I'd narrowed it down to the Shoei RF1100, the Shoei Qwest, or the Schuberth C3W. Motogear Outlet is where I try to buy all my gear. They had an XS RF1100 in stock so I tried that one on first. My brother has one and I think my sister-in-law also has one. They both like their Shoei helmets. But, helmets are a very personal item. You can't really decide much based on how others feel about theirs. I liked my Icon pretty well but lately it has had lots of wind inside which creates lots of noise. The RF1100 fit pretty well. I wore it around the store for a while and didn't have any trouble with it. But, I wanted to try the Qwest as well. So, Mary ordered an XS in white for me. She also ordered an XS in white in the RF1100 just in case I wanted that one.
While I waited for the Qwest to come in, I stopped in the BMW shop and tried on the Schuberth.
OMG.
It was so comfortable, so light, so quiet, and so light. And so expensive. The C3W is a modular helmet with a women's fit. That means it has a smaller bucket, check pads that are contoured more for a woman's smaller narrower face. It fit like the proverbial glove. XS. For some reason though, only the man's version comes in hi-viz yellow. Did I mention the price tag? Are you sitting down?
$699.
Yep. It's a $700 helmet, which is more than what my husband paid for his CX500. So, when the saleslady asked me what I thought, I was honest. I told her I really liked it but the price tag made the helmet purchase a group decision. She said she hears that a lot. She also said she couldn't afford one either.
So, today, I went to back to Motogear after getting a call that the Qwest was in. When I picked it up, it felt really light to me as well. When I put it on, it felt comfortable right away too. No pressure points to speak of and no weirdness with the fit. I tried on the RF1100 again just to compare and I could tell a difference in the shapes of the two immediately. It was something I didn't notice when I tried on the RF1100 the first time. The Qwest was much more comfortable.
So, I now have a brand new Qwest. And I'm writing this blog post so that I have a record of how long I've had it. Apparently, I've had the Icon since Christmas 2008. I couldn't remember so I just looked it up on my old CMX450 blog.
Did I mention it is white? A blank canvas, just waiting for some black and gold fleur de lis stickers!
