Archive for May, 2011

I was chilling with Chris Delia a while ago at Andy’s place and we got talking about helmets and junk, turns out he and Juliet both have the TSG Superlight Helmet – one of the lightest half shell helmets on the market- and being a full-time helmet wearer I was obviously very jealous that they had helmets way awesomer than my own. Chris hooked me up with Matt (thanks so much both you dudes) who was stoked on me doing a review on the blog, so here it is!

Sorry I don’t have any pictures of the helmet when it was new, I literally got it the morning I was riding to Amsterdam plus it’s been with me to France as well, so it’s got a good 300+ miles of road on it already, so forgive the scratches. The first thing you notice with this is the weight – at 300 grams it’s almost half the weight of my previous helmet with all its stickers – and it really makes a difference on your head, forreal

The massive lightness paired with the 14 vents to keep your noggin breezy (good number) makes it much nicer to ride in, I’m not all head sweaty whenever I go anywhere it’s amazing. Once I got out of London on both trips the helmet came off and went straight on my backpack (which was heavy enough) and I’ve got to say there’s nothing I’d rather have had on my back, mad light

Other than that the shape is a little different too, I’m rocking the Large size and it hugs my head nicely – like not in a way like eating my head up but I can ride it without fastening the buckle, it actually fits and doesn’t move! It also comes with a selection of interchangeable liners to make sure you get a fit that’s good for you, though I was comfortable with it as it was.

The straps are good, the fit is great, the detailing is subtle and well thought-out, there’s not much more you could ask for! I dig it in matte black, scratches and all, it’s been through quite a bit on my head and otherwise, so any nics and scrapes are well deserved. Oh and it’s slimmer than most half shell helmets, so you get less of a mushroom head which is a plus. What else can I say? I’m seriously stoked on this helmet, I wouldn’t want to ride anything else and that’s the truth

for some technical information and nice photos check out the TSG SUPERLIGHT official site

photo by John Watson

To be honest I’m amazed no-one’s done this sooner – (most) straps are now strong enough in their multi-ply whatever velcro construction that having the main section of the strap fail is no longer an issue, and for ages people have known that the weakest part of the strap is where it enters the pedal on the out side. It’s obvious that this can be remedied by having a disposable section of material to wear down, like they have on many skate shoes. These prototype Hold Fast straps that Prolly put up the other day show this put into action, with stitched-on rubber to cover these areas. This is definitely a step in the right direction, and I wouldn’t be surprised if everyone is just going to copy it now… although having a removable/replaceable add on (pedal attatchment plastic guard?) would probably be better this is definitely a good sign, and it might turn out that straps are the skate shoes of fixed gear freestyle riding – strengthened in the most prone-to-damage areas but ultimately disposable. Anyway. Too much writing