Bell 2016 Products at Eurobike

Some of the Pro lids on display from Bell…

Helmet manufacturer Bell have 5 helmets aimed at the core MTB market this year, 2 full face designs and 3 all mountain/enduro offerings. Their Full 9 helmet has won a lot of praise over the last year or so and there was a big display with some of the pro’s painted lids for people to take a look at. In addition the lower cost Transfer 9 was there for people to take a look at. The Full 9 has to be one of the most complete helmet packages we have seen. The Transfer 9 takes some of the styling and tech and puts it in an affordable price bracket. Currently the Full 9 is at $400 RRP and the Transfer 9 is at $200, utilising a composite shell as opposed to the carbon one found on the Full 9.

The Transfer 9

You get a lot of bang for your buck with the Transfer 9, first up it is Ice. enabled, what the hell is icedot you might ask? It’s a small device that sits in the helmet (sold separately) it uses low power bluetooth to transmit a warning to your phone in the event of a crash. The time starts, if you don’t respond to say you are OK, then the app sends a message to your loved ones and the emergency services with your GPS coordinates. Clever stuff and useful if you ride alone, in addition it features the Soundtrack Speaker System so you can plug in your tunes and the helmet is compatible with Eject Removal System used by paramedics.

The Full 9, perhaps the most complete full face lid on the market…

The Full 9 has all the features of the Transfer 9 but adds a Carbon shell to shave 150grams off the overall weight, bringing it down to 1050g as opposed to the 1200g for the Transfer 9. The Full 9 also features magnetic cheek pads, an integrated breakaway camera mount and a slightly plusher interior in the form of the XT-2 Extended Wear finish. You don’t get a free straw hat with it though…

Over on the open face side of things you’ll find three offerings aimed at the all mountain sector, first up is the awesome Super 2R which features a removable chin guard that actually looks good. For the enduro racers out there this has to be an attractive option, plenty of venting and comfortable too. The helmet is MIPS equipped and ICEdot enabled and weighs in at 785 grams, considerably less than the lightest full face helmet on the market. For those that don’t know MIPS stands for Multi-directional Impact Protection System, essentially it allows the helmet to move a little on impact reducing the forces involved. Bell offer a non MIPS version at a lower price point.

The Bell Super 2R

Of course you can have the Super 2R without the chin guard too, the popular Super helmet has won many fans around the world and for 2016 it becomes the Super 2 and is MIPS equipped and ICEdot enabled too.