Bell Revolver Flip up Helmet

[zenwhipper]

I like the speaker cutout. I am not down with the self tinting visor. I don't like something that I can't seem to control.  

scott

[Justin]

I don't like something that I can't seem to control.  

scott

same here - particularly since I don't even like tinted visors to start with. I like the "looks" and concept of this helmet - but after reading the review, I think I'll wait till they can work out some of the issue (leaky visor etc).

[squeezer]

If it wasn't for the placement of that visor switch, I'd probably go for this one.

[scott19]

Yep.  Saw that last night.  As the OP, I think I will stick with Shoei and get a Multitec.

Even if I was willing to pay the price for a Multitec, I could never justify it because I don't like how my chin hits the chinbar. Just goes to show you how personal and unique everyone's relationship is with helmets. There is no such thing as a helmet that fits everybody, regardless of price.

I'll be keeping an eye on the Revolver. I have a feeling it'll be tweaked here and there by the time I'm in the market for a new lid.  

[sprint_st]

Even if I was willing to pay the price for a Multitec, I could never justify it because I don't like how my chin hits the chinbar. Just goes to show you how personal and unique everyone's relationship is with helmets. There is no such thing as a helmet that fits everybody, regardless of price.

I'll be keeping an eye on the Revolver. I have a feeling it'll be tweaked here and there by the time I'm in the market for a new lid.  

Scott, you must be my evil twin    Got the same problem.  Tried them all except this new Bell.  Only the HJC modulars fit without the chin touching but the overall fit did not match the Multitec.  Had one of the original Shuberth modulars and the XXXL did fit the chin, but I could almost spin that baby around on my head it was so big.

[scott19]

Update: I've noticed that the Revolver has gone on serious discount lately. I'm talking half price discount. They were going for $200 when they first came out, and now they are easy to find in the $100 range. They are on such such huge discount that I'm wondering if something defective has been discovered. I don't want to yell "fire!" in the theater, but this brand new design helmet went from $200 to $100ish in the span of a year?   Reading the reviews, the biggest complaints are that it's loud, it's round head biased and pieces of trim have come loose. Still, it's averaging 4 stars out of 5 on most sites I've seen.

[sprint_st]

 They are on such such huge discount that I'm wondering if something defective has been discovered. I don't want to yell "fire!" in the theater, but this brand new design helmet went from $200 to $100ish in the span of a year?  

I was looking at a Bell Star not too long ago.  Owned one back in the old days when they were "the" best.  Bell seems to be making some excellent stuff now but getting a flip to fit right has caused me to hesitate from buying any of them.  This is another reason:

Notice how close that would have been to the hinge.  Think I'm going to stay full face.

[jesse v]

I have the Bell Vortex helmet (non-modular).  I love it.  Extremely plush and comfy interior, and the visor attachment mechanism is amazingly simple and effective.  Ventilation works.  Field of vision is not hindered at all.

My last HJC was an XL, and my Bell is as well.  Same fit.

[scott19]

Well, I bit the bullet and ordered one in large from the local Cycle Gear (available for order not kept in stock). Went to pick it up today. Trying it on, it felt tight all the way around, which is not surprising, as I was at the upper limit measurement-wise for a large. The deal killer however was that I couldn't my glasses to go in right with the helmet on. The padding around the ear just kept pushing the arms up at an angle. (disclosure: the arms on my glasses are pretty spindly, but go on fine with my GMax G68s). I had a similar experience with a Scorpion helmet once before. Goes to show you how one small detail can make or break a deal. The helmet seemed nice otherwise. It's a shame it didn't work out.

As a side note, I was very pleased with being able to order it from Cycle Gear and try it on right there in the store. Doing so cut out the hassle of shipping something back and I avoided any dispute over whether the helmet had been worn. I did have to pay in advance, but the refund procedure was painless.    

[camaroz1985]

I ordered two of them from Motorcycle Superstore last week.  They had a one day sale for $85 (normally they are $110 for solid colors).  I got one for myself and one for my fiancee.  They should be here tonight.  I've never used a modular so I'm curious to see how they work.  She hasn't either but didn't like the feeling of putting on a full face helmet.  She was fine once it was one, just actually sliding it over her head it was really tight.  Hopefully this will resolve that and she will go on a few more rides with me.

