Premier X – Trail MO Flip Front Adventure Helmet
Premier X - Trail MO Flip Front Adventure Helmet
- Julian
- March 7, 2019
- 3:46 pm
- No Comments
With adventure bikes topping the sales charts worldwide, then it’s no surprised that adventure helmets are enjoying a similar surge in popularity. And with flip front helmets also on trend, the Premier X – Trail MO Flip Front adventure helmet ticks all the boxes.
We had to give it a try …
HEADS UP
So first up – lets get those first impressions. The X – Trail looks like a quality product straight away – from the beautifully crafted pivot points on the visor to the tasteful graphics and paint scheme – it’s not screaming and brash, just understated but stylish.It also doesn’t look too much like a flip front helmet, which is a good thing in our book. Up to this point we’ve not been big fans of this style of helmet, but the X Trail manages to move the idea away from being more suited to a Deliveroo rider and into proper motorcycling territory. Good work chaps.
For those that are not familiar with Premier, they been making helmets since way back in 1956, so should be pretty good at it by this point. They were also making skateboards in the late fifties and as the boards were only first used in the 50’s, then they were there at the start of the sport – interesting but ultimately useless fact!
But if there was one endorsement that Premier should be truly proud of it’s that racing legend Phil Read was once protected by their helmets – that’s enough of an endorsement for us!
FLIP IT UP
The main feature with the helmet is of course that the helmet flips open. The mechanism is suitable smooth and easy can be done with one gloved hand by operating the catch on the inside of the chin piece. This takes the front up out of the way in one swift movement where it clips into place again.
With the chin piece up, the balance of the helmet feels a bit odd, but as it’s not necessarily meant to be used in the up position while riding, it’s not an issue. As a PI rated helmet, it has the same strength as a full face helmet but only when clipped in place with the front closed.
The X – Trail Flip Front Adventure Helmet is made from thermoplastic rather than fibreglass or carbon fibre and hence will have a shorter working life if you follow the guidelines – a helmet unlike a dog is not for life …
VISOR DOWN / VISOR UP
As is increasingly common with new helmets the Premier X- Trail has an internal dark visor that can be bought down using the red switch on the left side.
The visor comes in with a satisfying clunk and sits nicely close your face – close enough to just lightly tap your nose. It also comes down low enough to totally fill the vision, which unfortunately our LS2 Pioneer doesn’t quite manage. Although it’s not shatterproof like the main visor, the internal visor works well to ride with this alone in warmer weather.
The main visor itself is wide and clear and shuts out the wind well, clicking into position easily and staying down. Once up however, it’s a bit tricky to find the edge with gloves on, and a tab would have helped. It’s anti-scratch, anti-fog and an impressive 2.2mm thick with attachments for the Pinlock system, which some like, but we are not so keen on.
INSIDE OUT
The interior of the helmet is pretty feature packed too, with an anti-allergenic, Sanitized treated removable and washable lining. When putting the helmet on, it’s best to have the chin piece open as the shell is more flexible that way – you just close it when ready to ride.
The strap is the now omnipresent ratchet strap with good adjustment in the strap possible if you have a bigger or indeed smaller head – it’s available in XS up to XL sizes.
For additional ventilation, there are inlet ports in the chin section that can be clicked open or closed, and there is an exit port at the back which when similarly clicked open will channel cooling air across your head – nice!
ON THE ROAD
So we’ve got the features out of the way, how does it add up on the blacktop? Well pretty well to be honest.
The fit of the Premier X – Trail Flip Front Adventure helmet is good, with no pressure points or tight spots. As slow speeds the air flow is good, and given the large peak across the front, the wind noise is refreshingly low. We tend to ride with ear plugs in most of the time, but even without, it’s not a noisy helmet
The dark visor works well and can be used on it’s own at slower speeds, and as we’ve said it does come down low enough. What doesn’t work quite as well is the stability of the peakat high speeds. On a fully faired bike it’s not an issue, but once at speed on a low screened or naked bike, the peak does vibrate a fair bit. It’s a common problem with this type of helmet as there is no central support for the peak because of the opening mechanism.
For riders with a pillion or who like to chat to other riders while riding, there’s an external housing for your Bluetooth wiring. We prefer the sound of an exhaust …
Aside from regular riding we’ve also used this helmet while CBT training and as an instructor’s helmet it’s spot on. Nice clear field of view, easy operation on the visor and internal visor and when talking to pupils the ability to flip the front up without removing your helmet is perfect.
It’s also good for those annoying petrol stations that won’t turn on the pumps if you’ve got your helmet on …
ON THE TRAIL
As an off-road helmet the X Trail works well, but inevitably the increased weight associated with the flip front mechanism contributes to substantially heavier helmet than a dedidicated off-road item. We use a Suomy Mr Jump helmet that comes in below a kilo – at 1790 g you can see that the X- Trail wont necessarily be to choice if you are going to be off road riding for hours on end. As a similar comparison, the LS2 Pioneer – our regular adventure helmet tips the scales at 1350 g.
SHOP FOR THE ADV HELMETS WE RECOMMEND…
APPEARANCE
DURABILITY
We like the styling and graphics on the X Trail, and we also like that it doesn’t look too ‘flip front’. There are four colour options available.
Hard to judge after just a few weeks of use, but the quality of the Premier brand shines through. That said as a thermoplastic helmet it’s life span is relatively short!
COMFORT
VALUE
No complaints here – the X – Trail is comfortable for long days on the bike and the peak gives a touch of lift on the faster sections. Washable lining is a useful feature.
The X – Trail comes in at around £170 which is good value for an adventure focussed flip front helmet. If you haven’t tried one, they work well especially for urban riding!
RIDE EXPEDITIONS RATING - PREMIER X - TRAIL MO FLIP FRONT ADVENTURE HELMET
Considering that we were not keen on flip fronts before testing this one, we’re impressed with the X – Trail as a good option for a road riding or adventure helmet.
We can’t go to five stars however because the relatively heavy construction of a flip front make it not quite as good for genuine off-road adventures, but overall we like the Premier X – Trail MO Flip Front Adventure Helmet.
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