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Let me make a confession. I have never been a fan of modular helmets. I understand the concept behind them. Flip the chin-piece down and it\u2019s a full-face \u2013 flip it up and it\u2019s an open face\u2026sorta.<\/p>\n
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The two-helmets-in-one, best-of-both-worlds paradigm.<\/p>\n
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Except not a single modular helmet on the market was entirely true to that lofty ideal. So while the concept is sound, its execution was invariably less than ideal.<\/p>\n
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Modular helmets were consistently heavy \u2013 often heavier than the full-face lids they were meant to be with the chin-piece lowered.<\/p>\n
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They were also kinda noisy, and if you lifted the chin-piece at say 120km\/h, your head would be torn off your neck.<\/p>\n
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And let\u2019s face it, they all looked a bit shit. Misshapen is the right word. Awkward is another right word. They didn\u2019t quite manage to carry off the svelte sexiness of a killer full-face, and failed utterly at being a decent open-face. They were always a Gumby-like thing.<\/p>\n
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So I have always looked at them somewhat askance.<\/p>\n
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And then AGV sent me its latest effort in modular helmets \u2013 the Sportmodular \u2013 and you may consider my mind has been changed. I always like it when that happens.<\/p>\n
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It’s pretty cool that you can do 140 with it up like this and not have your head fall off.<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n I even made a breathy \u201cWow\u201d noise when I pulled it out of its bag. And for more than one reason.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Firstly, it is simply gorgeous. It doesn\u2019t look like a modular helmet at all. There\u2019s not a hint of the Gumby about it.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cWhat a gorgeous thing,\u201d my wife said as I hefted it and turned it this way and that, letting the light catch its carbon-fibre swoops.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re not bad yourself,\u201d I smiled. \u201cBut what do you think of the helmet?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n She gave me one of those looks \u2013 a mixture of pity and exasperation which lives in every wife\u2019s repertoire \u2013 and said: \u201cI was talking about the helmet. Perhaps consider not taking it off when you\u2019ve put it on.\u201d<\/p>\n That plastic thing there is a spoiler and underneath is the exhaust port, which works whether the spoiler is up or down. So your head is like a fighter jet.<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n So not only is AGV\u2019s all-new Sportmodular lid a sex-dream of carbon-fibre craftsmanship (and yes, the whole lid is carbon-fibre, even the chin-piece), it\u2019s lack of weight is astonishing.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Few things are more important in a great helmet than its weight. Surely you get that. In terms of comfort, the lighter a lid is, the less fatigue you\u2019ll experience. But more than that, it\u2019s a safety issue because of inertia.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Inertia is a bastard of thing. If you have a 1800gm helmet on your head and things go pear-shaped, your spine has to cope with an extra 1800gm of weight (on top of what your head weighs) traveling at whatever speed you\u2019ve crashed at, and then maybe stopping suddenly.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n So the lighter your helmet is, the better your spine will be able to cope with a bad situation. So maybe consider that before you go sticking GoPros to your lid to film your boring rides, and always try and buy the lightest helmet you can.<\/p>\n See the little flat thing at the bottom of the spring? You push it up, the visor releases. It then just clicks back in when you want to replace it. Simple. No swearing required.<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n AGV\u2019s Sportmodular is a revelation in that regard. It\u2019s stupid light. At 1295gm, it\u2019s the lightest modular helmet on the market. But despite its bubble-like heft, it\u2019s packed with everything you\u2019d expect in a top-shelf AGV helmet. And thus it achieves the same level of head-protection as AGV\u2019s brilliant top-end racing lid, the MotoGP Pista GP R.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The visor is optical-grade Perspex, as is the adjustable, flip-down, internal anti-scratch sun-visor. It\u2019s extremely well-ventilated with two front vents and an adjustable exhaust vent at the rear.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Its aerodynamics are top-notch. It boasts zero dynamic weight at 130km\/h. So that\u2019s the speed I flipped the chin-piece up at and braced for the neck-savagery. There was none. So I dialed it up to 140\u2026and a bit. I started to feel the drag at that speed as the chin-piece caught the wind, but it was still not unbearable. And that\u2019s quite a thing. Few people will ride with the chin-piece up at 160km\/h. But if they want to, they can. Just sayin\u2019.<\/p>\n It’s so light it will float off in the breeze. Honest.<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n Internally, it\u2019s pretty lush. It\u2019s got all the latest instant-sweat-absorption material, which is wedded to an antibacterial treatment, and material called Microsense, which is meant to be the last word in comfort for your face-skin. Rub your face against a kitten. Feels like that.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Of course, the lining is removable and washable \u2013 and you get a removable nose-guard and wind-protector that fits in the chin-piece.<\/p>\n The red thing? Hook your thumb under it, and pull out and down and the chin-piece comes up.<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n At speed, and I mean speed because Mother Putty is deserted at the moment, the Sportmodular is spot-on. It\u2019s way quieter than most modular lids, but there is some wind-noise once you start sailing over the 100km\/h mark. Interestingly, when you turn your head slightly to either side, the wind-noise disappears. But I can\u2019t ride like that. People will think I am deformed.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n It\u2019s satisfyingly quiet, and while it\u2019s not the quietest lid in the world, it\u2019s not far off that mark, to be honest. And the noise doesn\u2019t appreciably rise even when you flip the chin-piece up.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Peripheral vision is excellent, and it will even work in a race crouch with your head forward and your eyes looking up. And it is glasses-friendly.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I also liked the \u201cnatural\u201d movement involved in releasing the chin-piece. You pull down and out with your thumb, rather than pushing up on a button. And the neat little tab on the visor itself makes gloved-hand operation infallible.<\/p>\n Lots of white space you can utilise to write on in Texta.<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n It comes with a Pinlock insert which I fitted with zero cursing and hammering, because AGV\u2019s visor-release system is one of the easiest on earth. Big points for that.<\/p>\n Yes, it comes in Serbian colours!<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n So what else? It comes in three shell-sizes if you have a massive brain and your skull is bigger than most, and the one I have is the glossy carbon one, which is $899, as is the matte carbon version. For a hundred bucks more, you can have some colour options if you’re unable to rock gorgeous plain carbon.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n And did I tell you it looks hot-as? Yeah? Well, I just told you again.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n WHERE CAN I GET IT?<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/bikeme.tv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/IMG_5485-e1631164395310.jpg\")
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