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Chin bar and visor


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I have no experience with helmets, but have been trying to study all the options.  I was thinking something light with lots of airflow like a full face mountain bike helmet might be appropriate for use with a sub 30 mph EUC.  One video I saw indicated a fixed visor made a slow speed fall worse because it forced the neck back.  I guess some helmets with visors have the option to remove them.  I can see no need for a visor for riding an EUC unless I am missing something.

The chin bars on these helmets seem like they stick out really far.  So much so that it seems like depending on how you face plant, it looks like your neck would get twisted badly one way or another or worse case straight back if the chin bar hits first.  What is the design benefit with having the chin bar sticking so far out?

I see some riders go what looks like a NASA helmet.  The shape seems more appropriate to skidding your face along the pavement, but they look hot an a little much for a KS 16X rider.  A full face helmet of some sort for riding on paved surfaces makes sense. 

I know there are other posts about helmets, but I have not managed to find much information about the pros and cons of helmets with gigantic chin bars and visors.    

 

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I have a Bell Super DH, and removed the visor. It is attached with breakaway screws so it “should” come off in a fall. I may put it back on if I can spend some time on trails because it does help deflect (some) branches from your face, I believe branches are why it’s there in the first place. I just didn’t like having my field of view obstructed when there aren’t any branches to swat my face.

I have no idea why the chinbar extends so far out but am guessing that your head moves forward quite a bit and the chinbar deflects inwards when you faceplant. Not smacking the chinbar would be nice.

The helmet is nice and cool, and I use the wind noise as a speed indicator… when it’s super noisy, I’m probably going pretty fast (for a 16x).

Edited by Tawpie
Autocorrupt
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Yeah, I took the visor off my Super DH as well since I don't ride offroad much. This impact video shows how the Bell extended chin bar is designed to flex and absorb a lot of force while still keeping it away from your mouth/teeth, assuming direct impact:

 

 

Edited by wheel-life
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