As a followup to my previous post as I unboxed the Kask Urban Lifestyle helmet, I’ve now had a few weeks of daily riding experience in the helmet, and I like the helmet.

Since it has limited vents (and since it’s cold right now here) it’s kept me a great deal warmer than the giro and uvex helmets I’ve been riding previously. The internal liner also wraps the head, and comes out for machine washing – another good idea. When the internal liner is removed, you can see that the shape is almost that of a hat rather than the strips of padding that are found with the most common helmet shapes today.

The visor (or should I call it a face shield?) is a huge plus. On my first ride it somehow got scratched a little bit, but hasn’t gotten scratched since then, so I say it’s good for durability. With the visor down I see a bit of internal reflection from my glasses, which I thought would bother me long-term, but after the first few rides I’ve totally forgotten about it. The visor rides on the end of my nose, and it has rubber padding there. Oddly the owner’s manual covers the protective ratings of the face shield, which perhaps means they also use that face shield/visor for arborist, rescue, or ski applications (Kask makes helmets for all kinds of things).

When down, the face shield has protected me from driving rain (not a drop on my head or my eyeglasses) and more importantly, from wind. At 30, 40, and even 50+ mph there is no direct wind to the eyes, no eye watering, and even in 28-degree (F) rides as 35mph, I’ve never had problems with tears in my eyes. This was my main motivation for buying the helmet: mission accomplished!

That said, even with the visor down there is windflow around the eyes, including a very light stream coming from between the top of the face shield and the front of the helmet. This combines so that I’ve also never had an issue with fogging, even though the face shield basically sits on the top of my cheeks.

While I have the mirrored lens, there is very little difference in perceived light from the inside of the visor versus not having it down, so I ride with the visor down even in the dark, and prefer it that way.

The visor clicks up and down solidly, and doesn’t creep.

Since it has a dial-driven band which circles the head, adjusting the helmet for a bare head or beanie-covered skull is trivial. The helmet straps were great right out of the box, and I haven’t adjusted them. I would prefer a buckle like the Uvex boss race that adjusts with one hand, but I haven’t really needed that to date.

So in terms of winter, fall and spring riding, this helmet is nirvana. Problem solved.