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San Antonio helmet shopping advice

Joined
Dec 8, 2016
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Location
Juneau, AK
Hey all,

As the username suggests, I live in Alaska (Juneau). No bike shops here so most of my gear has to be bought online or during trips to the lower 48. My Shoei RF1000 is way beyond needing replacement. A few weeks ago I was in Chicago and took the opportunity to hit a local Cycle Gear on my way back to the airport. I was really disappointed in their lack of selection and didn't find anything.

I'll be coming down to SA soon to visit family and I'm hoping to try on as many helmet brands/models as possible without taking up too much time and visiting multiple shops.

Any recommendations for a shop or two with a wide variety of lids to try?

Thanks,
Heinz
 
Cycle gear seems to have the best selection. I bought one today at Alamo cycle Plex for my wife. I was surprised at how many they had on sale. I actually found hers on eBay , because I have been looking costsntly , while I was in San Antonio today. It was a display model. Like new shoei gt- air for quite a bit of savings. What kind of helmet are you looking and what is your budget ?
 
In San Antonio your best selections for helmets will either be at Alamo Cycle Plex or CycleGear. They're on opposite sides of IH10 but near each other.
 
In San Antonio your best selections for helmets will either be at Alamo Cycle Plex or CycleGear. They're on opposite sides of IH10 but near each other.

This is good to know, although after my Chicago Cycle Gear experience I don't have high confidence in their selection. Maybe combined with the Cycle Plex selection I can find something that'll work.

I'm basically looking for a full-face helmet in the $200 - $350 range. Past helmets that I've had and liked were the Shoei RF1000 and a Shark RSi.

Heinz
 
I went from an old rf1000 to a gt-air and liked it so much that I bought my wife one for the few times she rides with me. I bought them both in your price range. Mine was used in excellent condition. I can't get over how nice this helmet is compared to my old rf1000 and most likely compared to a lot of other helmets. When I used to turn my head sideways with the 1000 it would catch a bunch of wind. With the gt-air it's like there is no wind drag. Also, some of the models are more for sports bikes and some are more for upright seating like the rf1200 and x14.
 
U can also buy a helmet off of Revzilla if you find one that catches your eye.
If you dont like it, take to cyclegear for exchange or refund.
CG now owns revzilla.


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Within 15 minutes at Alamo Cycleplex I found two helmets that would work: the Shoei RF-SR and the HJC FG-17. I fly back to Juneau tomorrow and I’ll have to decide if the $400 Shoei beats out the much cheaper FG-17. Most of the FG-17s are going for around $170 online but it’s hard to ignore the ugly Banshee design that’s discounted to $99. For the most part I don’t care what my helmet looks like as long as it’s DOT/SNELL, snug and comfy. Both are pinlock compatible which is important for me in damp chilly Juneau. Decisions, decisions...

Thanks again for the input.

Heinz
 
Last edited:
Which did you pick and how is it?


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Which did you pick and how is it?

I haven't picked yet. Now that I know they both fit, I'll let my wife order me one for Xmas. The riding season is mostly over for Juneau so there's no hurry to get a new lid.

That being said, I'm actually leaning towards the HJC mostly because it felt slightly more plush on my head. It's got a funky center latch for the face shield but after fiddling with it I thought it worked fairly well. And for the price, I can wear it for a couple of seasons and if I'm unhappy with it I won't feel too bad tossing it for something else.

Heinz
 
If nothing else it makes me realize how nice it is to have cycle gear in town.
I ended up ordering, trying it on, bad fit, returned it to store, tried on more in store realized they fit similar but better if XXL, reordered my helmet in XXL and luckily, while it seemed to be fit, turns out it was size that was my problem.

Since you switched from a Shoei I was curious how your two choices fit/felt, as a XXL Shoei GT Air was pretty uncomfy (was my other "maybe").
Figured I try to gather some vicarious helmet experience, in case what i jokingly called "my winter helmet" really is no good next summer and i need to go helmet hunting again.


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Since you switched from a Shoei I was curious how your two choices fit/felt, as a XXL Shoei GT Air was pretty uncomfy (was my other "maybe").
Figured I try to gather some vicarious helmet experience, in case what i jokingly called "my winter helmet" really is no good next summer and i need to go helmet hunting again.


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I tried on a bunch of helmets and these two felt the best so to me they felt somewhat similar in fit and feeling. I know the Shoei is a higher quality helmet but the HJC felt slightly more "plush" compared to the Shoei RF-SR. I also liked the very first detent on the HJC face shield better. It seemed easier to obtain just a slight opening of the shield on the HJC vs the Shoei.

Also, the Shoe RF-SR that fit me was a large and the HJC FG-17 that fit me was a XL. I know helmet sizes don't always directly translate across different brands or even different models of the same brand.
 
Thanks, I'll keep your plush comment in mind, there were a few HJC I was interested in before I found the Shark Spartan to tick all the boxes of "want".
So should I need one for summer I'll try a plush HJC. (I'll see how lack of exhausts feels in TX warmth next year)
Yes trying them on in store is nice but being able to return easy I just had to try and order and I got lucky on a size up.


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