Assistant Manager, James, resides in our Oxford shop and for the last month has racked up 1000 miles in a Schuberth C5 flip front helmet. Here's what he had to say....
Around a month ago I was offered the chance to test the Latest Schuberth Modular, The C5.
If you’re not up to speed with who Schuberth are and what they do, let me fill you in, for years they have been renowned as one of the highest-level premium helmet manufacturers for the automotive industry (worn by current F1 champion Max Verstappen) as well as producing military, firefighting, and law enforcement protective headgear.
I’ve personally used quite a few different helmets in my time but using this flip-front was a first for me, being a consistent full-face helmet buyer. I have to say there is a certain feeling of entitlement, a kind of Karen-ness, that comes with strutting around with the chin bar aloft which for me would take some getting used to, but that is a personal stigma to get over.
Schuberth commonly markets itself as having market-leading aeroacoustics in their helmet models, owing to the use of an in-house wind tunnel used within all processes of the helmet design. I was expecting to pull off down the road and have next to zero sound transfer or a kind of synthetic-sound-dampened acoustic experience. However, what I experienced was far from this in reality. The designers and manufacturers have done wonderous things with their aeroacoustics there was no eery silence instead a crystal-clear sound coming through to my ears that I have never experienced with a helmet on, it is as if you are wearing nothing at all. There is a slight sound of the perceptible natural movement of air but nothing that I would constitute as “wind-noise” it feels akin to walking around in a strong gale which is fine by me when travelling at motorway speeds.
On the Yamaha Tracer 9 GT, I have a larger than average screen which can cause some buffeting with air tumbling over the screen and repeatedly striking the helmet causing the feeling of your brain being shaken loose, however, due to wind-tunnel wizardry, the C5 manages to all but completely counter this and entirely smooth the flow of passing air over and around the head stabilizing the buffeting effect, leaving you feeling fresh and fully alert.
In my opinion, the C5 has a comfortable fit and is reassuringly snug around that kind of sideburn area (around cheeks and ears) and across your forehead, which I feel is probably essential to prevent the helmet from rolling forward when all the weight from the chin bar is raised above your head pulling the helmet forward. The anti-roll off neck strap (additional neck strap that is connected to the rear of the helmet) also aids in spreading the additional load from in front of your forehead and ensures a comfortable safe feel that also doubles up as a way of preventing wind noise to enter the helmet under your ears. Schuberth’s anti-roll off-neck strap is found across all the current models, and although it looks as though it would have taken inspiration from their military helmet range, it is something that aids functionality, comfort, and safety all in one little design masterclass. Top job Schuberth!
The pinlock 120 that comes in the Schuberth works perfectly. The visor is positioned very close in and you feel fully enclosed, the angle is almost paralleled to your face which is unusual, and there is very little slope to the visor, which seems to have aided in allowing a very clear and undistorted view of the road ahead. The peripheral views are entirely uninhabited. Just to seem really picky I do find the size of the chin bar annoying, with the seating position on the Tracer being very upright I am unable to see the clocks with a flick of the eyes downwards, I do have to nod my head down to be able to see the instrument clusters, which, while annoying, is just something you learn to do instinctively after a few days of riding in it.
The only other thing I could mention about the chin bar is the need to lock it into place when riding in the open position. The chin bar does feel as though it could drop down in front of your eyes at any second when not locked in place. This is something you do not have to do with some of the Schuberth’s competitors, say the Shoei Neotec 2, although this may have changed with the new 2206 version of those models.
I experienced no issues at all with ventilation while testing and the drop-down visor has stayed fog free for me at all times while testing which is what I would expect from a company with the reputation of Schuberth. The drop-down sun visor slider is positioned along the neck roll meaning that there is no sound-resonating hollow by your ear to house the drop-down slider as I have experienced in other helmets I have owned with internally housed sun visors.
Although I have not used the SC2 Schuberth/Sena Mesh comms kit in the test helmet I can happily recommend this as a great addition to the C5. Sena’s Mesh seems to work very well and we get great reviews on them from customers with the addition of the new Harman/Kardon speakers to the Sena mesh range, it’s really given Sena a system to rival the Cardo Packtalk Edge.
So, in summary, it’s a good 9/10 from me on the Schuberth C5 with great everyday usability and recognizable German craftsmanship you can feel as soon as you don the quality Schuberth C5.