Let’s face it, not everyone wants to wear a helmet; some riders just don’t like the weight and bulk of it and don’t like constantly being aware it’s there. But the same folks don’t take safety lightly and recognize that head protection can make all the difference in a crash.
The Airoh TRR helmet may offer an answer to both sides of the equation — exceptionally light weight with the freedom of open-face design. Airoh Helmet, an Italian helmet maker, has a range of open-face, modular, and full-face helmets for on and off-road use as well as helmets for kids and bicycle use. The TRR is included in Airoh’s line of off-road helmets, but with its remarkable light weight (only about 900 grams or 1.98 pounds) and innovative design, it could be good all-around.
Aimed at trials riding, the Airoh TRR could make a light and cool all-around helmet as well.
The secret to the TRR’s lightweight construction is due in large part to its multiaxial carbon fiber and Kevlar composite shell. To allow the shell to be as thin and light as possible, but very strong and rigid, the design makes use of parallel ridges around the body of the helmet. Just as the corrugations in corrugated steel sheets make thin sheets of steel much more rigid than a sheet of non-corrugated steel of the same thickness, the ridges around the Airoh add strength without adding weight. The ridges are cleverly used as both a strength element and an aesthetic element in the TRR design. Adding more rigidity to the shell is a lip that protrudes from the rear of the helmet’s base, like that seen on the helmets worn by Roman centurions. Over the top of it all is a very smooth high-gloss white finish.
The helmet’s unique design features don’t stop there. A removable sun visor is attached with two threaded plastic wing bolts that come off without tools and a metal screw that is concealed under a removable black plastic grid vent in the top of the visor. This part of the attachment system not only requires an Allen wrench to remove, it takes a screwdriver or similar tool to pop the plastic grid out of the way to get at. Care must be taken to avoid breaking the grid or slipping and scratching the helmet while removing it. For those who really like the utility of a sun visor, this feature will be welcome. In addition to being removable, the sun visor is adjustable in terms of the angle of its mounting on the helmet.
The Airoh TRR is perhaps the most massively ventilated helmet available. Two huge top vents with removable clear plastic covers (that don’t completely close the vents) are situated over the crown of the helmet. The vents measure about five inches in length by an inch wide at the widest point and have large mesh grid covers in them. Two more slash vents, each about five inches long and three-eighths of an inch wide at the widest point open out of the rear of the helmet. Still more small vents are located under the visor at the brow line at the front, under the ear at each side and four more vents exhaust air out the back under the lip at the base.
Two huge top vents and eight more besides make the TRR one of the most well-ventilated helmets I’ve seen. Clear plastic covers (shown installed) can be removed to make for even more air flow.
The removable and washable interior is designed to maximize the ventilation, as well. The expanded polystyrene (EPS) impact layer is channeled to allow a lot of air to move to the vents and the breathable cushioned inner liner is designed with eleven smaller openings from front to back over the middle of the liner and two large openings on either side of the liner.
The heavy-duty nylon retention strap is fully padded and the closure is a micrometric ratchet-style buckle. This is a joy to use because no time-consuming slip-strap adjustment is necessary; just slide the notched end of the strap into the buckle and, like a ratchet, keep letting it click tighter until you get the fit you want. Opening it is instantaneous; just pull down on the red tab and the ratchet releases.
The TRR meets Economic Community Europe (ECE) 22.05 helmet standard for safety. The Airoh TRR is available for about $300, depending on finish options. Go to Burn Out Italy Airoh TRR Helmet to learn more.
