Review: AGV GP-Tech Helmet

16 05 2008

Hello,

What do you get when you cross ultimate comfort, with ultimate technology and ultimate materials? You get the Ultimate Warrior….but apart from him, you also get the brand spanking new AGV GP-Tech. Retailing at £379.99, it most certainly is expensive, but what price do you put on your head?

The brand new AGV GP-Tech, the top of the line job

Well put whatever price you want on it, because until the SHARP tests come out (see below/here) I really don’t know how good it is, but from wearing it now for over 1500 miles in 4 weeks, I can certainly attest to certain things.

So, how does it feel knowing that I have the best money can buy on my face every day? It feels great. My Shoei XR-1000 is a nice helmet, but it’s nothing compared to this.

The first thing that struck me was that it actually fitted my head. I have tried on a lot of helmets and in the long list of ones that don’t fit me, the AGV is at the top. It was a shame because when I first started biking I was on the verge of buying an AGV Ti-Tech Rossi Gothic, the one he used from the 2007 motogp season. Even worse was that I was going to buy it off the net, but instead I headed to Scott Murrays to try some on and it didn’t fit me.

AGV GP-Tech
How smart is that! The two air channels on the crown

So it fitted me and even better, it fitted like a glove. The helmet is plush to say the least. The materials and fabrics used in this helmet are top notch and the interior of the helmet is a dream. The roof of the helmet is the perforated type of material, letting in some ventilation from the crown vents. The cheek pads and aperture surround are covered in a suede type material, which feels snug. There is CoolMax material used in the whole lining which wicks moisture away leaving the interior fresh.

The shell is made from a mix of Kevlar and carbon, which is really light. The design of the helmet is very aerodynamic, with 2 distinctive channels running over the crown for ventilation. The rear is quite pointy compared to other helmets and has another 4 10 vents to exhaust the remaining heat away from the inside.

AGV GP-Tech
Mega vent. Brilliant ventilation system and looks the business as well.

The ventilation on this helmet is fantastic. I have never felt fresh air on my face like this before. The Shoei was quite airy but that was mainly due to the chin being open completely. The AGV feeds a continuous flow of air in and around the face and keeps things nice inside, but also benefits from an enclosed feeling with the chin and neck skirts. However I can imagine in winter it may be a bit chilly. We’ll have to wait and see.

The visor on this helmet is both genius and disappointing. The visor doesn’t have pinlock, the famous anti fog double glazing that my Shoei had. Instead it has an anti-fog coating on it. Now from previous experience with both the Shoei and the Shark, I have always had fogging with anti-fog visors, but the AGV is something else. It is the start of summer at the minute so the real capabilities will again have to wait till winter, but there is no sign of misting at all with this visor. It’s amazing. UPDATE: Today I was riding along and suddenly I could see my breath, inside my helmet! It was amazing, I had seen it before, but the visor had misted up as well, however the AGV didn’t. It was great being able to see all this mist but also be able to instantly see out the visor when the air clearerd. Weird….However the disappointment lies with the visor mechanism.

AGV GP-Tech
The weak visor mechanism. It’s a bit difficult to change visors as well.

It doesn’t have enough friction. Compare the AGV with my Shoei and there is a distinct difference in ratchet strengths. The Shoei had a lovely firm ratchet, holding the visor wherever you wanted it to be, and if you wanted to close it completely, it would take that extra push to create the snap seal. With the AGV, it feels like the visor isn’t even on a ratchet sometimes. The visor has actually closed itself on a number of occasions, which has both startled me and annoyed me. Sometimes I like to go along with my visor open, but the AGV it’s impossible. Apart from that the visor is ace, especially the dark visor. I found with the Shoei dark visor that it was quite cloudy to look through, as if it was dirty. The AGV is crystal clear which is brilliant, and also without the pinlock insert, the viewing field appears larger.

AGV GP-Tech
The anti-fog visor. Note how easily it picks up finger prints. Annoying to say the least.

The stock GP-Tech rides quite low on my head. Its not just my head either which is weird. The aperture roof sits too low and forces me to look slightly up, which when you are going at faster speeds, is quite uncomfortable. However the way around this is a thin slice of foam, which I have put inside the crown of the helmet. This has allowed the helmet to sit more naturally on my head without compromising anything. (Thanks Chris)

On a final note, the helmet is really quiet, however not as quiet as Blair’s Schuberth, but a hell of a lot quieter than my Shoei, I think this is due to the small helmet opening and chin skirt, which were both available for the Shoei as the whisper strip kit, something which I was going to buy for a long time but never got round to it. I think I may have to invest in it after hearing the difference.

AGV GP-Tech
You squeeze your head through that tiny space, and it’s instant comfort.

My helmet is white, which shows up every splat of road kill, something which I hadn’t really noticed until now. My Shoei managed to cover most of it up and even though I cleaned it regularly, never really appreciated how many bugs have splatted. It’s both good and bad I suppose, it’s easy to clean my AGV and looks amazing when it is, but when I am out and about, its not very nice seeing bugs all over the place. I may look in to getting it painted, I don’t know.

So yeah, the AGV GP-Tech, top of the line helmet and an absolute dream. For nigh on £400, it’s a BIG price to pay for comfort/cutting edge tech. However if you want the pinnacle of helmet tech and comfort, look no-where else.

Fingers crossed it comes out top on the SHARP tests, which I have a feeling it will.

Thanks for looking folks!

More updates very shortly, including my RST GP-Pilot gloves, Furygan Orona Jacket, Puma Desmo 800 Boots and my Hardas jeans.

Gordon

p.s. remember you can see all of the photos here and from every single review/post on the photo gallery. Click the menu at the top to go there.

AGV GP-Tech