BELL SUPER AIR R AND SUPER DH SPHERICAL

Bell Super Air R Spherical and Super DH Spherical

Of the three lightweight full face options from Bell, Ryan received the Super DH Spherical and I took the Super Air R Spherical convertible with a removable chin bar (the third is the Super 3R MIPS). I owned a 2015 Bell Super with removable chin bar and I liked the ability to wear a half shell up the mountain and a full face down. With the new Super Air R Spherical, I only wore it as a full face because it was so light, comfortable, and because it breathed so well on climbs, I didn't see the point in going half shell for part of the rides. I did a few rides with the chin bar off for testing purposes though. I'll go over the features and review of my experiences with the Air R then Ryan will take over and do the same with the Super Air DH for the second half of this article.

Bell Super Air R Spherical Features

"Spherical Technology’s Ball-and-Socket design, powered by Mips®, helps redirect impact forces away from the brain by allowing the outer liner to rotate around the inner liner during a crash." I never crashed, thankfully said my double-digits-concussed melon, so I am not sure how well this tech performs. The rotating feature is very noticeable when the helmet is on. I can swivel it, slide it and manouver in any direction (hence the Spherical name I surmise) about 10 degrees. The foam padding sits atop an entire piece of about a 1/2" strong foam which rotates on the helmet's thick outer foam. Two elastics keep the front of the piece moving smoothly while two rubber plugs take care of the back motion. The Bell Mips does not make annoying noises in my head like the Smith Mainline I tested did.

Easy 2-click removable chin bar. Well I'm not sure easy is the right word here as it took me a few tries to get it right with two clicks using my techno-challenged gloved-fingers but I easily had it figured out in short order...so I guess easy stays in the Easy 2-click feature.

Fusion in-mold polycarbonate shell. There is an astounding selection of 11 colours to choose from. Luckily I got the best: camo black and grey.

Progressive Layering™. Must be good cuz they TM'd it. The foam is way more extensive and comfortable than the previous Super Air I rode with.

3 level adjustable visor easy goggle storage. The visor pushes up easily, stays in place well and when in the mandatory middle position for maximum proper style points (no points for me on one shoot when the visor stayed high most of the ride - thanks for telling me, lensman Merdano).

Overbrow ventilation™ intake valves on the brow allow cool air in and through the air channel matrix. This worked very well; as I mentioned above it was one of the reasons I rode with it on full face mode almost exclusively.

A sweat guide pad that pulls moisture away from brow and eyewear. This does work well but like most brow sweat pads I have tried on other helmets it can't keep up to my excessive sweat on hot and heavy climb days.

Rubber grip on the back of the helmet keeps the goggle strap in place. Bell has combined the SUPER AIR logo onto a grippy rubber piece to aid in goggle strap stiction and it seems to work, although my Smith goggle strap is new and has a piece of silicone on the back to aid in avoiding strap slippage.

Different size cheek pads (I used the large ones) and a camera/light mount (which I never used).

Float Fit™: another trademarked item. The Bell fit thingy worked very well when locked. I found that it was easiest to fully tighten it down then put the helmet on rather than trying to tighten it while wearing the helmet. It was hard to get it to fully tighten when wearing the helmet and tightening it with gloves on.

Bell says the medium weighs 640G. My large tester weighed on the Home Ec teacher's scale at work was 769g. Other helmets I compare the Super Air R with are the Super DH at 860 for the medium, the Smith Mainline large I reviewed was 770g and the Troy Lee Stage I will be reviewing next year is a lighweighter at 690g for the medium/large.

US CPSC safety standard. I looked on the Virginia Tech helmet ratings site and the Bell Super Air R Spherical did not appear on it; I noticed very few Bells on the ratings so take for what its worth... Not much.

The stand out features for me are the comfort, lightness and exceptional airflow for both breathing and for cooling the sweats.

Conversion

In the words of an early adopter of the removable chin bar, Cam had this to say in his MET Parachute review, "Dual mode helmets are used in several different ways. There are riders who never remove the chin bar, those who decide on the chin bar based on the difficulty of the day's ride, others who remove and replace the jaw several times during a ride, and some who use convertibles as travel helmets because of the simplicity of bringing one helmet instead of two." I would say that other than the two or three rides I wore the helmet in half shell mode I fit into the the riders who never remove the chin bar category. However, I will admit to a number of rides where I used the decide on the chin bar based on the difficulty of the day's ride category where I just slapped on my Smith Session helmet because I was riding easy loamers that required a pile of climbing.

Regardless of those decisions I appreciate the ability to take off the chin bar. If I did not have the Smith helmet I would have reached for the Bell as a half shell. It is handy having a helmet for all the riding styles I partake in. Do I feel as confident wearing the Super Air R in full face mode as I do wearing the Troy Lee Stage? At first I thought not but after riding it on the gnarly trails and features that I wear a full face on I am now just as confident with the lightweight Bell as the Stage.

The padding on the top, cheeks and rear section of the helmet is comfortable and quiet, unlike the noisy Smith Mainline and a few other Mips lids my budz have told me about. I thought the rotating spherical motion might get uncomfortable, but as soon as I got riding I did not notice it at all. One side benefit is the ability to push the bar up to spit, drink water and soccer sneeze. Fit wise, the large fit my head just about perfectly. The cheek pads gave a bit of extra support for the helmet. Even when riding the roughest trails, the helmet remained fixed in place with minimal jiggling. The Bell Super Air R Spherical is a light, comfortable, cool and protective helmet that is going to be my go to lid this season.

