GEAR REVIEW |
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By DOUG South |
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26
April HeartBeat
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KLIM KRIOS PRO HELMET wanted one helmet that would
I be super light, breathe well, look good, capable of both adventure rides and street rides, work on cold days or sunny days, fog proof, plus have a sunshade as well, oh yeah, and be Bluetooth communication capable. Not too much to ask, right? Well, I’ ve tried many options over the years, but it seemed like I needed one helmet for each type of riding. One dirt bike helmet with goggles for off-road, to be light and easier on my neck for the rough terrain. But then I didn’ t have Bluetooth, or it was too noisy at speed once I hit the pavement. I tried modular dual sport helmets like the Scorpion AT 950, and while they provided Bluetooth capability and most of my other requests of a helmet, it weighed a ton, around 4 + lbs. It was very hard on my neck, and, in the wind, it tended to really jerk my neck
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around.
Enter the Klim Krios Pro Helmet. It is amazingly light, around 2.9 lbs., has super good venting, runs fairly quiet, and even has the easiest magnetic buckle I’ ve ever had on any helmet. The Magnetic Mechanism, called FID- LOCK ®, uses a magnetically assisted system that allows onehanded chin strap closure and opening, even when wearing gloves. Magnets guide the two parts of the closure together until they mechanically snap securely together. I can attest to being able to buckle even while wearing gloves. This helmet was expensive, and it was not an easy decision to lay down $ 750 for it. But I am glad I did, because it has cut down on a lot of my tension headaches while riding. I
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spend entire days most of the riding season wearing this helmet. One of the standout features of this product is its photochromic lens, which automatically darkens in response to light, so there is no need to bring two shields. This is part of what makes it lighter, since it does not need a drop-down sun shield inside. You can see in this picture that this lens started out clear in the morning and in the direct sun gets quite dark. |
It has many more pluses like a carbon fiber shell, speaker ready inside, it does not use foam, but an even safer system called Koroyd energy absorbing material. This material is lighter, more shock absorbing, and looks like honeycomb, so it breathes very well. It has a visor for adventure riding, but on the downside, if the sun visor is on and I use the selfdarkening lens, then it tends to be |
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