Helmet fitting question
 

Hi all,

Recently had to replace my Shoei Air with a Qwest. Went with the latter due to good write ups and lower cost. All seemed great in the shop and was happy with fit. However I tried it on and had a look in the mirror. I noticed little gaps on either side of my forehead - wide enough to put a finger in! Is this normal or should there be no gaps around your noggin whatsoever?

Many thanks,
Rtw

Hold on to the helmet over the chin bar and try and spin helmet left and right. It should be gripping the skin on your cheeks and giving you 'hamster cheeks' a little. The helmet should not move around your head.. If it is loose now, then once it has moulded to your headshape and bedded in, then probably too large.

Some helmets have indents in the side to fit glasses arms.

You can get different width shoei cheek pads. The fit between the qwest and gtair should not be drastically different if they were the same size however depends of the market origin of each helmet. European market shoeis can be a little different to the US market ones.. Different shell sizes for a start.

Helmet fitting question
 

The helmet seems to satisfy all the usual methods of testing fit (hamster effect, helmet does not come off if back is pulled nor can it slide forward enough to cover my eyes) accept the now obvious gaps that lead -yes and now you mention it - to just above the ear line. Both the Qwest and my previous Air were bought here in Chile and so very likely both imported from the states. The only thing between the air (both were mediums) and the Qwest is that the check pads were much fuller on the former, however I was thinking of swapping them if they are inter-changeable. Do you think it's reasonable to assume those gaps would be those indents you spoke of designed for wearing glasses? The rest if the helmet fits very snugly uniform around my forehead and at least feels like there are no gaps inside, as if I press down with both hands on the top of the lid I feel the pressure is evenly distributed around my head...

If I recall correctly, the cheek pads are different between the two. If the gap is annoying you then you could buy some foam and put it behind the cheek pads.. Don't forget as the qwest has no sun visor you will need a little space to get sunglasses inside. If the helmet is a nice snug fit I wouldn't worry...