Bell Super Air R Spherical 300USD 410CAD

Bell Super DH Spherical

Bell is one of those companies that seems like it’s been around forever - and indeed, they’ve been churning out helmets since way before mountain biking was even a thing. As is the case for many modern bike helmet manufacturers, Bell got their start making brain buckets for motorsports enthusiasts. In fact, it was Bell that introduced the very first full face motorcycle helmet, way back in 1968.

Thankfully for us mountain bikers, helmets have come a long way since 1968, and we’re now at the point where we don’t even have to choose exclusively between a half lid and a full face. The Bell Super convertible helmet has been in the lineup for several years now, and in fact, my first convertible helmet was an early generation Bell Super, circa 2014. I loved that helmet, and I still do (it’s not in my regular rotation anymore, but it’s in surprisingly good shape considering its age).

I’ve owned several Bell helmets over the years, and one of the main reasons for that is the simple fact that their shapes seem to fit my oversized noggin exceptionally well. As Trevor mentioned, I’ve been wearing the Super DH Spherical for the last several weeks.

As the name suggests, the DH Spherical is the burliest of the three Supers, and it’s the only Super model that complies to both ASTM F1952-15 (DH) and ASTM F2032-15 (BMX) safety certifications. Available in a variety of colours, from literally camo, all the way up to hi-liter yellow, you’re bound to find a style that suits you. While only available in three sizes, the Super DH comes with an assortment of cheek pads that, along with the Float Fit DH ratchet harness, ensure a proper fit for most head shapes and sizes.

The Super DH is the third helmet I’ve reviewed in the past year, and it’s the third helmet that’s come equipped with a Fidlock buckle, as well as some iteration of MIPS. While these two features are somewhat polarizing within the mountain bike community, I’ve learned to appreciate the easy-to-use Fidlock buckle - and love it or hate it, MIPS is a feature that seems to be getting harder and harder to avoid in mountain bike head protection. The MIPS Spherical system found on the Super DH utilizes a ball-and-socket design that features an inner foam shell that can rotate independently of the outer shell, which can help reduce the forces on the brain in the event of an impact.

At just a hair over a kilogram for the fully assembled size large, the Super DH is not exactly a lightweight, but it’s worth noting that nearly half that weight is carried in the removable chin bar. To add a bit of context to that weight, the Super DH meets the same safety certifications as my Bell Full-9, while still being over 100 grams lighter - a feat made even more impressive when you consider that my Full-9 features a full carbon fibre shell, and lacks the extra weight of the chin bar latches. While I certainly wouldn’t put the Super DH in the same league as the Full-9, it is built to withstand the rigors of DH racing and bike park laps, so it’s safe to say that the intentions of the Super DH lie somewhat beyond those of other convertible lids.

The Super DH has a comfortable and very secure fit when wearing in full face mode. Whereas many convertible helmets feel more like half lids with a flimsy beak protruding from your face, the Super DH feels closer to a proper full face helmet. There was no detectable sound or wiggle from the MIPS interface while in full face mode, and the minimal venting offered just enough breathability when traversing at slower speeds in warm weather. For those riders prioritizing ventilation over DH levels of protection, they may be better off checking out Trevor’s review of the draftier Super Air R, as climbing or pedaling with any sustained effort in the Super DH quickly became uncomfortable, and resulted in fogged eyewear.

Of course, the biggest selling feature of a convertible helmet like the Super DH is the ability to quickly remove the chin bar, and I’m pleased to report that the Super DH performed admirably as a half lid. Fit was still very comfortable, with just the slightest wiggle noticeable from the MIPS interface. While it seems counterintuitive, tightening up the Float Fit ratchet a few clicks is effective at removing some of that wiggle, although this may just be removing slack from the harness straps, resulting in less wiggle overall. Speaking of the straps, I appreciate how Bell has simplified the chin straps on the Super - I’ve always found the under-ear strap adjustments found on most helmets to be extraneous, and prone to self-adjustment over time. A word of caution though: If you routinely find yourself riding in sloppy conditions, you may want to steer clear of the neon yellow chin straps.

Possibly the most interesting feature found on the Super DH is the “Sweat Guide” pad, which is a cleverly designed brow pad that wicks sweat away from your face where it can evaporate, or drip down in front of your eyewear, instead of inside it. In practice, the Sweat Guide pad actually does work, the proof being the large pool of sweat that would accumulate on my top tube during exceptionally long and arduous climbs. As satisfying as crystal-clear eyewear is, the neurotic in me couldn’t help worrying about how much of my own redirected salt water was finding its way into my headset - such is the ridiculous kind of thing that keeps a machinist up at night.

The Super DH is a unique helmet, even when compared to other convertibles. The ideal buyer for a helmet like this would certainly be the winch-and-plummet rider who is frequently climbing with a pack (or other chin bar stowage device) to access ultra-rowdy terrain. Alternatively, maybe you’re the type of rider who just wants to minimize their gear bag, in which case the Super DH has you covered for any conceivable mission on two wheels.

Bell Super DH Spherical

460 CAD / 350 USD

Bell Helmets