Arai Corsair-X Rea 6 Helmet - Snell 2020

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got a couple of Shoei helmets over the past few years... they all seemed to have the same problem, with the foam paddings disintegrating over time...

I don't know about the helmets, but Rheon is the real deal. Whether these particular pads are engineered correctly in this case, I have no idea. The material itself is wild.

an excerpt from my RuRoc Atlas 4.0 Track helmet review:

"RuRoc helmets feature three strips of Rheon cushions across the top of the head and one across each cheek inside of the helmet. Rheon increases impact protection but it only covers approximately 10% of the inside of the shell of RuRoc helmets. I’m not an engineer but this seems barely adequate to add any impact protection. "

It seems the Rheon could help a great deal but if the major points of impact don't line up with the sparsely provided pads of Rheon, it doesn't seem like it could do much.

Arai Corsair-X Rea 6 Helmet - Snell 2020

There's another cool one. I'd have complete confidence in an Arai helmet. Shoe, too. I think even the cheapest helmet is going to do a good job in a light crash. If I have a hard crash though, I'd rather have a helmet by a manufacturer with a long history of excellence.

got a couple of Shoei helmets over the past few years... they all seemed to have the same problem, with the foam paddings disintegrating over time...

I think that was happening to my Shoie. The bottom edges of the cheek pads were flaking off. I Didn't find it real objectionable, it was a 14 year old helmet. It definitely protected me in my crash.

* Last updated by: Rook on 5/6/2025 @ 5:38 AM *

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Shoei used to have a program where you could send your helmet back to them and they would check it and reline it for about half the price of a new one. I don't know anything more about this program, or if they still do this, but my cheek pads in my RV200 Shoei started to deteriorate after about 25 years.

I think 25 years is a pretty good life expectancy for something that I literally wore every day and honestly I'm sure some of the protection is lost a fair bit before that time period. I wonder if Shoei still does that?

That Arai is cool, too and it's about $1000, so in the same ballpark as the Bell. I like the look of the Bell better, but have not tried one on yet. Helmets are like shoes, if it doesn't fit well, you're going to regret it.

I don't know if the "science and engineering" of the placement of the Rheon pads in the Ruroc, but your instincts are exactly what I was thinking, 10% coverage does not sound like the best option when you're going 100+ mph. And no one ever takes there ZX14 over a hundred, right?

My friend crashed many years ago wearing one of those white, full face plastic poly-crap-onite helmets at medium speed (like 45mph) and it split right down the middle where the "seam" was. He didn't get hurt, but the helmet failed and if he had been going 70-80 or faster, I can't say the result would have been favorable.

It was hard to say if he "Gary Busey'd" himself when he crashed as he wasn't that intelligent to begin with. The proof of his lack of intelligence was he immediately bought another of the exact same helmet, because as he pointed out, he already had a tinted shield that fit it.

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Arai states their helmets as Oval, Medium oval, Long oval. Most of the battle is won by using their shape and size guides and choosing the best one, and if it's not quite right you can replace pads with thicker or thinner. Arai is my #1 choose for sure, and I also have a 2024 Shoei that's nice but not Arai nice. The Shoei is the GT-Air II which has the interior drop-down shield, but the shield is kinda hazy even on day 1 without ever having touched / cleaned it. I really wanted to like the Shoei but can't tolerate not being able to see clearly. My experience.

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had 2 Shoei's, Neotec & Neotec2, both had the same disintegrating foam padding issues, and that after not even 5 years of use for each one
bought the original Shoei padded liner spare set, but that too went down the drain not long after replacement
could perhaps blame it on the ambient tropical heat & humidity here, and the ensuing frequent sweating... had also been using the LiquiMoly helmet interior cleaning foam spray (?)
... but one thing for sure, have not had the same problem with either Shark, Nolan or Schuberth

Islandninja, when did you originally buy those Shoeis? I wonder if they changed the foam since I bought mine? I bought mine in 1983-1984.

