The new Nolan N70-2X helmet may well be the most versatile helmet in existence, but where it truly excels is its main purpose – adventure riding.
If you're reading this article, chances are you already have several back country tours under your belt, or are at least dreaming about getting on your bike and getting lost in the wilderness. Your heroes are the hard enduro and Dakar legends. Your favourite style of riding is one where the longest and most convoluted route is the best one. Where poor quality roads are preferred to smooth and breath-taking scenery is abundant. Elements like mud, dust, rain, and even snow are all part of the mix.
Experienced adventure riders know there are certain features in a helmet which make the ride much more enjoyable:
- A large visor is a must for the “liaison” stages. The unavoidable boring bits when you are stuck on a stretch of highway, or dealing with small town traffic on the way to the back of beyond.
- An internal sun visor can be a life-saver when riding from bright sunshine into shadow and back again. It certainly beats stopping to remove sunglasses, or riding blind through a dark tunnel.
- A peak is another essential element, for fending off mud being thrown up from your mate’s rear tyre, or shielding your eyes as you blast into the setting sun.
- If you want to follow GPS directions and communicate with fellow riders while on the fly, you need a helmet compatible with an internal headset.
- For those dusty roads worthy of a Johnny Cash song, the ability to throw your visor up and slap on a pair of goggles makes life so much easier and more comfortable.
The N70-2X has all of these features and more. It has a decent, removable peak and a multi-position internal sun visor, with fast-action retract. The large main visor lifts right up under the peak, meaning a pair of googles will actually fit properly, without removing the visor. Of course, both of the visors can be removed, leaving you with a bare-bones off-road helmet. Another really nice feature is the removable chin screen and adjustable neck collar, to really keep out the noise and the cold.
But it's even more versatile than that. We all know the best hard enduro riders are also trials experts. Well, now you can hone your skills without replacing your adventure helmet - the N70-2X chin bar clips off to easily convert your full face to an open face trials helmet.
Of course, with road legal P/J homologation, the combinations are seemingly endless. Mix and match your style to fit in to every environment. Whether it's that secret spot just behind the middle of nowhere, or in with the hip crowd of distinguished gentlemen, with the N70-2X you really can have it all.
The verdict? The N70-2X is sure to be popular, not only for adventure riders, but also anyone wanting to consolidate their lids to one mid-priced have-it-all helmet. We particularly loved how easy it is to transform and how comfortable it is in every scenario. Our GM, Rodney is certainly delighted with his one and it will be his helmet of choice this summer and probably for many more seasons to come.
A note on cross-over helmets: We’re often asked whether cross-overs actually perform as well as regular helmets, or if there’s a trade-off between versatility and performance. Sure, there may be some less-scrupulous helmet manufacturers out there that add features simply as a cheap gimmick, whether or not they add any real value or even reduce performance. What we love about Nolangroup helmets is there is never any scrimping on quality – even the most basic (and cheapest) helmets perform at a surprisingly high standard. With its own in-house testing laboratory, Nolan strives to exceed every world standard as much as they can, with every model they produce. The same is true of the N70-2X. While Nolan have added feature after feature, it’s obvious they’ve spent a lot of time making sure nothing is compromised by all that versatility.
Click here to check availability and see where to buy the Nolan N70-2X.
NB: The N70-2X helmet is set up ready for an N-Com communication system but does not include one. The helmet used in the pictures above is shown with an N-Com installed.
