[Closed] Full face or not?

If its any help I have the Giro Switchblade and love it. Mostly use in the '3/4' setting and it is amazingly comfortable but still protective with full face for the days its needed. Would recommend for your uses too 🙂

It’s unnecessary right up until your face hits the ground. Only you can really judge if it’s for you or not

I find myself wearing my Bell Air R more and more cause why not. It's also warmer for winter riding. I only remove the chin guard for long climbs.

I wear mine for anything uplifted, racing and anything I perceive as particularly scary. If I was really being sensible I'd wear my full face everywhere I think. For me I just find the half shell a bit more comfortable for a pedally ride.

I'd recommend a lightweight full face as although they are no replacement for a downhill helmet, they can be suprisingly light and ventilated for pedal-heavy stuff. Wearing my TLD stage doesn't feel much more cumbersome than my half helmet. Necessity is very subjective, my take is that if it doesn't add much burden why wouldn't shouldn't you use the additional protection. I've never needed the chin bar thankfully but I'm grateful for it when riding a variable mix of trails.

I bought one as me and my son were going to an uplift. Son wanted one for all type of riding and I was more than happy for him to have the extra protection. I ended up smashing myself into the dirt and was glad of the full face. Just wish I had body armour too as I broke a rib or two. Anyway, since then, I wear the full face for all trails/parks. It feels a lot safer.

It’s unnecessary right up until your face hits the ground. Only you can really judge if it’s for you or not

My mates dad hit a pot hole on a road bike and smashed his face up. As in full reconstructive surgery with a face that looks different at the end.

I have a bell super with a removable chin guard and a full face. If it's a full face day I take the full face. I trail ride in the super without the chin bar on.

I've gone Full face Full time just to make sure everyone knows I'm overbiked 🤙🤘🤟

Only use mine on uplifts or when doing ebike runs, i wouldn't even think of wearing it for trail stuff and routes, it would be more annoying, not just overheating, but the fact that the chin guard gives you a blind spot which will not be a good thing if you're doing techy flat or uphill stuff.

i have a full face that i use for uplifts. it would be too big and lacking air flow for trail rides. it is also a bit claustrophobic and restricts the range of vision.

however, when i replace my normal lid, i’ll be looking at helmets with removable face protection. my local riding is laps rather than loops, so i’d remove the chin protection for the climbs, then replace it for the descents.

It depends on the ride, but usually try and take the full face wherever possible when trail riding. I usually end up taking the helmet off for fireroad climbs on hotter days, but I run hot and sweat a lot.

I'll still use the normal helmet for less gnarly rides and XC stuff, or when it's very warm.

Oh, and I've got the MET parachute and it's very light and well ventilated for a full face, not as cool as a normal helmet, but quite manageable.

Ok well that’s pushed me to pull the trigger on a MET Parachute, seem to be on offer most places for around £110 so I’ll see how it feels, thanks everyone.

Was pushing up at a race and a chap was sat in the back of an ambulance holding his mouth looking a bit smashed up. One of the crew was asking how come some have full face helmets and others don't.

I will say it's not a force field. Had a branch smack me a treat right in the gob as it pulled the lid down.

My none flippant answer, I've hone to wearing a full face as my only helmet, TLD Stage - about the same weight as my old TLD A2 .can't say I've noticed it's FF while not crashing.

Uplift I do, others I don't.

I have the IXS trigger and the equivalent IXS trail helmet… the truth is I can feel almost no difference between them in terms of weight or ventilation when I am wearing them, which means I wear the full face for almost everything. After a while you feel naked without the chinbar…

Wear my FF when ever I ride unless I'm out doing gentle riding with the kids.

If you're lucky enough to have a small enough head to be able to, then go for it.

I've given up even looking at the size labels on the various lightweight, airy ventilated full faces that I see dotted around the place.

Would love to have one, but they just don't exist in my size

Unpopular opinion - multiuse trails like a lakes bridleway, if you feel the need for anything more than an open face and knee pads you are going too fast for a shared trail.

I keep considering it, but think - how many times in 25 years of riding bikes and probably hundreds of crashes have I ever hit my face?

Once, when my radius snapped, came out
of my forearm and cut my cheek open.

Full face wouldn't have helped. Pass on adding a lb of weight to my head all day.

I don't race DH tho. Would if I did.

If you're considering a Giro Switchblade, make sure you have a Giro shaped head before you buy it. Mine felt great in the shop and is perfectly comfortable without the chin guard in place. In full face mode the weight of the chin piece pulls it down just enough to be incredibly annoying. I couldn't wear goggles with it as it was pushing them down into my eyes.

I didn't realise until I got to the Alps and I was so peed off with it that I ended up paying Morzine prices for a D3.

I only use it as a winter/night riding helmet now.

ayjaydoubleyou
Free Member

Unpopular opinion – multiuse trails like a lakes bridleway, if you feel the need for anything more than an open face and knee pads you are going too fast for a shared trail

I’m more than capable of landing on my face at walking pace

if you feel the need for anything more than an open face and knee pads you are going too fast for a shared trail.

Whilst there is some merit in what you say, it breaks down upon further examination.

There's loads of hard fast, rocky descents in the Lakes where you can see hundreds if not thousands of metres ahead and ascertain if your speed is likely to impact any innocent ramblers.

Once you've had a good look, why shouldn't you let rip?

< fair enough, I wouldn't wear one for Loughrig Terrace :-)>

I wear one when I am required to for racing & generally curse it the whole way round.

I have tried various lightweight versions, and have never been impressed with them, so when I have to wear one, it’s a proper version (Troy Lee D4).

Definitely wouldn’t wear one for normal riding.

I wear a TLD stage for most things; it’s comfortable, no negatives for me really and works well for the kind of crashes I have. After the recent storms, it also protects against all the branches across the face and driving rain. Obviously my personal preference!

After dealing with a mates horrific facial injuries on a Wednesday night ride, we all wear them now.
Going for a cruise by myself, I usually don’t bother because I’m not going as hard. Though sometimes I think I should anyway as it’s easy to get carried away.

I could wear my Parachute all day, take it off for the big climbs.
It has a lot of dings in the chin bar, some come in useful a few times.

Same riding as OP. I have the Bell Super Air R, am using the chin bar way more than I expected to. Don't feel the need for it, but with this kind of helmet it's hard to argue why not.

Off on climbs if it's warm, as it increases retained warm breath around your face which gets me hotter and fogs up my glasses. I'll go without it on an XC ride on familiar trails, but otherwise it's either attached, strapped to my backpack, or velcroed over the handlebar (to stop it bouncing off). Easy to fit/remove without taking the helmet off.