Full Face Helmets

A full-face helmet gives the most protection: shell and chin bar are a single piece covering your head, face and chin, and the visor seals it all against wind, cold and rain. It is the helmet for riders who cover main roads and motorways, and for many who cross town every day without wanting to give up that protection. Here you will find full-face helmets from NZI and By City: this is how they differ and what to look for if you want a light, quiet one.

Three takes on the full-face helmet

Everyday riding and touring

This is the largest group. The NZI Eurus 4 Duo and Freccia Duo have a drop-down sun visor, the easy option for touring: ride into a tunnel or into the evening and there is nothing to stop and swap. The Freccia, with a carbon fibre composite shell, also comes with a second, tinted visor, as do the Trendy 3 Stream models. The Trendy 2 has a channel for glasses, while the Trendy 3 Stream and the Wake add a chin curtain that cuts the air coming in from below; the Wake is made in three shell sizes and goes up to 3XL, like the Go Rider. With a removable peak and a sun visor, the By City Xtreme brings the same idea to adventure bikes.

Sports helmets

These are built for a tucked position: the eye port lets you see well ahead with your head down, and the shape is designed to stay stable at high speed. The NZI Racing Carbon, with a carbon fibre shell and double D-ring fastening, is the most track-focused model here, while the Eurus 4 Duo and the Trendy 3 Stream, the latter with a rear spoiler, borrow its aerodynamic lines for mixed use.

Retro

Classic-style full-face helmets have rounded lines and few visible edges or vents, and they are the ones you see most on neo-retro nakeds and cafe racers. Here you have the NZI Street Track 4, Flat Track 2, Revival and the carbon Mad Carbon, plus the By City Roadster III, The Rock and Rider with fibre shells. The whole range, together with open-face helmets in the same style, is in our cafe racer and vintage helmets.

What about town riding and hot weather?

A full-face helmet is warmer than an open-face one, but some design touches make it bearable: the first opening position of the visor on models such as the Eurus 4 Duo or Trendy 2, which lets a trickle of air in and stops misting at traffic lights, and ventilation ducted through the EPS, as on the Revival or Wake. A removable, washable lining, which almost all of them have, is welcome after a summer of use.

Light and quiet: what makes the difference

The two things riders ask most of a full-face helmet depend mainly on three factors:

• Weight: By City lists it on each product page, from around 1,200 g for The Rock to around 1,600 g for the Xtreme with its sun visor and peak. Fibreglass and carbon shells keep the figure down, and several shell sizes stop a small head carrying more helmet than it needs.
• Noise: most of it comes in from below, between the chin bar and your neck. A snug size, a good seal around the neck and a chin curtain like the one on the Wake or Trendy 3 Stream make more difference than anything else. On long motorway rides, earplugs do the rest.
• Aerodynamics: a stable helmet does not pull at your neck when you turn your head at speed, nor does it let the visor lift. On a bike without a screen you will appreciate it even more.

Double D-ring or micrometric buckle

Most NZI full-face helmets use a micrometric buckle, a toothed ratchet you can fasten and release one-handed with gloves on. The double D-ring, the fastening used on racing helmets, is fitted to the Racing Carbon, the Mad Carbon and several By City models: it takes a little longer to do up, but has no parts to wear out and adjusts exactly the same every time. Both are safe as long as the strap is tight under your chin.

If you are torn between a full-face and something more practical, modular helmets let you lift the chin bar around town and open-face helmets are the light option for short trips. To see a single brand, go to the NZI full-face helmets or the By City helmets; for sizing, approval or Pinlock inserts, our general guide to motorcycle helmets has it all.