****** - Verified Buyer
4.5
I drive on narrow mountain trails in the tropics, so I wanted a helmet that would keep me as cool as possible. Fortunately, I found the LS2 Subverter. I've used it for a few months, so here is my initial review.STRENGTHS:1. Vents - I ride in heat and humidity, so I wanted a helmet that had as much air flow as possible. My street helmet has a few vents, but they really don't move air in any noticeable way. But the Subverter has loads of vents, in the forehead, crown, and back of the head. These vents go all the way through, even the liner and best of all. . . they actually work. I can feel and hear the wind flowing through it.2. Washability - The cheek pieces remove quickly, not only is this good if you need to remove the helmet easily if you get an injury, these cheek pieces and the entire internal padding can be removed for washing. Below it, the smooth plastic inside can be easily wiped down and dried.3. Color - Since I live in a hot climate, I try to get ALL my dirt bike equipment in the lightest colors possible to reflect the sun's heat. Luckily this helmet came in the perfect color for that - white. Not only does it help with heat, it makes me very visible to other riders without having to use those garish neon colors from the 80's. I don't know why, but it seems like no other company makes a dirt bike helmet in plain white.4. Value - I could spend $400 or $500 dollars on a super high quality helmet, but I'm not a professional in Enduro competitions. What's more, I don't have that much money to spend on my gear anyway. I feel like the money paid for the overall quality of the helmet is one of the strongest points to recommend the Subverter.WEAKNESSES:1. Weight - This helmet is rather heavy. I've compared it to my friends' helmets of other brands, and the weight difference is obvious. This may be a problem for someone doing all day hard enduro, but for me, I don't find it a deal breaker. But be warned, the low price of this helmet is really apparent in the weight.2. Fit - It is too tight, especially around the cheeks. Normally, I wear an XL, but with LS2 I always have to order an XXL, and even then - it's still too tight. When I first put it on, the cheek pads smashed my face so hard, it hurt the glands in my cheeks and neck. I washed the pads twice, then tightly strapped about 6 rubber bands around each pad to flatten them down, and they are STILL a bit too tight. I don't want to wear something that after 20 minutes leaves my face hurting for 2 hours. Be warned, this sucker is tight, and the cheek pads are the worst part.3. Strap - The strap is secured by the old fashioned double D ring. What is this the 1960s? I've never had a helmet that used this antiquated system, even back in the early 90's all my helmets had some sort of clip or ratchet system. There are plenty of strong devices that securely clip a helmet strap in, spare me the ancient securing system when I've got gloves on.4. Internal colors - The bright colors of the padding shows dirt really easy, it would have been better to use a more dark color like navy blue or dark green. The bright fabric looks filthy after a few uses.5. Internal build quality - the cheek pads clip into a black plastic mounting system. Even after unclipping the pads only THREE times, on of these brackets began to come loose, meaning I will probably have to super-glue it soon. So LS2 made a helmet where you can quickly pull out the cheek pads, and the mounting brackets will likely come out with it. NOT good.Summary: The helmet has good airflow, nice color, and is very safe, but some of the other build quality and design choice attributes let it down. I'm overall happy with the purchase, but a few modifications might be in order.
