GMax GM11
I’m going to start in a weird place. This is the GMax GM11 and it’s often referred to as a “snow helmet.” But it’s not. The GM11 is GMax’s four-season, multipurpose lid. Street riding in the summer, snowmobiling in the winter, with a bit of motocross thrown in for good measure.
I was skeptical at first, because this is a 150-dollar lid that claims to do the job of three helmets. So far as I can tell though, GMax has pulled it off.
It takes a while to roll the credits on this one. Removable sun peak, removable face shield, double lens for anti-fogging, speaker pockets, removable and washable liner, chin curtain, breath guard, 6 chin bar vents, 2 forehead vents, 2 chimneys and 6 exhaust vents (WB).
Now, two things I like and two things I don’t like. On the positive side, the face shield opens way wider than any of the other helmets on this list. That means it’s easy to use large-frame goggles in here even if you keep the face shield on. The other thing I was really impressed with was the weight. The GM11 is a basic plastic shell and yet this large comes in at 1830 grams, which is only 40 grams more than the Shoei Hornet X2.
For the two things I don’t like, I wish GMax gave us thumb screws rather than Philips heads here (show). Because this sun peak isn’t very aerodynamic and I’ll probably want to remove it for extended highway riding. That’s not a huge deal, but there’s also a bigger problem. This helmet is only DOT rated, and I personally have more peace of mind in a Snell or ECE lid. You might want to check out the Fly Trekker if you have similar concerns.
Now, this is a neutral head shape – somewhere between long oval and round. And I would classify the GM11 as suited to an equal mix of road and dirt. It works perfectly with goggles and ventilates will with the breath guard taken out. But it’s also a secondary purpose snowmobile helmet, so we have good insulation that translates into decent road noise.
But what if I’m a dual-sport rider that sees more dirt than pavement? I grew up riding motocross, so I know how much lighter and cooler a helmet can be.
MX-9 Adventure
In the dual-sport category, Bell takes it to those extreme limits with the MX-9 Adventure. This is the best ADV helmet for trail riding. At 1650g for this large it’s the lightest helmet in its class, even compared to Arai’s XD-4.
The MX-9 Adventure is a variation on Bell’s MX-9 off-roading helmet. Basically they angled the sun peak down for highway aerodynamics, they added the face shield and they truncated the chin bar for slightly better insulation and crash safety.
Other than that though, the MX-9 Adventure still behaves like a motocross helmet. Super light, with loads of air coming through the chin bar and the big open gap underneath. There are vents on the forehead and rear as well, but they’re not close-able and – to me – that’s a misstep from Bell.
In my opinion, the sun peak catches a lot of wind on the highway. But Bell seems to know this, because they gave us thumb screws that make the sun peak really easy to take off. Of course I’m not supposed to be doing too much road riding in this helmet anyway. Nor would I want to, because it’s really loud in traffic.
Whether you keep the face shield on or off, it’s easy to wear goggles with this helmet. Because of the gap Bell left between the face shield and the helmet shell, you can actually wear goggles while having the face shield down. Personally, that’s not a useful feature to me. If it’s muddy, dusty or hot enough to be wearing goggles, then keeping the face shield on it just asking for it to get scratched or fogged-up.
Closing off with the stats, the MX-9 Adventure is a neutral head shape that fits true to the sizing chart online. It has a DOT and ECE certification, which you know I love. And it costs 270 bucks, even for this black and hi-viz graphic version (WB). Which is a misnomer, by the way, because this base colour is definitely grey.
Arai XD-4
The VarDual-sport helmets don’t get more dirt-worthy than the MX-9 Adventure. But if you have 700 dollars burning a hole in your pocket, there is an amazing off-road helmet that also has street prowess: the XD-4.
Arai literally invented the adventure helmet category with this series. And today, the XD-4 is still the golden standard. This large is equally-slim and only 13 grams heavier than the MX-9. I’m gonna say that the XD-4 doesn’t vent quite as well as the Bell, but it’s a close second place. And of course you can wear goggles with this guy, no problem.
So the XD-4 is almost as dirt-worthy as the MX-9. But it costs three times the price, so where is my money going?
Intangibly – into build quality. And more tangibly, we can also point at the shell. This is woven fibreglass instead of cheap plastic, so the XD-4 passes DOT and Snell safety ratings without needing as much EPS foam. Ergo, Arai has more room to put comfort padding and soundproofing.
So the XD-4 is quieter on the road. It also has more creature comforts for touring. The visor is flat in this dimension, so there’s no distortion. And there are two vents right on the face shield itself, which I never see. Moving up here, we have an adjustable sun peak – also a first of the day. Smooshing it down allows for maximum streamlining at high speed (show). The vents on top and at the back are nothing new, except for the closing mechanisms, which are very slick (CU).
I’m a sucker for this lid, because Arai buys into the same safety school that I do. The idea is that impact absorption is important, but it’s equally critical to have a smooth, slim and lightweight helmet so it transfers less inertia to your neck. Arai put that into play here, because every protrusion on the XD-4 – like this big sun peak and the little vent cowlings – they’re designed to snap off in a crash rather than catch on something and transfer force to your neck.
One last thing I love is that the interior padding has 5 millimeters of peel-away foam (CU). I have a neutral head shape, so the Arai fits perfectly. But for oval or round heads, it might be beneficial to peel off a few of those layers to customize the fit.
Since I have to say something bad about the XD-4, I’m gonna talk about colourways. The solid colours of this helmet are 700 bucks. But this explore graphic – which is exactly the same except for a few swatches of paint – is 850 dollars. For that price difference I could buy the entire GM11 helmet (show)! I think Arai is screwing me on the paint, and I don’t like it.
Shoei’s Hornet X2
Now, the XD-4 is the best 50-50, on-road/off-road helmet in the world. But if I want a premium lid and I tend more towards the pavement, I’ll choose Shoei’s Hornet X2.
The previous version – called the Hornet DS – was much closer to the Arai. It was slim, it was lightweight, it was well-suited to off-road use and it cost around 700 bucks. But I think that Shoei realized they couldn’t compete with Arai, so they moved this newer Hornet X2 towards street use.
Shoei added a lot of weight, so this large clocks in at a whopping 1790 grams. For a premium fibreglass and organic fibre shell, that’s really heavy. Remember that the cheapo GMax GM11 weighed only 40 grams more.
A lot of the new weight went into soundproofing, making this helmet the quietest one on my list. It’s also the most stable at speed, thanks to this complex visor which I suspect contributes a few grams of its own.
There are a few bonuses here which you might expect for a 700-dollar lid: recesses for installing speakers, emergency quick-release cheek pads, Snell and DOT certifications, and in the box you get a pinlock shield, a breath guard and a chin curtain (WB).
I was disappointed to find that the Hornet’s ventilation is really minimal for an adventure helmet. But then again, this guy is designed more for comfortable and quiet touring rather than intense off-roading.
I think that Shoei has managed to distinguish themselves from Arai with the Hornet X2. But in moving towards street use, this is getting dangerously close to the Icon Variant, which offers similarly premium features for 300 dollars less.
To me, the Hornet X2 still makes sense. But I’d love to see them trade this neutral head shape for a rounder one, because that would help to sway more buyers away from the Variant.