The Shoei Neotec 2 is a premium modular or flip-up helmet with a bunch of awesome features. It’s a kind of helmet that you might want to take on a tour, commuting or even a long tour. That’s the fun of a modular helmet, you can flip the chin-bar up and have a small chat or something. Or if you are on a short break, you don’t even have to take off the helmet. We’ve covered more features like this in this Shoei Neotec 2 helmet review.
Shoei Neotec 2 Helmet Review
This helmet is like a premium-class giant of these helmets. It got a nice and comfortable interior, superior aerodynamics, and max visibility. Not to mention it’s safe enough, this is a Shoei helmet after all. From the first view, it looks kind of like Shoei GT Air 2 helmet, which also made it to our best motorcycle helmet list.
Anyway, this Neotec 2 helmet also got some cool and convenient features. So, let’s spill the bean with you and discuss all the features this helmet has in its bag.
Structure and Design
The shape of this helmet is a little bit narrow at the front, not too narrow or round. And it’s something you can say a next-level modular for hybrid motorcycle. And the shape of this helmet goes with any kind of riding style.
Especially the flip-up mechanism I mentioned a second ago, it comes in really handy. You can turn your full-face helmet into an open-face one in a blink of an eye. And the pivot locking system is also impressive, once in the locked position, it’s secured and safe. The top-quality stainless-steel locking parts securely keep the chin-bar in place.
And the huge lock-release switch can be easily operated even with gloves on. Also, this chin-bar is light, easy to flip-up or close, and the enhanced dual lock holding mechanism seems to work pretty well. It makes sure, the chin-bar doesn’t close unexpectedly when it is fully opened.
Not only the modular mechanism, but the aerodynamics of the helmet is also not too shabby. The aerodynamics is enhanced using a wind tunnel-test for better performance in all riding positions.
There is a shell-integrated spoiler at the back of the helmet like the GT Air 2 and RF-1200. It reduces drag and lifts improving the overall aerodynamic profile of the helmet. What’s more, there’s the chin bar aerodynamics design called Aero Deflector for better performance.
Ventilation and Noise level
The ventilation structure of this helmet seems to work just fine. Intakes lots of air through the upper 3 positioned vents and the large vent on the chin-bar. And the hot air from the inside exhaust through the rear vent at the backside of the helmet. The upper vents are easily controllable even with gloves on.
These vents and the total ventilation structure of this helmet are designed using a wind tunnel. This improves the ventilation process of this helmet along with the noise level. The Noise Isolator cheek pads take care of the noise-canceling process. And make this helmet a bit resistant to unwanted road and wind noises. Also, the airtight seal and the Vortex Generator around the chin bar area help the noise reduction process.
Safety Measurements
Safety is one important thing that you can’t overlook while choosing a helmet. Check out if the helmet is well-made or not and also the safety certifications of the helmet.
This Shoei Neotec 2 helmet got a Five-Ply Matrix Aim Shell to protect your head. And this is something Shoei developed themselves and these shells do their jobs pretty well. The shell is made of multiple layers of fiberglass material with resin and organic fibers. And these Shoei helmets along with this one are handmade by Shoei helmet experts. And they know exactly what they are doing, making safety equipment for the riders out there, and these helmets are safe enough.
The EPS liner also takes part in the safety process. They provide improved impact absorption using different thicknesses of foam. The advanced multi-density liner of the helmet not only improves the safety of the helmet, but it also makes it compact, light-weighted.
And for the certification of the Neotec 2 helmet, it is DOT and ECE approved. Also, this helmet got a 4-star rating on the SHARP Safety test, which is great. And when this helmet went through the test, the chin bar of the helmet was closed 70% of the time. That doesn’t look too bad for a modular helmet.
Face Shield or Visor
You know what gets on any motorcycle rider’s nerves, poor visibility. And this helmet got good vision with a wide viewport and a nice and clear shield. It comes with a CNS-3 Shield. This 3D injection-molded visor gives you a destruction free sight through the whole range of visibility.
The shield maintains a perfect seal on the helmet surface. This spring-loaded visor closing mechanism keeps the wind and water out of the helmet. What’s great, this helmet actually comes with Pinlock EVO included out of the box. That works like a charm when it comes to preventing fogging up.
Also, the CNS-3 Base Plate System is quite easy to operate, it allows you to change the shield without breaking a sweat.
Another nice addition to this helmet is the In-built QSV-1 sun visor. It’s an ANSI Z80.3-2010 standard UV blocking visor, which is supposed to provide 99% protection from the Ultraviolet rays. However, this thing here might disappoint you if you are a sun visor lover. And the switch to operate the SV is on the left side of the helmet and that works just fine and quite easy to operate.
Interior
Nothing beats riding miles wearing a comfortable helmet. And you should check properly if the helmet you are spending money on is enough comfortable or not.
This Neotec 2 helmet is quite comfortable I have to say. The 3D inner liner seems to be comfortable enough. The material of this helmet is extremely moisture-absorbent and it dries up pretty quickly. And there’s also a soft high-quality fabric in some parts of the helmet. This nice mixture of materials makes the interior comfortable and nice for any weather.
The cheek pads on the other hand made of Multi-layer mesh-type cheek pads. There are also Noise Isolator leather cheek pads and normal cheek pads (without Noise Isolator feature) available.
Another cool thing about this helmet is the communication device ready design. There’s the SRL/SRL2 Communication device from SENA, which is specially designed to fit this helmet. And you can control the Com device from the outside of the helmet, which is a nice plus point. And the Com device nicely blends with the helmet structure and it looks cool. However, the very same feature might be a pain for you. If you want to fit any third-party Com device, it might be a little tricky to fit that.
Lastly, the stainless-steel locking mechanism Micro Ratchet Chinstrap of this helmet. It’s super easy to adjustable and it’s comfortable enough.
Fitting and Size
Another thing you must pay attention to is the fitting of the helmet. An unfit helmet can ruin your mood easily, and not to mention, it is quite dangerous. So, find out first what size helmet fits you and then proceed with the selection accordingly.
Before we move on to the sizes, I’ll tell you about what I found disappointing about this helmet, It’s a bit heavy. It’s about 4 pounds or so when you ride long enough, it might be a bit painful for your neck.
For this Shoei Neotec 2 helmet, it comes from XS (53-54 cm) to 3XL (65-66 cm) sizes. And also there are 4 shell sizes available for this helmet. So, you got a bunch of options when checking the sizing of this Shoei helmet. And for the inner shape, this helmet comes in an Intermediate Oval shape.
Pros
- Aerodynamic Shell Structure
- Smoothly Operating Flip-up Mechanism
- QSV-1 Inner Sun Visor
- Micro Ratchet Chin Strap
- CNS-3 Shield
- Pinlock EVO Lens Included
- Comfortable Inner Liner
Cons
- A bit loud
- Might be a bit heavy
- The Sunvisor is not dark enough
Conclusion
Well, this Shoei Neotec 2 is a premium modular or flip-up helmet. It got a bunch of cool features and some of them, are quite useful too. Like the communication device and the aerodynamics of the helmet. If you are looking for a premium fancy yet useful helmet, this one might be the right choice for you.
However, this helmet also has some downfalls, like it is reportedly loud and a bit heavier too. Other than that, it’s a nice first-class helmet.
So, when we are looking at this, you might also take a look at some of the other similar kinds of helmets. Such as Shark EVO One 2, Scorpion EXO-AT950, or AGV SportModular.
Hope you can find the best helmet you are looking for, good day!