Arai vs Shoei for sizing

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Wull

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I?m away on Sunday to J&S to try on Shoei?s for the first time, how do they compare to Arai?s for fit etc?

with Arai I?m a medium and I do love my arai?s, but I fancy a change and love the look of the Shoei X-Spirit 3, and the 2 if I?m being honest. The missus is needing trousers etc so whilst I?m there I?ll try them on to see, then decide whether I?ll go for the 2 or 3. Can?t have too many helmets in your life.
 
Forget the brand and go for what fits best, I'm changing my lid soon and Chaser X is the only Arai that fits as well as my Shark Pro carbon
 
Helmets

There?s no point trying to compare Arai and Shoei helmets as what fits one person may be completely different for someone else. Just try on a couple of different sizes and buy the one that fits best. I personally wear Arai helmets as I?ve crashed in them numerous times on track so trust them implicitly. It?s also worth noting that different models from the same brand will often fit differently as well. That said Arai and Shoei helmets are both superb.
 
I've an Arai head , I've tried on Shoei before and didn't feel comfortable at all. I'm on my 4th Arai now having just bought the ltd edition Hutchy rep at the IOM. It's a Chaser X , it's a great looking helmet but a wee tad noisy , my 4 year old other one is a Quantum ST and is far less noisy. If I had a Shoei shaped head I'd have the Hickman rep 100% , it's a belter but I'm sure it's almost ?900 .
 
Was just looking for a general idea of what they’re like in comparison, like I’ve stated I’ll be trying Shoei helmets on today. I too have became one with the road with Arai protecting my noggin and it took a fair bit of abuse and done the job well.

i just fancy trying something different.
 
I had a cheeky wee “try on” of the Shoei air gt (I think) as they never had any x-spirit 3 helmets in stock and the fit was pretty good. I asked if the fit would be similar to the x-spirit 3 and they said it would be so I decided to go for the x-spirit 2 that I had been watching.

I’m well pleased with it, the fit is fantastic and it’s proper comfy, do I like it over my Arai’s??? I think I do. I did a track day the other day and used the Arai just in case I went down, I didn’t want to damage my Shoei lol!














 
Do you actually have the lid yet Dude, the Air GT is a longer front to back helmet. I know this because I have a long oval headship and its a frikin nitemare trying to get a lid to fit, all the Arai touch my nose at the front including the Quantum ST which was supposed to be a longer oval as opposed to Arai's medium oval regular fit. I had an Arai Viper GT a few years back and it just fitted but it was a mega comfy lid although it was a noisy one and it protected my nut in a huge road crash, however when I went to get a replacement Arai none fitted. So I looked at Shoei and the NXR and X-Spirit line are more like Arai fits so had the same issues however the GT air fitted me like a glove. It seems to me that all the actual racing helmets are tighter to the face and the touring helmets appear to have more room in front of the face. Just my take on it for what its worth
 
It is also worth bearing in mind that Shoei offer 3 different thicknesses to their comfort liners, and if you purchase the helmet from a Shoei retail centre this is a complimentary service.

I am a somewhat rounder-oval head-shape and have a GT Air. This initially caused pressure points on the side of my head, however, by changing to the thicker crown pad, thus allowing the helmet to sit slightly higher on my head, it has successfully altered the fit to the point that I no longer have the pressure points.

If anyone has issues with Shoei fit, I would highly recommend at least trying their alternative comfort liner options, you may be pleasantly surprised


- Oli
 
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