Spark Clothing
November 12, 2011 – We haven’t heard much from Lazer Helmets in a while and since they were displaying at EICMA, I decided to stop by.
webBikeWorld readers may remember the Lazer Superskin helmet reviewed on webBikeWorld a few years ago and, coincidentally, one of the very first product reviews ever published on webBikeWorld was a look at the Lazer Century flip-up.
In fact, the Superskin technology is still used in the Lazer Solano, seen in the photo below. It’s Superskin and it’s retroreflective, an interesting combination.
Lazer actually sold helmets in the U.S. at one time; in fact, the Lazer Century met the DOT safety standards.
But, the U.S. market is a tough climb for many manufacturers — motorcycle related and otherwise. The distribution system is complex and a tough nut to crack, but the distances involved mean that a distribution system is almost a necessity — at least if you want to sell products through a dealer network, who will provide support (in theory).
Anyway, it would be nice to see Lazer Helmets back in the U.S.A. and here’s one good reason: the Lazer Monaco.
The Monaco in its carbon fiber version is hands-down the lightest flip-up helmet I have ever handled; in fact, it probably weighs less than 90% of the full-face helmets we’ve reviewed. I don’t have a scale obviously, but Lazer claims 1325 grams and that sounds about right.
It comes in either fiberglass or carbon fiber and they optimized everything possible to try and save weight. So there’s no pull-down internal sun shade, which doesn’t bother me at all. Instead, the Monaco comes with the Lazer Lumino photochromatic visor, as seen in the photo below.
Lazer said they’ll send one over for a review and this should be interesting!
More: Spark Camelot “Windless” Vest Review
Publication Date: November 20, 2011
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