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First ride report: Shoei GT Air helmet

JPK

Active member
Joined
Sep 26, 2008
Location
Los Gatos
Moto(s)
N/A
I've been looking around for a helmet to replace my trusty Shoei X11 for a while now, but my oval head makes finding a helmet the fits properly a bit tricky. On a whim (and partly out of desperation), I popped into the Santa Clara Cycle Gear yesterday to have a look around. Once I got past the aisles and aisles and aisles and aisles of Bilt gear, I found where they've hidden the Arai and Shoei helmets. I went straight for the Arai Signet Q, as this appears to be the defacto standard for us oval-shaped heads. Sure enough, it fit very well but I've never really been an Arai fan -- those side pods on the face shield just don't do it for me.

About this time, Nate came up and asked me if I needed help (big :thumbup to Nate - he truly knows his stuff about helmets). We got to talking about helmets and specifically what I was looking for, and he recommended I try the new Shoei GT Air. He explained that the GT Air is modeled after the RF1100, which is Shoei's most oval helmet. To my surprise, it actually fit me better than the Arai Signet Q! I wore it in the store for ~15 minutes, and not a hint of pressure or discomfort. Even my X11, which I've had for 5 years, was a good fit, but not a truly great fit.

Fit-wise, it came down to the Signet Q and the GT Air, but feature-wise the GT Air is in a league of it's own. This is Shoei's newest helmet, and it incorporates the internal flip-down sun visor from the Neotec along with lots of other cool gee-wizardry like an included Pinlock visor. OK, so in my hands on on my head, it seemed to be a fantastic helmet, but the proof is in the pudding, so to speak.

I got to put a few hundred miles on it today, and it doesn't disappoint! Here are some initial impressions:

- It's so much quieter than my X11 it's actually creepy. With earplugs in and face shield down, it's astonishingly quiet. It's obvious this thing is designed as a sport-touring helmet and not a race helmet.
- Ventilation is also very good. The top vent creates a pronounced flow of air along the top of the head when wide-open. It has three positions so you can control how much air you want, and all the vent openings are big enough to easily work with gloved hands and have a very positive clicking action when they're moved through their stops.
- The best feature, by far though, is the flip-down sun shade. I used a dark smoke shield on my X11, and always hated having to flip it up on shadier roads like parts of Eureka Canyon and Ice Cream grade to be able to see in the shade. The flip-up sun shade on the GT Air flips up and down very easily, while the clear face shield stays in place.
- Unlike the X11, the ear pockets on the GT Air are deep enough to accommodate speakers from a BT headset without putting pressure on your ears. Also, the position of the slider for the internal sun visor is supposedly optimized so that you can install a BT headset, and sure enough my Sena SMH10 fit perfectly and I was easily able to work the sun shade slider even with the Sena in place.
- The fit and finish, paint quality, liner material are all top-notch Shoei quality.
The optical quality of the face shield and internal sun visor are exceptional, with no signs of distortion even when both are down.
- It is NOT safe to use Plexus on the supplied Pinlock visor. :( It will haze over. (That's a $30 lesson learned).
- After several hours, no hint of any forehead hotspot. I can't remember the last time I rode without having a nice red spot on my forehead at the end of the ride.

So, my first ride impression is that this is a fantastic quality helmet with some great features. If you're an intermediate oval head looking for a world-class touring helmet, you should give the Shoei GT air a look. :thumbup You may also want to pop over and talk to Nate at the Santa Clara Cycle Gear (I always like to recognize great service, especially when it's at a place that often gets trashed for its service).


GT-Air_LightSilver.jpg


 
Nice review, thanks.

- After several hours, no hint of any forehead hotspot. I can't remember the last time I rode without having a nice red spot on my forehead at the end of the ride.

My Shoei RF-1000 does that, so I'm glad to hear this model is even more accommodating to us oval heads. :p
 
Wish I would have waited for this instead of buying a Bell last year. I think I may buy the neotec instead though. Thanks for the review.
 
thanks for the review. Lots of upgrades compared to my RF1100 that appeal to my riding style
 
How's the weight? Sounds like this would fit me as well. I loved my X-11.
 
Wish I would have waited for this instead of buying a Bell last year. I think I may buy the neotec instead though. Thanks for the review.

My cousin bought the Neotec last year. I had tried it on as well - I really liked the features of it and wanted it to work for me but the head shape is way too round for me. I'm guessing that if the Neotec fits you well, the GT Air would be too oval, and vice versa.

How's the weight? Sounds like this would fit me as well. I loved my X-11.

I believe that the GT Air is a touch heavier than the X11, but it's not anything that stood out to me while riding.
 
Forgot to mention sizing... The GT Air appears to run about one size small. I'm a M in both the Shoei X11 and the Arai Signet Q, but needed an L in the GT Air.
 
Definitely not a round head. I've been wearing an X-11 for a couple years now and the only helmets that I find comfy are shoeis and bells, both usually oval.
 
I wonder how well it'll do come rainy season...?

I've had problems with my RF1100 and a constant leak during heavy down pours. I've tired adjusting the visor via adjustment screws to no avail.

Thanks for the review! :thumbup
 
I wonder how well it'll do come rainy season...?

I've had problems with my RF1100 and a constant leak during heavy down pours. I've tired adjusting the visor via adjustment screws to no avail.

Thanks for the review! :thumbup

My pleasure. A few of the new "gee wiz" things they've added that might make it more waterproof are a double seal around the face shield instead of the single seal on the RF1100, and a new spring-loaded visor closure mechanism that 'sucks' the visor down against the seal when fully closed. This is supposed to make it more waterproof. We'll see. :laughing
 
The next helmet to see my head will be a Weber 6D ATR-1 ODS.

As reviewed in April Sport Rider Mag pg. 11

If I like everything I see, I'll buy that.
 
Sun visors, in general, aren't removable for easy cleaning or replacing, are they?
 
Thanks for the info. I need a new helmet in a bad way. love Shoei fit and SCCG is my goto spot. have to try one on.
 
I'm an Arai zealot, but this helmet has had me thinking lately. Love my RXQ and I was thinking of buying the new Defiant for the street. Then I got a hold of a Shoei catalog and this helmet looked really cool. In the past, the only Shoei's that fit me well were just a little too heavy for my taste and the liners weren't as nice as the Arai. I'm going to have to check this helmet out.
 
Just checked out the GT Air at Cycle Gear and wasn't impressed. Granted I have no idea how it performs on the road, but I thought the fit/finish of the components and the liner were a step down from my Arai and it felt pretty bulky comparatively. Bummed because I was hoping it might be my next street helmet.
 
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