[camaroz1985]

Got them on monday, and they both fit well.  It is a little hard to get my glasses on while wearing the helmet, but they do work.  Might have to modify the padding as I saw someone did on webbikeworld.

Initial impressions are good.  They seem decently made, but there are some glaring issues with the supplied accessories.  First the breath guard on the top of the chin bar hits the rubber seal of the eye port when you open the chinbar.  This can be fixed with a little trimming of the guard with a razor blade, but I think Bell should have fixed this first.  Also my helmet came with a breath deflector/chin curtain that I haven't seen in any of the reviews so far (maybe it was a late addition, my helmet has a manufacture date of 8/11).  It snaps into the vents in the chin bar and kind of wraps around your chin.  There were a lot of reviews that said it needed a chin curtain so maybe this is Bell's answer.  Unfortunately with it installed you can't open the chin bar more than about half way, as in interferes with the upper part of the helmet.  My temporary solution was to remove both the breath guard and chin curtain.

I only took a short ride to work this morning, and I would say the helmet is about as noisy or maybe slightly more so than my HJC IS-16 (on a Versys with a Givi windscreen, and I always wear ear plugs).  There is a lot of air that comes in under the chin bar so I will be trying to get the curtain to work for the winter.  Also the inner sunshield has good coverage of the eye port, but is not dark enough.  I will be getting two dark smoke inner visors (had to do the same for the IS-16).  Also the anti-fog coating seems to work great.  I had to keep the visor on my IS-16 cracked until I get out of town and get up to speed, but the visor on the Revolver can be closed, and left closed even at traffic lights (well until my glasses started to fog up).

All in all I think it was a good purchase, especially for $85.  It is my first modular, and I think I will like it, but I haven't had enough time with my head in it yet to determine that.

Also tomorrow my Scala Rider G4 will arrive and I will give that a try.  I have used the Q2 with my IS-16, but got a good cyber monday deal on a set of G4's and wanted to upgrade to hopefully only have to take one device with me for wireless music and gps.

I have a Q2 available for a very reasonable price if anyone is interested.  I was thinking $75 shipped.

[camaroz1985]

Here are a few pictures I took with my phone.  Sorry for the bad quality.

Helmet


Chin curtain




Talked to someone else who got theirs from the Motorcycle Superstore sale, and it didn't come with the chin curtain.

I used the curtain today on the way into work, and it made a huge difference.  It does hit the weatherstripping above the visor, but a little force and it will go passed, and allow the chin bar to open fully.  I just don't like that, as I would assume it would eventually cause problems with sealing.  I will look into a way to fix it, but don't know how much is possible.  Also I don't know how well an intercom mic would fit with the chin curtain in place.  My G4 comes tonight so I will test it with and without the curtain.

[scott19]

I wonder if yours had the chin curtain because it's a HiViz model (it is, isn't it?). The HiViz models are a newer edition than the rest. Perhaps the other person got one of the original colors? The one I ordered was white, and didn't have the curtain.

Camaroz, are the arms on your glasses fairly stout? Mine are spindly wire types, and didn't cooperate with the padding at all (work fine with my Gmax GM68 though).

[mugwump58]

Is there a weather strip at the top of the visor?

[camaroz1985]

I wonder if yours had the chin curtain because it's a HiViz model (it is, isn't it?). The HiViz models are a newer edition than the rest. Perhaps the other person got one of the original colors? The one I ordered was white, and didn't have the curtain.

Camaroz, are the arms on your glasses fairly stout? Mine are spindly wire types, and didn't cooperate with the padding at all (work fine with my Gmax GM68 though).

Yes, mine is the Hi-Viz, and like I said it has an 8/11 build date, so I'm guessing it is newer than a lot of the others.

My glasses do have pretty stout plastic arms.  That is probably why they work with the padding, though they do put a little pressure on them.  I technically don't "need" to drive with them (passed both my car and motorcycle vision tests without them), so in the winter I take them off while riding so they don't fog up.

Is there a weather strip at the top of the visor?

There is weatherstripping on the shell at the top of the visor, and that is what everything gets hung up on.

[mg66]

I bought one this week.

For a $200 helmet out for 50% off and I had a $75 gift card I figured 25 bucks for a Bell helmet was pretty good. I am only going to use this as my commuting helmet at present but if I like it maybe I will tour with it instead.

I also had a Bell Star back in the early 80s when they were the cat's meow of helmets and one of the only ones that were Snell approved and absolutely loved it.