I have been using my Arai Quantum F for a little over 6 years. Helmet manufacturers recommend replacing one every 5 years or so, and considering my lid also survived a couple of small crashes it was time to replace it.

When I switched to Arai, I was a happy camper. It was clearly the most comfortable helmet I’ve ever had, so I didn’t feel bad about spending $500 on it. However daily use began revealing some of it’s flaws. Fogging shield, little rubber strip falling off, noisy and ineffective vents, poor visor removal design leading to broken parts and expensive visor replacement were among the problems I encoutered. Last 6 months were spent riding with the duct tape holding the side pot, and it wasn’t pretty. Time to get new one.

Right away I knew I didn’t want to spend another $500 for another problem prone Arai. So I started looking at alternatives. A dozen visits to bike shops, helmet swaps with my friends and more helmet trying at Cycle Gear lead me to discover that no helmet fits me as good as Arai. Did I mention my ears were RED? I must have tried every helmet available for sale in US, and when Astral X was on my head I was stunned by how good it felt.

A little bit of research led me to believe that Arai has made some improvements to their design. OK, I will give you another chance, Arai. Thanks to E-Bay, I got a great deal on this brand new Astral X Thierry van den Bosch Replica.

Initial impression was another shocker, it fit my head like I was born with it. Everything looked pretty promising. Unfortunately, after almost a month of use, I can assure you that it hasn’t improved much compared to my old Quantum F. The venting is a little bit better but the dreaded shield removal mechanism is still the same. Noise level is still pretty high. I don’t understand why Arai can’t use higher quality Anti Fog shields in their $500 + helmet. Instead, we are still stuck with basically the same design that debuted over 10 years ago. I would think that technology advanced a little bit since then, wouldn’t you agree?

With all the above said it it still extremely comfortable and probably one of the best helmets out there. However I’m dissapointed in the overall state of helmet industry, it’s about time something new and groundbreaking came out. How about a helmet with

• Automatic Tint Level
• Bult in Bluetooth system with the capability to connect to MP3 players, intercom systems and GPS
• Cooling fans operated by built in solar panel and controlled by voice (instead of vents that scoop air and howl like a wolf)
• Built in ear muffs to reduce noise

There are a lot of manufacturers that sell helmets produced in China, and prices start at $50. Can someone explain me how Arai can cost $500 +? The manufacturing process shouldn’t be much different, therefore the cost of manufacturing is about the same. Are we paying for that ARAI lablel? I would rather pay $500 for technologically advanced Chinese helmet with all the bells and whistles than pay the same for outdated technology from Japan. Can somebody step up?

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 20th, 2007 at 12:25 pm and is filed under Street, Riding, Learning. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.