uchi

i think ive learned my lesson. generally before i buy something online i do my research first, and if its any kind of clothing i try to either find that item or similar items from that company and check the fit to get an idea of what size i am. ive bought my jacket and boots online and theyre great, my pants are a little snug in the legs but ive got large legs from leg pressing damn near 1000 pounds in highschool. but regardless the pants are leather and fitting better the more i wear them.

on to my story, im an impulse buyer, if i want something i buy it now or not at all, most guys are, haha, so when i saw the akuma phantom 2 helmet with transition shield i wanted it bad. ive always wanted a full carbon fiber unpainted helmet and the transitional shield was the topping on my cake. i didnt mind the $400 price tag or the $27 to ship it to me. so i began to contact akuma, talked to a very nice lady named cari papick. we discussed my head size and she informed me i was between a large and xl which i found shocking. my mx helmet is an l/xl, my hjc is a xxl and my shark is an xl and it fits my head perfectly, no gaps on pressure, like it was molded to my head. so i do some reading online and people are saying to buy up one size cause akuma sizes them small. so i check the size chart and its saying that the large goes to 61 cm and the xl goes to 64 cm. well im a 61.5 at the widest part so i figured i had 3.5cm to play with and cari had confirmed this and said it should fit. so i paid and the helmet arrived. luckily i wasnt hit with any duty. right away i could tell this thing would not fit my head. i could see from its opening it was gonna be tight. so i tried, and i failed. she didnt make it past my eyebrows. how they figured 64 cm is beyond me. i think they meant 54. so i tried a few more times being the stubborn bastard i am and she didnt fit. my buddy wears a size large shoei and this xl fit him perfectly. so yeah, 1 size small is how they fit.

so i contact cari and discuss this with her, it turns out they had a small run of xxl helmets but she said it wouldnt fit as the shell of the helmet wouldnt have cleared my head even if i had yanked out the lining and styrofoam. from what i gathered indirectly from her and from the internet the xxl was the same shell as the xl with a thinner liner, and form the looks of it the xl uses a large sized shell.

so cari informs me that they will exchange the helmet for another one off their site and i explained how a big selling feature was the cf and the transitional shield and that none of their helmets interested me. i should have taken the refund at that point but kinda like the apache. i wasnt 100% sold on it but i love anything with an army theme so i ordered it and she tossed in a gold chameleon transitional shield at no cost. this thing is cool it goes from clear to tinted with a gold finish on the outside when in light, i played with it today, very very cool.

anyways, i send back the old helmet, $34 to return and they said theyd cover shipping of the new one. very nice of them. so now my $400 helmet is costing me $461. still im ok with it and off it goes. and cari was nice enough to send me a new one while mine was still in the mail to them.

so today the new helmet arrives as im about to leave for work. turns out i get dinged with some duty this time, $15. whatever 15 bucks wont ruin my day. so i unpack it and first thing i noticed is how fuken big this thing is. trust me, those pictures make it look small. this pig is huge and those wings or whatever they call them look like ****. so i slide it onto my melon, its an xxl. it goes on, a bit snug but goes on, and it feels like my head has been placed in a vice. within 30 seconds i rip this thing off. so i try it on again just to make sure i wasnt imagining it not fitting. nope i wasnt, it doesnt fit.

so i send cari another email explaining how this helmet doesnt fit and feels like my heads being crushed. luckily it was too ugly to keep and the not fitting part was just a bonus. i explain that id like a refund on this helmet, she happily tells me she'll issue a refund within 10 days of this thing being returned to them and apologizes for these issues. so i hit up canada post after work and ship it, $38 to ship this one. turns out the extra uglyness and weight brought the cost up.

so im expecting a refund of the original $400 but im fucked on shipping and duty. in total im out $114. that im extremely unimpressed about. maybe it was my fault for being a greedy impulsive bastard, maybe akuma should figure out their size chart a little better. regardless thats the last time i buy a bucket online without trying one on in person first, problem was i didnt have a place to try one on so i took my chances.

cliby

good reminder. I never buy a helmet I haven't tried on somewhere first. Its a real PIA sometimes to find it but its just too hard with shipping etc. The bigger shows, if they come near you are a good time to do that or the very large cycle shops that seem to have little loyalty to any one brand of anything. I also feel less bad about trying on their if I haven't wasted a sales persons time. I always give them a chance to get near internet pricing and if they do I'd buy from them in a minute. If they won't budget I don't.

I do love the site linked below for what seem like very fair unbiased and incredibly thorough reviews. you can search/rank by what variables are important also. The ones I've used or tried on fit their descriptions very well. Interesting they do talk about the Akuma you bought and sizing.

http://www.webbikeworld.com/r2/motor...uma-phantom-2/

Index page:

http://www.webbikeworld.com/motorcyc...le-helmets.htm

uchi

i read the review on there and also on some forums where guys had bought these. the only thing that confused me was that akuma had listed me as being right between a l and xl so xl just made sense. not in this case, lol.

im the same way, if someone is willing to match a price or even come close to where its not worth my time buying online ill gladly buy from them, especially if its a local business.

ive read alot of reviews from web bike world, probably some of my favorites.

also to mention for those with small heads, that phantom 2 is feather light. like 3 pounds i think. and its got a gorgeous finish.

altosuperhawk

Sorry to hear about the fitment problems. Buying any gear without trial fitting is always a roll of the dice. I thought I'd performed my due diligence with my purchase of one of the new Bell Stars, reading various buyers reviews, webbikeworld's review, and contacting Bell directly. Their 'large' was too large so they sent me a pair of 'medium' pads and now it fits like my large Arai RX-77RR's, Sharks RSR 2's, HJC AC-12 Carbon, and Akuma Phantom Carbon. Revzilla sells the Phantom for $399.00 delivered with one free exchange according to their website. They're also selling the Vemar Eclipse Carbon for $329.00 delivered- another very nice looking carbon helmet.

altosuperhawk

I'f you're lookin' for a carbon fiber helmet and don't mind 'green' or 'copper' colored carbon, 'newenough.com' is selling Joe Rocket 101 Carbons for $142.99- plus shipping. 'motorcyclecloseouts' is selling all colors for $184.99- plus shipping. I think the JoeRocket 101 is made by HJC so it should be similar to their current HJC FS-15 Carbon.

uchi

very cool thanks for the info bud, ill check new enough. i go on there randomly to see what kind of sales they have.

if the joe rocket fits the same as the hjc ill likely pass on it. i wore my hjc for the first time the other day since september and it makes my shark feel that much nicer to wear. the fit of the hjc is terrible, it moves around, its noisy, its an all around terrible helmet and a size down didnt fit my head at all.

but i wouldnt mind trying on the joe rocket anyway maybe they added some more padding to it. ill have to try it in a store first, no more helmet online drama for me

altosuperhawk

If you're already familiar with Sharks' RSR 2 fit, 'motorcyclecloseouts.com' has silver or black Shark RSR-2 Carbons on sale for $349.00- about 50% off retail. If I weren't up to my armpits in helmets I'd buy one of these because of the RSR 2 fit, quality, and detailing.

uchi

Ill have to take a look at them for sure. I love half price items. Iand with shark I can try one on within 30 minutes of here to make sure it fits well just incase the rsr and rsi fit a little different