Rider Review: Caberg Justissimo Helmet

[BikerBeagle]

I suck at writing reviews, so bear with me ...here is my "initial impressions" review of my new Caberg Justissimo helmet after a few days of wear.

General Information:

Features

Includes FREE open face conversion kit.
Cool Max lining
Scratch Resistant Visor
Sanitized lining
Internal air circulation
Quick release strap
Rain protection contours
Moveable stopwind
Double anti-turbulence nape shield
Aerodynamically tested in a wind tunnel
Removable lining
Double visor system
Approx weight : 1.65kg



This helmet has some features that really put its "coolness factor" through the roof. Rather than the usual "D" ring fasteners, the Caberg comes with a buckle mechanism ...which I personally like the ****ens out of because it makes getting the helmet off and on literally a "snap". I would imagine this would be a preference thing, though ...alot of people prefer the "D" rings. It's just one of those ideas that takes getting used to ...like a heel/toe shifter when all you've known is the standard toe shifter.

The idea that this helmet can be converted to a 1/2 helmet with full face visor is a neat feature, although I'm not at all sure I'll ever actually convert it. It can also be converted to a "jet" helmet which, I assume, is the 1/2 helmet conversion without the face shield, using only the secondary dark visor. I personally have not done this conversion yet ...I might just to see what it looks like ...but from what I gather from the instructions, it's not a quick and easy process (i.e. not something you can do while running out the door or sitting on the side of the road).

The dual visor system is, without a doubt, my favorite feature. Full face visor, plus an internal 1/4 dark visor that drops down out of the helmet using a lever mechanism on the left side of the helmet. This is a boon for someone like me who wears Rx glasses. Very easy to use and, because the lever is backwards (lever up to bring the visor down, and lever down to bring the visor up), there's no way the visor can drop down on it's own. There are some comment reviews stating that the dark visor doesn't come down far enough for some people ...thankfully, I'm not one of them. The dark visor comes down well below my straight-on field of vision and clears my glasses easily.

Fit: The Justissimo has considerably more padding than the Symax inside the helmet and feels more "plush". Overall, the fit is ok on the cranial part of my head, but all italians must have skinny, short faces because the lower part of the helmet seems to actually get smaller (due, I think, to really large cheek pads). At about my ears and down, it's a pretty cramped place for the lower portion of my round face (got some serious chipmunk cheeks happening). I'm hoping that some more break-in will alleviate this somewhat because, right now, I imagine I'll bite a good chunk of my inner cheeks off if I'm ever in a crash with this thing on.

Although comfortable, I can't imagine how I'd ever get any comm system between my ears and the helmet without surgery ...so if you are looking at adding comm to your helmet, you might look elsewhere. The padding in the ears is fairly rigid and doesn't offer much give, not helped by the fact that there is a manufacturers label sewn in right at where the left ear happens to be. The only other notable thing is the front of the face doesn't allow for a lot of room at the chin. I don't necessarily have this problem ...my chin is about 1/2 from the inside of the chin-guard, which is actually pretty comfy ...but I can see this being an issue if your chin protrudes a little bit. The padding around my temple is really quite comfortable and allows me to put my Rx glasses on easily.

The best suggestion I can give, and it should go without saying, is that you should try this helmet on before buying it. This helmet is certainly fitted for people with short, pear-shaped heads.

Quality: This is an italian-made helmet imported to the US. It meets DOT specification, European ECE 22.05 specification (their highest rating, I believe), and is ACU Gold approved (race-rated?, I think). The overall quality seems to be top-notch, but I've read reviews -after buying it- that it might leak while riding in rain (can't confirm or deny those reviews right now). The face latch is metal on metal ...the only one in this price range with metal/metal closure, I believe ...and snaps shut securely. The face latch isn't located at the bottom of the guard like other helmets (where there may be a danger of impact opening the face), it's located about an inch from the bottom and is flush with the helmet surface. I haven't taken the visors off ...or tried to convert it to a 1/2 helmet, so I can't really comment on the internal quality of the mechanisms yet, but from reading the manual, I don't believe this is the helmet you want to get for fast and easy visor changes (although you really don't need to change visors on this helmet either because of the dual visors). The inside of the chin-bar bothers me a little ...the material feels more like some kind of hardened foam than rubber, so it could be cause for quick deterioration.

Airflow and Noise: What airflow? This helmet has 2 active vents, one fairly large on the top and one just below the visor on the face, and 2 extremely well hidden exhaust vents at the back on each side. I can't say for sure they work at all, though. Because the face vent is just above the latch for the helmet. I'm always closing the vent while I fumble to get me face guard open ...so its closed most of the time unless I remember it. It's been so hot around here lately, though, I'm cracking my visor open most of the time anyways. Supposedly, the visor is coated to be anti-fog, but I haven't had any opportunity to judge that yet.

I really hate to comment much on noise levels because, if I've learned anything, it's that one man's noise is another man's music. I can say that, compared to the Symax (which was too big to begin with), the Caberg is quiet, but the rigid ear pads don't really muffle much. My saving grace in this regard is that the fit is tight for me in the ears, so I'm surely getting some benefit from that. I don't feel like I need to wear earplugs, if that is any indication of anything.

Miscellaneous: One miscellaneous item I'd like to mention, because it perturbs me to no end ...apparently, the trend now is to clear coat the helmet AFTER putting the stupid stickers on (at least, that's what I hear), so it's impossible to take the "Caberg Helmets" stickers off -a large one on the front and a smaller one on the back.

What else do you want to know? All in all, providing the fit works itself out a little better, I'm happy with the purchase. The dealer let me exchange straight up for my too-large Symax ...so I basically got a $299 helmet for $249. With my 15% discount, and the added restock fee for the Symax, I guess I ended up paying about $240 for my Justissimo.