I was away on training, when I got back in the office on Thursday the helmet was waiting for me. I'm happy with the matt black, I think it looks much better than the gloss black. I used it on the trip back home on Thursday evening, it's about 93 miles. The Pinlock insert is separate in the box when it is delivered so I fitted that right away. When I first put it on it was very tight, I had tried on the Small and Medium and I know the Medium is too big so I wasn't worried, a new helmet will be a bit tight. The first thing I noticed is that it is quieter than my previous helmet. I noticed this before I even got riding, the sound of the engine idling was much more muted (note: I also wear SNR 29 rated ear plugs.) On the motorway the sound reduction is noticeable too, much quieter than my previous helmet (a Shark RSI Titan.) There is much less wind noise and the aerodynamics (having been designed for an upright sitting position) are much better. You can turn your head left and right to check mirrors/blind spots and you hardly feel any pushing against your head (at about 85 mph indicated.)
When I got going I also noticed that my field of vision was improved, the Qwest has a good sized view port and the visor is crystal clear, even with the Pinlock insert in. The Pinlock goes practically edge to edge (top to bottom) on the visor, you have to look to see that you have a Pinlock insert and you only notice it if you concentrate on the far left and right side of your field of vision. This makes the Pinlock hardly noticeable at all and I found this quiet nice that they tought of making it so unintrusive. The visor latching system is spring loaded, when you close the visor fully the springs pull the visor into the rubber that goes around the viewport. This gives a good seal and you can really hear the difference, it's almost as if it does a slight sucking sound when it closes like that while riding. There is a lever thingy on the left, if you press down on it the visor cracks open about a millimeter away from the rubber, it seems to work well, but I can't see myself using it much as it's easier to just open the visor a bit. That said, if you open the visor a bit the wind can make it vibrate, whereas if you used the lever thingy it doesn't vibrate at all. If you push the latch up the visor locks and you can't open it without unlocking it again (pushing it down to the middle position unlocks.)
After about 10 miles I got used to the different way the helmet sat on my head. I realised it hugs my head much better, particularly at the forehead and behind my head. The material that lines the helmet is comfortable, it comes in close to the neck on the sides for a snug fit and I think this contributes to the good sound isolation.
I decided I will experiment with the vents. There is a vent at the front on the chin that operates very easily with a good positive feel. This vent blows air up on the inside of the visor. I could feel the change when I opened this vent (on my old helmet I never knew if it was open of closed.) The top vent was much easier to operate than I thought it would be. It's just a small button that you slide forward/backwards to close/open. It has postive feel and is easy to find, even with heavy winter gloves on. This one is really noticeable when it's opened, it channels loads of air right on the top of your head. Here Shoei has done well, the helmet liner and the holes and channels in the foam are perfect. I can see this top vent being of a lot of use in the warmer months. There are also two rear vents, they operate by sliding them left/right. They are not so easy to find, but this is nothing serious, I just needed to get used to where they are positioned (higher up than I thought they were.) They have a positive feel as well, you know when you've opened/closed one without having to think about it. The left one is easy to operate, the right one is bit more tricky if you are going at motorway speeds and you don't want to let go of the throttle. I turned my head right and used my left hand, seemed to work well enough. I didn't notice any difference with them open or closed, but I might have better results when the weather is warmer and there is more need for cooling. All and all I'm impressed with the venting, it works properly and is easy enough to operate. I also noticed that there didn't seem to be any more noise with the front or rear vents open. The top vent added some expected wind noise, but it was less than with my old helmet and quiet enough to not be of any bother to me.
Halfway home I stopped at a motorway services and fitted the chin curtain to the helmet. The curtain is quite big and quiets things down even more by stopping wind from coming in at the chin opening. I think I will leave it on, if it's too warm in the summer I might take it off, but I don't think it will be.
I'm very happy with the purchase and I think it's excellent value for money. I paid £260 at racevisors.co.uk and I got a dark tinted visor included too. I was out for a quick ride today to the nearest B&Q and I used the dark visor, it's not as dark as my old one and I think I might add a "dark" tinted Pinlock insert to it to get it to the right amount of light reduction for my light sensitive blue eyes. I guess most thing such as noise and comfort are very personal and that different people will perceive them differently, but I don't think I could have become a better helmet for the same price.
