My helmet was in desperate need for retirement, so I finally went ahead and bought a Shoei Qwest (large) after trying my friend's large on me and feeling it a fit.
I had read all the reviews about it and despite a few negatives (there's always people out there that like to rant about how imperfect what they purchased is), it had an overall high rating, so I pulled the trigger.
The good: As everything Shoei, the helmet is very well built! The shell feels wonderful to the touch, and the foam inside feels quality.
Now on to the bad, which unfortunately is a much more extensive list:
1) fogging: What the hell was Shoei thinking? This helmet fogs like no other I have owned (and I've owned pretty crappy helmet in my riding lifetime). It is scary how much it fogs. The venting helps ZERO with this issue. The only way it doesn't fog, is if you have the left black lever down, which basically unseals the visor by pushing it forward and outward, leaving a 1 mm space between the visor and the helmet. Of course, this helps, but then again, the visor is not closed now, is it? Good luck using this function in the rain. Breath blocker? Yes, it comes with one, but it is useless. Some may say, what about a pinlock? Yeah, that would be great, IF IT CAME WITH ONE! you actually have to buy a full pinlock visor, which will run you another 70 dollars (canadian).
2) venting: It is hard to feel the venting, whatsoever, even with every vent open and doing 100 km/hr. If you have a good windshield that blocks direct wind, you will not vent whatsoever, and the fogging issue, again.
3) Aerodynamics: very bad, the helmet is quite turbulent.
4) Noise: quite noisy in my opinion, considering it is a 470 dollar helmet (again, canadian and tax in).
My overall experience on my first Shoei? Really negative. I wouldn't suggest anybody buy this crappy helmet.
I had read all the reviews about it and despite a few negatives (there's always people out there that like to rant about how imperfect what they purchased is), it had an overall high rating, so I pulled the trigger.
The good: As everything Shoei, the helmet is very well built! The shell feels wonderful to the touch, and the foam inside feels quality.
Now on to the bad, which unfortunately is a much more extensive list:
1) fogging: What the hell was Shoei thinking? This helmet fogs like no other I have owned (and I've owned pretty crappy helmet in my riding lifetime). It is scary how much it fogs. The venting helps ZERO with this issue. The only way it doesn't fog, is if you have the left black lever down, which basically unseals the visor by pushing it forward and outward, leaving a 1 mm space between the visor and the helmet. Of course, this helps, but then again, the visor is not closed now, is it? Good luck using this function in the rain. Breath blocker? Yes, it comes with one, but it is useless. Some may say, what about a pinlock? Yeah, that would be great, IF IT CAME WITH ONE! you actually have to buy a full pinlock visor, which will run you another 70 dollars (canadian).
2) venting: It is hard to feel the venting, whatsoever, even with every vent open and doing 100 km/hr. If you have a good windshield that blocks direct wind, you will not vent whatsoever, and the fogging issue, again.
3) Aerodynamics: very bad, the helmet is quite turbulent.
4) Noise: quite noisy in my opinion, considering it is a 470 dollar helmet (again, canadian and tax in).
My overall experience on my first Shoei? Really negative. I wouldn't suggest anybody buy this crappy helmet.