‘Be a super Trooper’
Tested by Richard Newland 1750 miles / three months
The first thing you can’t help but notice with this helmet is the styling. Looking like a piece of costume from a Star Wars movie, you could go for a white one and live out your Storm Trooper fantasies, or go further to the dark side – as I have with the Raw Carbon finish.
The build quality feels great, with the T300 Raw Carbon version revealing a uniformly high level of finish, while all trim and venting is nicely integrated. The matt carbon surface does mark extremely easily, though. The rear vent is always open, and has a reasonable aperture, while the small brow vent can be opened and closed with an external slider. But the chin vent uses an internal slider that’s near impossible to access when wearing the helmet. Neither have very big apertures (don’t be fooled by how big the vent grilles look), so the airflow isn’t much different open or closed – especially as the Rheon-enabled energy absorbing helmet lining covers the brow vents.
The side vents aren’t actually vents – but all are pleasingly quiet and having worn the Atlas from sub-zero to +18°C, I felt comfortable at all times.
The lining is plush, and comfy, and the smooth EPS means none of those ridged head imprints you get with some lids. The visors are good, the Pinlock integration excellent, and the big tab to open/close the visor is useful – but the visor doesn’t lock shut. Switching visors just requires a quarter-turn of the two retaining thumbscrews (no tools needed) – but the ridges are a bit too small for easy operation, and while visors pop off easily, they can be a complete pig to relocate.
The chin strap closure is an initially terrifying ‘Fidlock’ magnetic clasp, which releases with so little effort on the pull-tab that you’ll be convinced it’ll undo if the wind changes, but it’s actually reassuringly secure. Closing it does take some getting used to, but once you’ve got the technique, it’s a doddle.
Overall, a great helmet that’s comfortable, decently quiet, certified to the latest ECE22.06 standard, well made, and priced fairly – although the lack of branding makes it look somehow lower quality than it is.
Quality ★★★★ ★ Value ★★★★ ★ www.ruroc.com