Five of the best flip-front helmets

Owners of AGV’s latest flipfront are full of praise for their helmet, with the first 15 customer reviews all coming with a perfect five-star rating. The Tourmodular runs a composite-fibre shell for the main portion and that keeps weight down - we weighed a size medium at 1607 grams, which is very respectable for a flipfront meeting the new 22.06 safety standard. Peripheral vision is excellent, the Pinlock anti-mist insert covers the vast majority of the visor and the sun visor has decent drop (no anti-fog coating, though). There’s a strong visor detent to help it stay open a little for airflow while riding, and the official AGV Insyde intercom is made by Cardo, which is a rarity as most manufacturers have a partnership with Sena.

The latest flip from Japanese maestros Shoei has made a flying start, collecting an average rating of 4.83 from the first 18 customers to post a review on Sportsbikeshop. The Neotec 3 is ECE 22.06-approved and carries on where the Neotec 2 left off, giving subtle but effective improvements across the board. The visor is more secure and seals more strongly to the helmet, the sun visor is deeper and the shell shape is more aerodynamic to try and reduce noise. The comfort lining has also been revised to help the lid cut through the air more quietly. The Neotec 3 was Shoei’s first helmet designed to take the Sena SRL03 intercom system, which is far smaller than the older Shoei intercoms - another step towards a quieter ride.

It’s one of the older models in this selection, and is being phased out in favour of Nolan’s new N100-6, but the N100-5 remains a popular and high-quality helmet. It’s also priced very competitively while stocks are cleared. It’s one of our favourite flips - as long as it suits your head shape. It has a plastic shell, meaning it’s not as pricey as the headline flipfront lids, but the general feeling of quality belies the price. The lining is plush, the ventilation is good, both main visor and sun visor are protected against mist and there’s an official N-Com Bluetooth system that integrates neatly. Touches like a two-stage opening for the chinbar and micrometric strap fastener also take it up a notch. The average customer rating from the first 98 reviews was 4.73. It’s approved to the older ECE 22.05 standard, but a four-star performance in SHARP shows the protection levels are high.

Schuberth were quick out of the blocks with a flipfront that met the new ECE 22.06 safety standard, and the C5 has made a solid start on customer reviews. The first 72 owners to post a review gave an average rating of 4.64. Ventilation, peripheral vision and the strength of the official Schuberth SC2 intercom are the main positive points that shine through from reviewers, and the chinbar lifting mechanism also draws praise. The visor mechanism upsets some, and there are some complaints about the durability of the paint, and the cost of adding the official intercom. If you fancy a peak, the Schuberth E2 is essentially the same helmet and can quickly be converted between adventure-style and road-style. The E2 had an identical average rating score from its first 22 customer reviews.

This one makes the list based on our own experience rather than the customer opinion, because it only has four reviews so far and feedback is mixed. Our in-house review found this to perform well on a 2000-mile tour, with strong ventilation, impressive peripheral vision, good aerodynamics for riding with the chinbar up and integration for a choice of HJC communications kits. The RPHA-91 is approved to the new ECE 22.06 safety standard and has a series of clever innovations like a pivoting chin curtain and ability to adjust the range of movement from the sun visor. Time will tell whether owners are won over in the same way we were, as early customer reviews raise issues with build quality.