If you are a motorcyclist, you will have heard of the Held brand; they have been manufacturing Motorbike gear since 1946 and are renowned for quality products. Their catalogue is a whopping 300 pager, stacked full of clothing, helmets, protection, luggage, covers - in fact, just about everything you could ever need.
We were sent three Held helmets to review, all of them at a price point of well under £200.
When the helmets arrived at the office, my first thought was that the packaging looked good. This impression continues inside the box, with each helmet coming in its own drawstring storage bag. The shells and insides feel excellent on all three. My size is XL; however, I felt these were a small XL, so I would suggest that you find a local dealer and try the helmets on first, to ensure the best fit. The most comfortable for my head was the Brave II.
For the purposes of the reviews, I rode for a couple of hours in each to give my initial thoughts on them:
Held Root
RRP £166.99
This helmet was my favourite to look at, as takes me back to my very first experience of riding on fields when I was a kid. The Root looks incredibly similar to my first-ever helmet, a vintage-style, fibreglass, full-face helmet with Double D ring fastening and washable cheek pads. It is light and feels small in comparison to today’s helmets. That said, it hits all of our safety standards. The opening is large and gives a great view, almost as good as an open face helmet.
The white, red and green together looks brilliant, really adding to the vintage look. The visor is either open or shut, and unfortunately doesn’t come with the Pinlock system to prevent fogging. It has simple magnetic buttons either side of the visor that lock it down, however, which works well. For the first few miles, the visor bugged me as it wouldn’t stay open, but I took an extra turn on the Allen bolt that holds it in place and sorted that issue, stiffening the whole movement up.
The Root has a nice liner and good ear space for speakers and comfort. It only has one open/close vent, however, located on the chin guard. There are no further vents on the top of your head, meaning there is limited air movement around it. I didn’t find the helmet hot to wear, mind you - I was riding on a cool Spring day in the UK, but I will report back when the weather heats up. Overall, this is a great looking retro lid at a brilliant price.
Held Alcatar
RRP £131.99
I love Adventure helmets with peaks, as just a tilt of the head can eliminate dazzling sun, but they can often feel heavy. However, this Alcatar is a light-weight model, and it comes with loads of features. We had a matt black model with good graphics, using paint that has a soft-touch feel to it that won’t slip out of your grip.
The Alcatar has a good cooling system with easy-to-use chin and top vents. The visor is either up or down, and does come Pinlock ready, and the helmet has a simple quick-release chin strap. There is a reflective panel on the rear of the helmet liner, and the liner is comfortable and high quality. The integral sunglasses are easy to flip up and down with a simple button on the helmet, and even in gloved hands it works well. As for fit, this helmet is comfortable and has good ear space. As I have mentioned, these helmets do feel on the smaller side, so check the fit before you buy.
One issue I experienced was that the liner has a seam on the forehead, which made my head throb after an hour or so, but on inspection I was able to arrange the liner and pull the seam down a bit. This immediately made it more comfortable, so I suspect that this was placed incorrectly during production (the Brave and Root didn’t have this seam, and fitted well straight away).
Brave II
RRP £122.99
This helmet feels the most budget of the three, and at just £120 it is no wonder. This price is amazing when you see the helmet, though, as it is good looking, comfortable and hits all the safety standards. I really like the graphics on this helmet, as they are understated. It comes Pinlock ready, and has a removeable nose cover which looks good but feels flimsy.
The front and top vents are not the easiest to use with a gloved hand, as they are small and made of shiny plastic. I glued pieces of rubber onto them and my glove picked it up perfectly, which solved the slippery issue. Some of you would argue that you shouldn’t need to do that; however, when I bought the latest Z1000 for £10.5k, I felt the need to put £1500 worth of exhausts on it to make it right for me
Pros
Great value
Safe
Very comfortable
Cons
Some parts feel budget
Feels small
Each of these helmets have elements that confirm that they are budget lids, but that said, they all look fashionable, and they are safe and comfortable helmets. I continue to ride in the Root on my classic; I really like the look and feel of this helmet.
I used to think that with motorbike gear, you get what you pay for, but in the case of these budget Held helmets, you can get a damn sight more.
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