Bell Star Helmet
I am a stickler for proper fitting and performing full-face helmets. Hell, if they don’t fit and work well, that why wear one at all? Like most of us, I rode a Bell back in the day and had an affinity for the brand, but to tell you the truth, I thought Bell’s current crop of designs were a bit dated. Boy, was I dead wrong.
When I first put on the Star, which was recently redesigned, it felt good with equal pressure on all sides of my head. While riding, the Star had little buffeting even at speed in excess of 100 mph, and it was dead quiet while doing so.
Things I liked about this helmet were the amount of air that the Bell’s exclusive VelocityFlow ventilation design allows as well as just how light the TriMatrix carbon fiber, Kevlar, and fiberglass shell was. All of these things are great, but the part I loved most about this helmet isn’t the helmet at all, but the optional Transitions FX face shield. Like your dad’s prescription spectacles, this shield uses a special photochromatic coating that reacts to the ambient light level to provide the right amount of tinting when needed. When wearing Star I don’t have to worry about having a smoked shield and getting home before the streetlights come on, which is just plain awesome. Check out these lovely lids at bellsports.com.