway+ speeds. What's worse, I liked to ride with the visor up at times, and that quickly damaged the visor mechanism (d'oh!) to the point that it became hard to swing the visor down- and forget about it forming a tight seal around the helmet any longer.
Knowing I had to upgrade to something better, especially if I was going to continue riding through the winter, I started looking around. We've got a few local shops that have decent helmet selections, so I spent plenty of relaxing time trying helmets on (what is it about shopping for motorcycle gear that turns a male shopper into a female shopper? :joke
. I also used the great resource at Webbikeworld to browse helmets, especially focused on their noise level reviews: http://www.webbikeworld.com/motorcycle-helmets/motorcycle-helmets.htm
While I would have preferred to buy myself a Schuberth, at $700+ a pop, I just couldn't justify that much money on a helmet. The next best-- and far more affordable-- option for me was the Shoei Qwest.
Firstly, it fits great (I have a "Shoei head," not an "Arai head"). I had trouble at first, buying an XL that *didn't* fit me after I lost some weight, but I got a Large that's perfect for me. Snug, but not too snug.
Let's make this easy:
PROS
-- This is one solid helmet. Nothing about it feels cheap or looks cheap. Everything snicks and clicks with satisfying sound and pressure. The paint is perfect (I got a Brilliant Yellow hi-viz to aid in urban commuting). Even though the helmet is built like a tank, it's extremely light, after time it doesn't feel as if it's on your head at all.
-- It is QUIET. Holy schneikes, it's quiet. Closing the visor is like closing a car door! An optional chin curtain is included that helps matters out (and helps keep the cold air from rushing up into the helmet). At highway speeds it's still necessary to use earplugs (as with all helmets!), but without earplugs the Qwest is quieter at 40 mph than my HJC was at 70 with earplugs, i.e. at around-town speeds, this is quite the civilized helmet. At highway speeds with some buffeting crosswinds I do get some booming, but no whistling, not even with the vents open.
-- I don't know how the stock visor rides since I bought a Pinlock visor to swap out (had a Pinlock on my HJC, I swear by it for anti-fogging). It's got a bunch of detents, and once in a position, it *stays* there. It also has a convenient visor lock for a little added safety. The viewport from the helmet isn't the largest, but it's big enough. There's also an optional breath/nose screen you can add to help keep fogging down even more.
-- The padding is comfortable, and you can buy various cheekpad sizes if you need to adjust the fit. With the visor down and the chinguard in, the helmet is very warm for winter, particularly in the sun- the visor acts as a greenhouse, warming everything right up. There's space in the helmet for headphones/Bluetooth, which as soon as I have enough spare cash I plan on putting to the test.
CONS
-- The price. The helmet to start is $350, and that's before I bought the Pinlock visor and shield (another $60!). I can't really complain about the price- this is an instance of you getting what you pay for- but it's not cheap.
-- The vents work, but don't expect a lot of air flowing through them. Given how warm the helmet's been in the winter, I'm wondering how it'll be in the summertime. Easy enough to crack the visor to get some air, but once it gets hot and sticky, that may be a requirement rather than an option.
-- The cheek padding is removable, but the helmet liner isn't. Not only can you not adjust the size of the helmet liner, you can't remove it to clean it. Oh well.
-- I've read that Shoei doesn't believe in integrated flip-down sun visors because they risk jeopardizing the integrity of the helmet in a crash. Whatever the reason, at this price, it'd be nice to have a flip-down sun visor (in fact, I nearly bought a Scorpion helmet instead because of that feature). There's enough room in the padding to wear my sunglasses while riding, but it's not perfectly comfortable, and what's worse, what is normally a huge pro- the tight-fitting visor- has a downside: with the visor down, my sunglasses fog up. If you wear sunglasses, or normal glasses even, be aware that you may need to invest in some good anti-fog spray/wipes if you plan on riding with the visor locked. Otherwise, there are shaded Shoei visors available for daytime riding (at additional cost, of course!).
-- I think it's true that it takes someone not used to full-face helmets some time to get used to it; they can feel claustrophobic at first. The Shoei feels a bit more claustrophobic than most full-face helmets, in part because it does quiet up so well. Give it a few hundred miles, however, and like all full-face helmets, once on, it feels like second skin (especially something this light).
Bottom line: obviously, you should always try on helmets before you buy them in order to see if they're shaped right for your head. But if you find that you have a "Shoei" head, the Qwest is a great helmet. It's expensive, but you get what you pay for, and it's significantly more comfortable than most helmets in the $150-$200 range.
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