Commuting - Helmets with front brim

I'm thinking about getting a helmet with a front brim because they are more stylish. The one I have now is a bit ugly. I'm posting to see if anyone has a helmet like that and finds that the brim interferes with their vision. Sometimes I like to keep my head down but move my eyes to the top of their sockets and cheat peering between my glass and helmet. Will the brim prevent my from doing that?

I had a bell triton w/ a somewhat functional visor. These days I just wear a baseball hat under a helmet w/ no visor.

Do you mean the visor? You can always take it off if you don't like it, they usually snap into holes on the side of the helmet.

I'm thinking about getting a helmet with a front brim because they are more stylish. The one I have now is a bit ugly. I'm posting to see if anyone has a helmet like that and finds that the brim interferes with their vision. Sometimes I like to keep my head down but move my eyes to the top of their sockets and cheat peering between my glass and helmet. Will the brim prevent my from doing that?

Pic(s) of the helmet(s) you're thinking of getting?

I wear this Bell Citi.

http://media.rei.com/media/mm/41a9cca7-1ea4-4a7b-b7d8-6f5cad9fdf74.jpg

I can see fine when I ride with my head down, as the brim doesn't protrude that much. In fact, during certain times of the year when I'm riding into a low sunrise, I wear a bike cap under my helmet in order to have a longer brim that blocks a low sun.

I have a Giro with a visor. It serves its purpose. It's not in the way, just enough to keep the sun out of my eyes.

I recommend a visor. As said, you can easily take it off. If you're worried about your sightline, there are some helmets with adjustable visors. The mounts on either side of the helmet click into several different positions. Unfortunately, this helmet was stolen, so I don't know the brand. Also, you can mount mirrors and lights to visors.

I'm thinking about getting a helmet with a front brim because they are more stylish.


These days I just wear a baseball hat under a helmet w/ no visor.

Disconnect Fail

If you want a bigger visor you can go with the Carbon Spider Visor (http://www.lobosolo.com/visor/).

I like the visor on the Bell Influx. Functional and looks good. When I use it on my road bike on weekends it doesn't seem to get in the way, but it is detachable if it does.

I have a pro-tec cyphon. I like the visor because it keeps the sun out of my eyes. The large vents keep my head semi-cool too.

http://pro-tec.net/bike/helmets/cyphon/cyphon.html

http://www.bernunlimited.com/index.html

I used to wear a Bell Citi, and it's a great helmet with a nice functional sized visor that never got in the way of my vision, even with my head down a bit.

I only switched to a non-visored helmet because I wear a cap underneath mine all the time now. The visor on the cap works just fine.

What I never understood was that helmets intended for a mountain biker come with a visor, but for a road style helmet they usually do not.

I realize it doesn't matter, but one would think that the rider in the shaded woods wouldn't need a visor and the person out on the road with the sun beating down on them would.

Style Man is no more - who cares!

I carry a visor for my Metro. I only put it on when it is raining.

The visor on my citi is slightly tilted. Is that more stylish or more geeky?

It makes me tilt my head just a tad to properly align the visor with the horizon, so it's sorta like that dog from the RCA commercials.

What I never understood was that helmets intended for a mountain biker come with a visor, but for a road style helmet they usually do not.

I realize it doesn't matter, but one would think that the rider in the shaded woods wouldn't need a visor and the person out on the road with the sun beating down on them would.

Style Man is no more - who cares!

If you ride a road bike set up for fast riding, your back will be tilted down quite a bit more than on a mountain bike. Having a visor makes you have to crane your neck even more than you normally would in order to see where you are going.

cycling cap

See this on visors:
http://www.bhsi.org/visors.htm
After I read that I checked, mine has a good amount of flex. I like the visor in the summer, in the winter I take it off so I can use a headlamp

I have a Giro Hex that I bought on closeout from Jensonusa. It has an adjustable/ detachable visor and I like the looks of it. Of course I just commute so I couldn't tell you about aero dynamics but it fits my riding style.

Helmets are such a personal thing though so my suggestion would be to look at what's available in your area and to measure your head. And if you do buy online check the manufacturers measurements. I learned the hard way that one manufacturers medium could be anothers small (ouch!).

Yeah, don't think I would buy a helmet online, even if it fit sizewize I found some helmets are still not comfortable due to bad padding inside

My Bell Metro has a removable visor, similar to the Bell Citi pictured above. I use it to help shield my eyes from the sun in afternoons, and it also helps a little when it rains. To be honest, a cycling cap worn under your helmet works much better. However, my cycling caps make my helmets fit a little too tight and it's uncomfortable.

