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I need to purchase a full face helmet and my choice so far is down to these 4 helmets. Price bracket around £100
Any advise from anyone that owns any of them will be much appreciated

1. Giro Remedy
2. 661 Evo Wired
3. Bluegrass Explicit
4.Urge Down-O-Matic
5.Urge Archi-Enduro

I've got a down'o'matic which is an upgrade in every way from my old 661 evo.

I paid £150 for the Veggie Model in s/m from chelmer cycles in chelmsford

it is nice and light, good goggle space, and keeps my head cool.

most importantly for me it comes with a clip on the chin strap rather than a D ring which is much more awkward to pop on and off at the bottom of runs.

I believe CRC have a big discount on older models of the Down'o'matic at present i remember seeing them for £70 !

the remedy was the other on my short list

the archi enduro i don't trust having seen some post crash photo's of a user.

mine

I hear good things about the downomatics, and mixed about the 661, the downomatics and the 'THE' industries t2 composite' lids are amoung the most popular,

I have the latter and its a great lid, and now the 2011 models are 70 quid! You will always get last years models cheap but they're exactly the same except colours etc. My advice wouls be to head to chelmer cycles as they have both the downomatic and 'the' lids at the moment and u do really need to try em on, but one of those brands you can't go wrong with!

Oh and what andy said about the d rings and clips is true, mine has a d ring and it does take about 1 second longer to get off (ok a little more then that when I 1st got it but I find it a lot more comfortable then a buckle like on my xc lid, you don't notice it as much, but that's just personal preferance!

Thanks for the advise
I really like the Down-o-matics. What size is yours?
My head circumference is 58cm and according to some reviews i will have to go for the XL.

I don't think that's an xl, but may be worth trying one on.

I have a 'the' las vegas lid, it's good, and has saved me quite a few times when I've come off, it's a strange feeling when your heads dragging along the floor, you can hear the gravel etc but it doesnt hurt - Shows how worthwhile they are.

My brother got a downomatic, it's a lovely hemet, and much lighter than mine, I would go for one of those if you can.

Also, I bought mine 2nd hand, some may say tha's a bit disgusting, personally, stuff like that doesn't bother me. I got the hemet and oakley o frame goggles for £45 - pretty damn good.

my head comes in at 58cm and i have the s/m size
as per everyone else you need to try one to be sure
some people have round heads some oval it is worth the effort so you don't end up with an expensive ornament

i also used a medium in the previous 661 lid i had

Thanks I'll go for the S/M one then. if ordered from CRC it can be easily changed to a different size I presume.

Yeah their returns are pretty good.

Ah ah this is a French manufacturer !

Oui

I love my THE One Empire Helmet

A few things worth considering:-

Get correct size, they should be quite tight/snug fighting. My Trials lid (661 Wired) is L and I had a L Giro Remedy on my first trip to Morzine this year but after a few hours riding it became clear it was a bit too big and slightly lose, I then bought my THE Helmet (Size M) for my 2nd trip out there which fitted far better and felt safer/tighter.

Is the inside removable/washable. ?

How the straps do up and are there replacable visors available (my THE came with a spare ) are other things to consider, plus of course does it look good !

Andy

Yea got a replacabe visor with mine too, mine doesnt look anywhere as good as yours andy but you cant get hold of those empire ones anymore ;(

Mine was new but from Ebay, saw the new range somewhere but they had ugly Car style grills/vents up front.