It's definitely in need of some love, but I don't think it's dangerously degraded, mostly cosmetic.

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Also Rook, I forgot to mention the Bell comes with a $150 photo chromatic, optically clear face shield. No pinlocs, but a super cool quality shield.

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The new Ruroc Atlas 4.0 Core Carbon cost me about $600. I've owned an Icon Domain for about $300, a Zox Spectra R for $25 and a Shoie RF1100 that was $600. All the helmets were purchased over ten yers ago other than the RuRoc which was purchased last year. The Icon weighed in at 3 lb 13oz and it was incredibly noisy and floppy on my head. The Zox was super cheap and even more so while I bought it on sale. The Zox was 3 lb, 9.5 oz. It twisted in the wind when I turned my head and the face shield flew open. The Shoie was 3 lb, 8.9 oz for size M. It was all around perfect except for maybe a few black flakes of cheak pad on my face when I took it off. I really liked the added security of the locking face shield. The RuRoc is great so far. It fits me very snug but it's also comfortable. It takes some effort to put on and take off but I think it'll loosen up in time. The only thing that bugs me is that the chin vent touches the tip of my nose sometimes. I haven't weighed the RuRoc yet but the internet says 3 lb 6 oz for Atlas 4.0 Track Core Carbon in size small. Larger might be a tad lighter because there would be thinner foam inside the shell. RuRoc shells are all the same size. You can get a lot cheaper RuRoc by not going with the track version. The Track version has a larger spoiler and it's supposed to be a little lighter. I like the look of carbon fiber but it doubt the difference in weight would make much difference in a helmet. ...maybe a couple ounces.

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Islandninja, when did you originally buy those Shoeis? I wonder if they changed the foam since I bought mine? I bought mine in 1983-1984.

D1GP, the Neotec must have been around 2015-2016, and the Neotec2 perhaps 2019 (?)

my head seems to have a shape that suits Shoei helmets... having been disappointed by the foam padding issue on the Neotec, i still went for the Neotec2, assuming they would have solved the poor foam material problem by then... not really, most unfortunately

Islandninja, my Shoei fits well and has very good shields and shield retention, ratchets, etc. It's disappointing to hear that their foam is not up to the quality of the rest of the helmet.

They seemed to always have cool shields available, too. I have a red mirror one that is almost exactly the same color as the helmet. Looks cool when closed.

I need to try on the Bell and the Arai and see which one fits better. I'm not opposed to spending more money for better fit and protection.

* Last updated by: D1GP on 5/8/2025 @ 7:07 PM *

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Just be aware that Arai and Shoei both sell different shape helmets, so very likely both sell helmets that fit you well and some that won't. Need to follow their instructions on measuring your head for size, and shape, and then checking their availability in those shapes and sizes.

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=x+rap01a+0r did not know that. I'm not sure if that was true when I bought mine, might have been, don't remember, probably was, might have just got lucky. I knew Arai as well as some other makers had different shapes, but not Shoei.

You never know which direction life is headed.

Thanks for that!

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D1GP - To clarify, Arai's various models are each a different shape. They say their Signet-X is a "Long Oval", their Quantum-X is a "Round Oval", and their Corsair-X, Regent-X and Contour-X are all "Intermediate Oval". So if you happen to have a round head you might not be comfortable with a Signet-X since it's a Long Oval.

But, also ... I may have a faulty memory ... I just checked Shoei's site and so far I can't find anything indicating helmet shapes. I'll reply back here if I find anything. Sorry about that!

Edit: Still can't find anything on Shoei's site re helmet shapes, but I Googled it: "Shoei generally states it offers an intermediate oval head shape for its helmets. This means that their helmets are designed to fit a majority of riders (around 75-85% of American riders) with a standard oval head shape. While Shoei doesn't explicitly advertise different helmet shapes, they do offer internal customization options like removable cheek pads and headliners to help individuals with different head shapes find a comfortable fit."

* Last updated by: extrapolator on 5/9/2025 @ 2:42 PM *

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