ASK MBA: SHOULD I BUY A CONVERTIBLE OR DEDICATED FULL-FACE HELMET?

Q: Hi, I’m historically more of an XC-type rider, but come spring I’ll be moving to a place that offers a bit more rowdy trail selection. There’s a bike park pretty close by, so I’ve been looking at stuff to buy to get myself ready to ride trails like that. I’m getting a bit stuck on a full-face helmet. I want to get one for the bike park that’ll protect me well there, but I can also see myself pedaling in it on enduro trails in the backcountry. I know there are enduro and downhill-specific helmets, but I can’t afford to buy two expensive helmets. I’d love to have your insight.

Ken Hines

A future Colorado Springs, Colorado resident

A: Hey, Ken, thanks for writing in. Helmets are definitely the most important pieces of protective gear to wear on the trail. We always cringe when we see riders out and about on the trails without a helmet, because we’ve all had a helmet save our lives in one way or another, some of us quite recently.

When it comes to full-face helmets, there are a few things to think about concerning what features you might want and what type of riding you’ll be doing. If you’re planning to do more park riding than backcountry with the full-face on, we’d recommend getting a full-on DH helmet. Some of them are surprisingly breathable and will work in a pinch if you feel you need more protection on a particularly gnarly backcountry ride.

A good example would be the Giro Insurgent with Spherical technology. We’ve tested this helmet extensively and recently had a major crash wearing it. The spherical technology worked wonders, and there were no head injuries incurred, but this helmet is a bit clunky for your normal back-country full-day adventure ride.

We’ve also recently been wearing the Leatt Enduro 4.0 helmet with the removable chin guard. This helmet is very comfortable and breathes extremely well. We don’t wear it in the bike park ourselves, but we have other helmet options there. If it were our only option in the bike park, we would easily choose it over any half-shell on the market.

If we were to choose one for all your adventures, we’d choose an enduro full-face. There are some that exist with full DH certifications that breathe quite well. We wish you luck in your endeavors, and hope you will not have to actually use the helmet once you’ve bought it.