Schuberth E2 helmet review

In contrast to the position, say 20 or 30 years ago, the flip helmet is not spurned in the way that it used to be. If you commute or tour, then the case for riding in a flip is so strong that it barely needs making these days. But even if you are a leisure rider who only occasionally gets out at weekends, there are still many benefits.

This is perhaps not the time or place to plead such a case, but the benefits revolve around convenience, the ability to get cool air on to the face in hot conditions, and the extra quiet that comes from the fact that a good quality flip will have a tighter neck roll. There are also, of course, certain safety benefits that come from riding a flip helmet.

It has to be acknowledged that a flip helmet would not work as well on a pure sports bike, and if you are trying to portray an uber-cool image on a retro or custom bike, a flip might just not look right. But on anything else a flip will often be your best choice.

Now, with the growth of the adventure bike, many riders have convinced themselves that they need to ride in a helmet that has more of an off-road attitude. That would be a helmet with an extended nose and a peak. Personally, we are not convinced that such a helmet is the best choice for the adventure bike rider who spends the majority of his time on the black stuff. And let’s face it, that means the majority of adventure bike riders.

But, as bikers, we all like to belong to a tribe. If you ride a sportsbike, you wear leathers and sliders on your knees. If you ride a retro bike, it’s got to be jeans, a leather or wax cotton jacket, and hoopy socks. And of course there’s the adventure look. A longer jacket with lots of vents, and boots with clips. And so if this where you’re going, a helmet with a peak completes the picture.

There is, though, one great advantage to a flip-lid adventure helmet if you do find yourself somewhere really hot, or if you’re working hard off the beaten track. And it’s the ability to stop and get some cool air on to your face. A traditional, adventure helmet may have a large aperture, and this will help you stay cooler than you’d be in a normal full-face helmet. But in this regard there’s nothing the beats the ability to lift the chin bar, and let the air cool your forehead.

And so, some years ago, this is the helmet that Schuberth basically invented. Based on the then ubiquitous C3 Pro, it was called the E1, and was well greeted. For some, it was the perfect helmet. The C4, which succeeded the C3, was not around long enough to merit the adventure treatment. But the Schuberth C5 is a different kettle of fish. It is becoming clear that the C5 is indeed a very good helmet, and so Schuberth has conferred upon it the adventure look.

But first let’s very briefly recap on the C5, the helmet on which the E2 is based.

The C5 is a very good helmet. It has all the accoutrements that you would expect to find on a premium-quality helmet. You get excellent venting, a Grade 1 optical quality outer visor, a drop-down sun visor, a Pinlock 120 anti-fog insert, and so on. Clearly, it is accredited to the new, higher safety standard: ECE 22-06. The C5 is also pre-prepared to take Sena’s dedicated, Mesh-enabled comms. system. It’s a great system, and truly is ‘Plug & Play’, although we still contend that it’s not quite as easy to get along with as some systems.

But what marks the the C5 out from the majority of helmets out there, and indeed any Schuberth that has gone before, is that it comes with changeable liners so that we can customise the fit. When this isn’t possible, buying a helmet is pretty much a ‘crapshoot’. It’s an exercise in luck. Some helmets will fit you; some won’t. And if a helmet doesn’t, there’s nothing you can do about it. It’s this that sets apart helmet brands like Shoei, Arai and now Schuberth.

And Schuberth has gone about customising the fit differently to the other brands. In some ways, they provide greater scope for customising the fit than there is with even a Shoei or an Arai. But it’s not perfect. The bundling of the liners is less than logical. And the liners can only be fitted into three of the six sizes. But we have now accrued some knowledge and understanding in this regard, and we have found that we can often considerably improve upon the standard fit.

And so we think the C5 makes for a solid foundation for an adventure flip.

There are some differences, obviously, between the C5 and the E2. There’s the peak. And there’s the venting.

The changes to the venting, we would suggest, are more cosmetic than anything else. The nose piece moulding has a bit more of a butch look to it, as do the brow vent and exhaust vent mouldings. But we cannot see anything to suggest the E2 will allow more air in than the C5.

And so the main difference between the the two is really just the peak.

The peak, we have to say, is not the most robust we have come across. The peaks on the Shoei Hornet and the Arai Tour-X 4 are more solid; and this is a consideration because a peak can oscillate and move about at high speed. But the peak on the E2 features lots of air slots, so we can only assume that Schuberth has used its in-house wind tunnel to minimise the issue. The peak is also adjustable, with three set positions.

The other option is to ride without the peak if, for example, you find yourself facing a long road ride at motorway speeds. The only issue here is that you will need to put the bungs into the holes in the side of the visor; these are the holes that allow the peak to be attached to the visor. But this isn’t a problem. The bungs come supplied in the box.

Here at Motolegends we are huge flip-lid fans. And the C5 looks like it’s going to prove itself to be an excellent one.

As has maybe become clear, we are not totally convinced of the benefits of an adventure helmet, yet we understand that, for all of us, appearances are important, and that if you’ve spent all that money on metal panniers and spotlights, you’re going to want an adventure jacket, some boots with clips, and a helmet to complete the look.

There are lots of adventure helmets on the market, although if you want to combine the look of an adventure helmet with the functionality of a flip helmet, your options reduce. And if you then want to have such a helmet custom fitted then your options reduce drastically. In fact, your options reduce to just one helmet: the E2.

But the way we see it, when you buy an E2 you don’t commit yourself. If you find the peak a useful addition, all well and good. But if you end up not get along with it, then remove it and you’ve got yourself one of the best flips on the market.

There is one final point worth making here. When Schuberth first came out with the E1 they priced it at a ridiculous £150 premium to the standard C3 Pro. That was hard to justify, but the E2 is only £20-£30 more expensive than the C5, and that actually makes it hard to argue against the versatility the E2 represents.

Just one final word. We’ve waited as long as we felt we could before doing a review on the E2, but the truth is that we are still a long way off getting all the E2 colourways in all the sizes.

For more information and to buy online, click Schuberth E2 helmet.