written by GeoffC on 25/01/2014
I bought one of these about 4 months ago and I truly wasted my money. This helmet ( which was only released last year , I believe ) has already been discontinued by HJC , presumably for the reasons I am about to illustrate !
Firstly , the helmet is still available at quite a discount.
Do NOT be tempted.
At first sight this was a well specified and well-made helmet that ticked all the boxes. It is constructed of a multi-fibre material which allows it to be both as strong as Glass-fibre but as light as Thermo-plastic and this all proved to be true. Obviously , I cannot tell you if it WAS stronger ( 'cos I stayed upright , much the best way , I find....) but it was definitely a very light and good-looking helmet with an excellent fit. I take a 56cm or small size and this usually means getting a helmet with a medium shell that has been padded-out to fit. Not so the R-Pha which has 4 different shell sizes ( even the best makers usually only have 3 , HJC only 2 , as a rule ) so the fit was superb. It also has ratchet fastening , an internal sun-visor , removable and washable lining , extensive venting and it comes with a pinlock visor as standard. All in all a fine specification at an admittedly fairly hefty price of £370 , which was hardly cheap. I thought I was buying safety and quality.
And there ends the good news.
In use the helmet was a great disappointment.
The venting , while extremely effective on hot days , allowed water onto the back of the visor on wet days . Even with the vents closed.
I ended up stuffing bits of foam into the vents to try to stop the water getting in but it still did and THEN ( despite the pinlock ) it misted-up. That alone was enough to have me looking for another helmet this year but then there was the retractable sun-visor.
Basically the spring loaded control on this was utterly useless and would not locate in any position save fully extended where it clonked me on my nose ( I don't have a big nose...honest). I ended up taking a dremel to the visor , how ridiculous. This wasn't a one off , I took it back to see if it was faulty but every single one in the shop did the same thing.
Even at a hefty discount , I would not recommend this helmet ; on a wet night it was positively dangerous and on a sunny day I ended up wearing sunglasses .