Off-road helmet verses street-helmets

My street helmet is not as well vented, a bit heavier, hotter, has no visor, and dust can be an issue if in a group. My dirt helmet catches wind to the point of annoyance, is LOUD even with earplugs, is cold when it's cold out, works great with goggles obviously, and has a sun visor.

Given the downsides of each choice, I've personally chosen to use the street helmet in almost all situations. Most of my dual sport riding is done solo, so dust is a non issue for me (and there's nobody there to see me looking like a dork ). At offroad speeds under 25 or so (most of my tight offroading) I just raise the visor and have my naked eyes dangerously out in the wind. Risk taker, I know... I've tried sunglasses, but they always hurt my ears.

The only time I'll wear the dirt helmet on a dual sport ride is if it's going to involve either a large group (rare), or trailering to the trailhead (even rarer).

I've thought about strapping the dirt helmet on the seat for the freeway ride to the trail, then locking the street helmet to a tree while I ride and picking it up later on the way home. Seems like a decent idea, but with my luck I'd come back to a helmet full of rat shit or ants. :eek1

so I don't see really any big advantages for using dirt helmet for off-roading...
besides riding with face lid open and goggles means a wasp can fly in into your head area...

What??? Wear a "street" helmet in the dirt?? Been there, done that back in the 70's:









At the time the Bell "Star" was the only full face helmet made by anyone!

Street helmets have more padding, less air flow into the helmet and also tend to be heavier than current off-road or dual sport helmets. I have a full face Motocross style helmet I use for off road racing and playing. The liner is easily removed and washed of the sweat and dust. I have a nice clean full face street helmet for road bike riding, and a dual sport style helmet when on my sidecar and dual sporting. The street helmet is much quieter than the other 2, visibility is best with the MX and Dual Sport helmets.

If you are talking real offroad vs. off-pavement then, to me, you want an offroad helmet. They are lighter, flow more air, goggles are better eye protection for roost and dust, usually better visibility, better visor (than dual sport) and usually easier to clean the padding.

That said, if it is really cold or raining I am wearing my street or dual sport helmet regardless of where or how I am riding. Raindrops sting and cold rain drops sting worse. I would have given a week's pay for one of my other helmets in the picture below.

In other words, being a 35 year dual sport only guy, I like having all three types to cover all conditions. But I am not wedded to any of them. They all do different things well. Well, maybe that damned Yamaha offroad helmet that fits so perfectly. I can't bring myself to retire it.

They can get under the street helmet pretty easy also.

...
a couple of strips of duct tape to cover the gap between chin guard & goggles makes an off road helmet bearable.

For rain, yes. Not so much for cold. I was really, really happy to get off that mountain that day. Next time some toothless old guy at a one pump gas station tells me it is snowing up there........

only full face helmet can protect you from this...




and when off roading you have good chance to hit some nest of hornets or other surprises...

also, I'm not a fan of goggles either...

I have a close fitting pair of wrap around Rx sun glasses with gasket attachment to use with my dual sport helmet. Makes up for lack of goggles in most cases. Would be easy to get a non-Rx pair with interchangeable lenses to do the same. Not perfect, but then again dust gets inside my goggles too with my off road set up. They almost work as well as goggles.

You are right though, rain in an MX helmet/goggles stings like BBs.

I have Cheap crossover that I bought as a summer helmet a few years ago during a hot spell, (ZOX is the brand)it is essentially a dirt helmet with a flip down face shield. It’s lightweight, well ventilated and the perf. vision is exceptional
I love it , the vision is great, I can wear goggles when I’m offroading it and put the faceshield down in the rain and snow (bugs,diesel exhaust,...)
The downside is that it is loud over 50, the replacement faceshield is a custom fit and has to come from the mfgr. and it's cold in the winter, But I’d rather wear a skullcap in the winter and use it instead of one of my street helmets.
That said the helmet was only @$100. the replacement shield is $30. well worth a try as a second helmet for sure

In my opinion it is all about functions and compromises. Road helmets are generally quieter. A sun visor can be critical to shade a dirty face shield or goggles riding into the sun but they catch the wind at speed. A face shield deflects rain and bugs well but allow dust to get in your eyes. Goggles are easier to clean. Goggle lenses are cheap, small, and easy to switch out. Face shields are expensive hard to carry extras, and fiddly to change Dirt helmets provide lots of ventilation when you are working hard at slower speeds in hot weather. Street helmets are warmer in cold weather.

My current favorite is the KLIM F4 with Oakley AirBrake MX goggles. The F4 vents better than anything else but add the wind liner and breath deflector and it's warmer than anything else (it's made for snowmobiling after all). The Oakley quick change lenses are fantastic. With the combination it's as rain and bug proof as a street helmet but cool in hot weather. Just right.

After riding today for the first time off road with my new Joe Rocket (HJC) dual sport helmet I'm sold, temp was in the mid fortys with a light rain, trail was New England up and down hills loaded with baby heads wet leaves mostly 1st and 2nd gear riding, I was swetting up a storm I very thankful for all the air that it flowed. On the down side on the road sections my head was chilly.

Hey quick question. I have a zox tribe helmet and am wonderimg if there is an attachement to be able to mount a face shield on it? The current placement of the visor screw is way too high. Thanks

Jim

One key thing about visors on off road or dual sport helmets catching wind - it depends on the rider posture. I have little to no issue with wind catching the visor because of the way I carry and turn my head. I tend to ride with my head tilted slightly down, always have, so no wind issues there. I also tend to turn my head in a way that the visor does not catch air, always have. As I look side to side I tend to tilt my chin down as I turn, rather than a flat turn that might cause wind to catch said visor.

If a rider does that, wind at speed with an MX helmet is no problem.

If it is the MX version you're out of luck. I think Zox makes a dual sport helmet, but not sure. By the way, is Zox a common or popular brand in Canada? I've seen them at Iron Pony in Columbus, but not seen anything about them otherwise.

Zox makes off road helmets, and yes they're are fairly popular around here. Most are between 80-200 bucks.

Iron Pony sells them really low buck. If they have a decent reputation that's half the battle. A good company may make cheap helmets, but they will still build safe ones.

Anybody can wear any helmet they want it's entirely up to the individual and there is no right or wrong.
I own both a ADV style helmet and a street helmet and I often wear the ADV helmet on the street and the street helmet on dirt. The point about dust and googles is a good one googles are much nicer to use in dusty conditions. The other thing about many higher end street helmets in particular is that they are designed to be worn in the tuck street riding postion. The riders eyes are lower in relation to the opening and it is designed to be looked through with the riders head tilted forward. That is not how you sit on a ADV style bike.

When I was a kid I rode with an open face helmet and a peak, thought it was the ducks nuts, goggles came later which was a huge improvement, managed to dodge heaps more obstacles! Road bikes followed with full face lids and a visors, bloody brilliant! A few years back the lid crowd finally got with the program and have been making full face helmets with a visor and a peak!

For me it's the absolutely perfect combination, keeps the sun off the visor, far less light refraction for better vision, far superior for riding into the sun too! And yes I get it, it's not optimal for getting down the road on the Bussa at 180 mph but then again this is Adv Rider! What surprises me is what took em so long!

Dirt helmets work just fine in the cold. Sunday coming home on the sled wearing my Moto 9 and a head sock it was minus 28 degrees plus a 50 mph wind and I was plenty warm. That works out to about 70 below.