Hello, my name is Jon and I am one of the winners of “Van’s Gear Locker Giveaway” and won an amazing Shark Speed-R Ike helmet. First off, I cannot thank both STG and Shark enough for all the time and struggle they have saved me by picking me as the winner of this helmet.
This Helmet is the best street helmet I’ve ever worn, and it simply comes down to its features. Also, my head is that size right in between most companies small and medium, but this helmet(a medium) fits me perfectly. Next comes the fact that I wear glasses all the time, for everything, and the fact that Shark has taken the time to make cut-outs that I can remove to put my glasses on instead of jamming them in the sides, then messing with them for 5 minutes to get them to sit on my face right, is not only time saving, but also sanity saving. Going off the fact that I wear glasses and do not own a pair of perscription sunglasses, the drop down sun visor is priceless. The fact that I can now transition smoothly from day to night, or sunny to overcast in the push of a button on top of the helmet has saved me more then once, as I’ve been caught at night several times with only a tinted visor on other helmets, and that is never a fun ride. Also, this is the biggest and most encompassing sun visor I’ve personally had the pleasure of trying on. It drops down farther and goes full side to side and take up 95% of my field of vision, so no sun glaring in from the sides. Speaking of visors and faceshields, this helmet has one of the best and craziest faceshields Ive ever seen. It is super thick in the middle and thins out only slightly to the sides, but doesn’t impede my vision at all. This thing is bulletproof. I’ve had rocks hit it, many bugs, and I’m sure more, and come home and clean it, shiney as new.
Next comes ventilation. This helmet only has 2 intake vents, one on the chin and one on the top of the helmet, but it also has 2 exhaust vents on the back wing that draw the air out. I have ridden in just about every configuration of venting possible and can tell you that they work, chin vent especially. I do not feel a lot of air on the top, but my head doesnt get hot, so I can only assume thats working properly. Being in Upstate NY and it only being May, I have not yet had a day of serious heat to try this helmet out in, but imagine it will hold up nicely considering the fact that there are less vent on this then most helmets. I will say that the use of less vents makes the helmet one of the quietest helmets I’ve ever ridden in and almost perfect for the part of the country I’m from, as it rarely gets scorching hot here.
Lastly, I will point out that there is a spoiler on the bottom of the back of the helmet that prevents lift and buffeting and that works well, along with the overall shape and design of the helmet. The chin strap is nice and feels secure when fastened and the snap feels solid for the leftover strap. The interior of the helmet is fully removeable, although I have not done so myself, and there are holes for speakers inside the helmet incase I get a bluetooth communicator. Only other thing I want to mention speaks to this specific helmet graphic, but I love it. Simple black and white and almost a military feel to the design itself. I love it.
I sincerely cannot thank everyone at Sportbike Track Gear enough for this wonderful helmet and everything they do for their customers. I would not be riding in full gear if not for these fine folks. I would say STG and Shark made one man very happy and I would not hesitate to recommend either to anyone I know. Thank you so much, Jon Fournier.
Follow Up Review
I have now ridden in this helmet for a couple weeks and still absolutely love this helmet. Between the eye-glasses ready cheek pads and the internal sun visor, it’s simply amazing. I can get it on and off quickly, my glasses dont bounce around, and I dont have to worry about going from sunshine to overcast or day to night, I just push the button forward. I rode last week with it being 89 degrees and sunny and my head was the coolest part of me, so vents work amazing, for only 2 intakes. The faceshield is still fl
awless, no scratching. I have ridden where bugs are hitting me like rain and still come home, wipe off the visor with a micro-fiber cloth, and its like new. Everything on this helmet is well thought out and designed and it works as I would expect, if not better. The only complaints, which are not really complaints at all, just my opinion(at best), are they could have made the sun visor a little darker and the chin strap is still very stiff. I assumed that the chin strap would become a little softer to the skin, but it has remained stiff through all the punishment I have put it through. Niether would be a deal breaker for me, just the only real things I could find to try and keep this review as honest as I could. I really thought the 2 intake vents would work against this helmet, but to my suprise, they work great and flow a bunch of air around my head.
Last thing I would like to touch on is how this helmet holds up in the rain. I took a long ride this past weekend and on the way home, got caught in the rain, 100 miles from home. I hit all types of rain, from sprinkles to almost complete downpour. This helmet remained dry on the inside. My head was the only part of me not soaked when I finally did reach home. I wear gloves and would simply wipe the visor, and it would clear right up. Thanks to me leaving the breath deflector in, I had minimal fogging. The biggest thing to me was that it kept my head dry. I was freezing, once soaked, and if my head started getting wet and then cold, I would have had to stop and wait the storms out, which really wasn’t an option due to the rain not stopping for 2 days.
I just cannot thank the great people at both STG and Shark enough. I believe their helmet saved me in more ways then I can count. Sun visor, eye-glass ready, staying dry(it is a Shark, it should do well in the water… hahaha) all gave me the confidence to ride home safely. Thank you so very much for picking me and allowing me to ride in this amazing piece.