A visor is more stylish? Since when?? Maybe I'm getting old, but IIRC, a visor gives negative style points. Cycling cap FTW (for function AND style).

cycling caps don't have enough of a visor for the kind of rain I'm trying to see through each day. They do have a lower stack height than a baseball hat to fit under a helmet though.

The visor on my helmet is absolutely invaluable to me, when riding in heavy rain. The combination of the visor and cheap clear plastic safety lens glasses, (with a little Rain-X) allows me to ride unimpeded in heavy rain showers.

I don't notice much benefit in the bright sun.

If you want to look at something a little different, you could also try an Equestrian Helmet. I ran into a fellow on a recumbent with one these a few weeks ago. I've no idea as to the protection of these equestrian helmets versus bicycle helmets. Just throwing an alternative out there.
http://www.troxelhelmets.com/products/

What I never understood was that helmets intended for a mountain biker come with a visor, but for a road style helmet they usually do not.
Style Man is no more - who cares!

I've found visors are good for several things: not as good for others.

- For mountain biking they provide an added measure of protection in the trees from branches and such They glance off the visor before they whip you in the face. Can be very handy, it's a must in my area.

- For Commuting I like the visor in the rain, it keeps some of the direct hits out of my eyes. Also my ride home is straight into the setting sun. In the fall and late winter the sun is very low on the horizon sunglasses just aren't enough, the visor really helps a ton in the shielding from the intense glare.

- For road biking especially in a group I don't care for them. They cut down on the immediate peripheral vision that comes in handy when riding in a close group. Also they seem non aero, which is fairly silly I know, but one's perception is ones's reality.

The Bell Slant is the only hemlet I found that has a visor that was truely designed to be removed and replaced frequently. It has a nice clip system instead of those holes that wear out. The clip system also allows me to put my rain cover on my helmet THEN clip on my visor. Best of all it is not rediculously pricey.....

http://www.google.com/products?sourceid=navclient&gfns=1&rlz=1T4GGLJ_enUS319&q=bell+slant&safe=active&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=zpL4Sdy8OpWuMomb1csP&sa=X&oi=product_result_group&resnum=1&ct=title

I have a pro-tec cyphon. I like the visor because it keeps the sun out of my eyes. The large vents keep my head semi-cool too.

http://pro-tec.net/bike/helmets/cyphon/cyphon.html

Hey, I like they stlying of those helmets, and it looks like it would give better side-of-my-head coverage without sacrificing TOO much ventillation. Seems a bit pricey though. Do you wear glasses when you ride? Seems like it might get in the way of the glasses towards my ear, if you wear them do they fit ok?

Make sure it matches your day glo green vest. :) Sorry I couldn't resist

http://www.bernunlimited.com/index.html

Yup.

I have a pro-tec cyphon. I like the visor because it keeps the sun out of my eyes. The large vents keep my head semi-cool too.

http://pro-tec.net/bike/helmets/cyphon/cyphon.html

Nice.

I have a Specialized Mountain Man with a velcro attached visor. It is quite low so I probalby do crane my neck quite a lot in good conditions...but this is Scotland and it rains a lot. The visor does a good job of keeping it out my eyes and when it is "pishin doon" I drop my head and actually peer through the letter box shape holes in the visor. Of course this works for my unique head/ neck but have never been able to do this with any other helmet. You'd think that's what the holes were for.:o

Good topic. I prefer visors on all my helmets mostly b/c of the protection they give your nose/face from UV rays (skin cancer!).

A good money saving tip: Go to the goodwill/thrift store and strip off the visors to some of the old ratty helmets people donate. Go to the cashier and say how much for this? Most of the time they won't know what it is and will charge you like a quarter. Sometimes they'll just give it to you. You can attach the visor to your non visored helmet at home using superglue. You may have to make some holes in the side of your helmet if the visor has those nubs. Styrofoam is easy to puncture. Enjoy!

I have a Bell Metro with a removable visor, very handy in the rain. The styling on the Metro and the Citi are very similar - they look very sensible, certainly for commuting. :)

The helmet I use to wear and have lying around has a removable visor. I opted for it mainly because I thought it looked better. And it did. Without the visor it looks hideous.

I used to wear a Bell tourlite when I was riding in '84. Now I wear a knock-off of the tourlite.
It could be argued that I am not really protected because of the age of the helmet,but I feel that it is offering more protection than a helmet that I wouldn't wear.
Peace and Blessings

All my helmets have visors. They keep the sun and rain out of my eyes.