Another Schuberth C3 Review

[R Doug]

A few days ago, I set a twisty scenic ride to the NC/SC boarder to visit Charlotte Motorcycles as they are the closest Schuberth dealer near me.  After an hour of trying on different helmets, I decided on a medium sized C3, packed up my older Arai in the C3 box, bungied it to my bike, and rode home.

I sas told the helmet would have a long break in period.  On my 3 hour ride home, I started to feel discomfort in my jaw.  By the time I got home, the discomfort was downright pain.  I phoned the dealer to ask if I was sized incorrectly and they told me to give it more time as the break-in is long.  

*  UPDATE *

So far, I have 600 miles with the Schuberth.  Today, I had just over 5 hours on the bike and can tell the helmet is starting to break in.  That said, in the last 90 minutes of my ride, the jaw pressure was present again.  The pain wasn't as bad as my first ride, it was more of a discomfort than a pain.  According to several posts about this helmet, it does take time to break in.  I have left a message with Schuberth North America asking about smaller cheek pads.  It'll be interesting to see how good their customer service is.  Arai has been incredible in this department!  For the price of the Schuberth, the customer service better be on par with Arai.  I haven't received a reply yet to my message.  But, that was on Friday and their office may have been closed for the New Year's weekend.

Why did I acquire the Schuberth?

First, I wanted a modular helmet.  I thought it would be nice to have the ability to take off an put on a helmet with my glasses on.  Next, I wanted something with a built in sun visor, a plush interior, quiet, and well built.  Out of all the modulars I looked at, the Schuberth is the only which which fit all of my criteria.  Not only is this the only lid which fit all my criteria, I also believe the Schurberth is superior to its competition when it comes to the function of the features.  For example, I haven't seen a helmet yet with this quality of interior.  Next, the sunvisor works better than anything else I tried.  It's very smooth to operate and it comes down further than any other I've tried.  This visor comes down to just over my nose.  

Next, the ratchet style strap works very well.  Getting the helmet on and off requires very little effort.  I can even do both with my gloves on (strap and all)!

Finally, this helmet comes with the Pinlock (tm) anti-fog system which is used by Moto GP riders.  

How is it so far?

The first thing I noticed after leaving the dealership with it on is how wide my peripheral vision is with it.  I don't need to turn my head nearly as much when compared to my other helmets (Arai Quantum II, Arai Corsair, and Shoei Hornet DS).  

Regarding the Pinlock system mentioned above, I CAN NOT get this shield to fog up. Today's ride started with temps around 40 degrees and as much as I could huff into the helmet, the visor wouldn't fog up.

My final thought for today is airflow.  With temps in the low 50s on the BRP today, I didn't have the top vent open.  But, I did open it for a brief period of time to experience the venting.  Even with the interior "winter tabs" in place to block a direct airflow to my head, the helmet's venting system can be felt very well.  You could feel the different pressures inside the helmet as the cool air traveled from the front of my head all the way down to the neck vents.  

So far, so good.  I am concerned I am going to be stuck with a lid that doesn't quite fit as well as I want.  Just out of the gate, I will be putting their customer service to the test.  IMHO, if they don't offer smaller cheek pads, I believe they should allow me to exchange for a large with no questions asked.  It's been less than a week since my acquisition so that's a fair request.  Again, I'll let you know how my interaction with them goes.  

[R Doug]

Built-in sun visor up



sun visor down

[R Doug]

"winter" interior air block liner employed.



"winter" interior liner disengaged for maximum airflow.  

[mugwump58]

Thanks for starting a new thread for your review! I've been using Nolans for the last 3 helmets and am satisified but it sounds like this helmet could be a treat. Very glad to hear it's quiet.

[sagerat]

Doug,
I've had my Schuberth C3 for a year and ~7,000 miles.  I've got a medium and it fits snug, but comfy.  I still occasionally notice a tightness along the jaw line but a good yawn seems to set everything right.  I'm amazed how much quieter this C3 is compared to my C2.  Also it's much lighter, the C2 could feel like a deep-sea diving helmet after a looooong day.

Peripheral vision is the best out of any helmet I've owned; Schuberths really do spoil you.  This is also the quietest helmet I've ever head, even more than the C2.  But that comes with the usual tradeoff of not venting as well.  The other aspect of the visor you'll discover on a warm sunny day:  the space between the sun shield and the visor heats up making my C3 a rolling  greenhouse.  Still, I flip up the visor, blow out the hot air, and begin the gradual interior warming again.  The sun visor is worth the tradeoff.

The bottom of the visor will bonk the end of my nose, so I don't deploy it all the way.

The other improvement is the size and shape of the C3 vs. the C2. The C3 is much more aerodynamic and results in far less bobblehead moments.  Also the smaller size means your head no longer is the size of a large watermelon.

Overall, I'm very satisifed with my C3.  The gf loves her C3W, which is the Schuberth for the ladies.  Of course she does as all the other helmets were on a half-price sale, but once she tried on the C3W it was game over.    She's logged about 2,000 miles and has not had any problems with fit.  She damaged her neck in two car crashes, one in high school and one in her 20s, and we were worried if the helmet might prove too heavy as one vertabrae can still bother her.  All good on that front, too.

I'm not sold on the Pinlock.  My helmet still fogs, but after looking at your pics I'll double-check I'm in winter mode. (Thanks for the reminder.) The other things I don't like about the Pinlock:  a few bugs have decided to perish between the inside of the Pinlock and the outside of the visor.  How those acrobats did that is beyond me, but it does make cleaning the visor more tedious as they always die right in the place where they'll disrupt my vision the most.  Last great act of defiance and all that...  The Pinlock also distorts a bit at night.  Nothing too terrible, but noticeable.  I've got the clear Pinlock.

And doncha love the chin skirt on the C3?  Goodbye annoying drafts.  Does make it tough to drink out of my Camelbak, so I crack the visor and stuff the tube in as coming up from under as on my Arai XD isn't an option.

Hope Schuberth customer service treats you right.  I've had great luck with them in the past.

[cole]

I had a problem getting a shield for my S1, no one would sell me one since the helmet was out of production  but I emailed Mike talerico at
mike.talarico@schuberthnorthamerica.com   And he sent me a new shield free of charge. So you may have to deal direct with Schuberth as dealers can suck with customer service.

[R Doug]

I was able to get another 6 hour ride in with this helmet last Saturday.  It continues to break in and I'm not experianing pain anymore.  The helmet feels snug, but there isn't any pain.

For the last hour, I took my earplugs out to see what this helmet is like w/o them.  I was impressed.  While I still will not ride w/o earplugs, this lid is quite!  

As a follow up, I did get a reply from Schuberth North Ameria.  Smaller cheek pads are avaialble if I beleive I need them in the future.