Below you can read our on-going evaluation of our Icon Variant helmets, or you can go straight to the Icon website by clicking on the Icon logo on the left
There is always that uneasy feeling when riding away for the first time with a brand new helmet. In the shop it looked good, better than all the models next to it, but now that you've bought it and use it for the first time, you get doubts. Is it really the right size? Maybe I should have bought the next size up. It feels tight, and while you know that it should be tight you still wonder how much of it is going to 'bed in'. I didn't have that feeling or second thoughts and neither did Mike. Vera from Motor Kleding Discount in Schiedam knows her stuff and made sure we got the right size and a helmet that fits the unfortunate shape of our heads.
Getting older means I've had quite a few helmets over the years, yet this one was radically different from any of my previous helmets. I found myself riding with a helmet designed for streetfighters… I'm 50 and I don't have a streetfighter so what am I doing in this helmet? I wondered. Slowly I began to realise that my 18 year old son had talked me into it… My son was now advising me what bike gear to wear? Hmmm
Still, I must admit, I quite like the look of the helmet. The helmet peak will keep the sun out of my face, a feature I had missed in sunny climates. And while it isn't an open helmet, there is a lot of ventilation both front and rear that seems to work well. Seems as I haven't tested it in 40 degrees plus yet. On the road the first thing I noticed is the extremely wide view angle. Back in the shop I had wondered about the rounded visor, I needn't have as it's optically perfect, no distortion or anything and it aids to the wide view. It's light and yet stable and as soon as the speed picked up I realised this was more than likely the most stable helmet I've had so far… A strong headwind didn't give me any buffeting and the strain on my neck is a lot less than with the Shark Evo-2 I had before. I was beginning to like this helmet by the minute, maybe I should listen to my son's advice more often…
Back home we installed the UClear 200 bike comms, which was a breeze as Icon has left plenty of room for the speaker/microphone units. Next was the helmet camera and we were in business. As the helmets are made from Carbon Fibre, there is no issue with sticking a helmet camera and helmet comm to it. There is also a range of visors available in different shades and colours and as Vera had explained, spare parts are no problem with Icon as every part of the helmet is available. Vera supplied us with two sets of helmet liners free of charge as well. All in all we are very happy with both the helmets and the service.
While I'm writing this Mike made the photos you see on this page, the Icon must have triggered his artistic talents… :-) All he used for the photos are a couple of LED camping headlamps… We will keep this page updated regularly so that you can see how the helmets work in the long run.
