Arai MX-V review | The off-road helmet so good that Michael Guy has had four of them!

The MX-V has been Arai’s dedicated off-road helmet for well over a decade and has evolved conservatively during this time. Arai don’t do gimmicks; they stick to their beliefs on safety and quality and each helmet feels hand crafted – because it is. Having worked for MCN for over 20 years I’m in a fortunate position to test and ride in a lot of different helmets and I always come back to my MX-V.

A new version of the helmet has just been launched to meet the latest ECE R22-06 safety regulations. Called the MX-V EVO there have been no significant changes need over the old model to meet these standards.

Comfort

I have to profess when it comes to helmets, I’m a bit of a creature of habit. I’m now on to my fourth Arai MX-V; a trend that began nearly twenty years ago. I’ve tried a number of alternatives during that time, but I consistently come back to the Arai. There are plenty of reasons for it, but the overwhelming one is the faultless fit, comfort and the sense of safety it gives me every time I put it on my head.

The interior is plush enough to make it comfortable to wear all day including putting it on and off, but also tough enough to last and stand up to the demands of off-road riding.

Visor

Being an off-road helmet there is no visor. It doesn’t have the largest aperture, but vision is still good and it accommodates a variety of different goggles I’ve used over the years well.

Ventilation

With mouth, side and crown air intakes and exhaust the ventilation is good. You can actually feel the air flowing across the top of your head which is a god send when it’s hot or the going gets tough. These same vents can also be closed off which is a must when riding in cold conditions.

Being a true open face helmet there’s plenty of unavoidable ventilation even when used with goggles. This is great in hot weather but not so good in the cold or rain where the rain drops somehow find a way of making it to your face where it feels like needles piercing your skin. It undoubtedly lacks the weather protection of a traditional adventure helmet and visor.

Noise

In its natural habitat of off-road riding, noise is not something I’ve ever even had to think about. But being open to the elements along with the vents it’s a noisy helmet to wear if you ever have to do any road miles.

If riding on the road I always wear ear plugs or my excellent Ultimate Ear headphone ear plugs. You can even hear the music, but it is compromised by the wind noise.

Looks

While there are funkier looking helmets in the market place, I love the classic lines of the MXV. For me the proportions are right, from the shape, aperture and long peak. There is an extensive range of colour ways to choose from. Even the plain white ones look cool.

Quality

For me this is one of the stand out features of the helmet. It’s a reassuring weight when you pick it up and Arai ethos of having as smooth as possible outer shell to aid ‘glancing off’ performance and give optimal integral strength.

This means there are no random shapes of bits sticking out that could potentially catch on the ground, dig in or twist the riders head in the event of a crash. As a result the lines are super clean, even the vents only protrude a minimal amount.

Value

Priced at nearly £550 this is not a cheap helmet in anyone’s book, but it does have an over arching feeling of quality and being completely fit for purpose – both in terms of performance and comfort whilst wearing it plus its credentials in the event of a crash.

It’s hard to put a price on this level of performance, but if your budget can stretch to it, it really is a case of getting what you pay for.

Comparable helmets include:

Verdict

If you’re looking for an absolute class leading helmet that is built to last and built to perform the MX-V should be high up on your shopping list. Ultimately there are alternatives so a big part of it comes down to fit.

I’ve tried plenty of different helmets and I must have an ‘Arai head’ because the fit is faultless. Also wearing a size XS, the fact that Arai have a different shell size for every two helmet sizes means I’m not wearing a huge shell size with extra padding.

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