Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
Hey. This is Anthony with Revzilla TV, where you can watch, decide, and ride. Welcome to
our detailed breakdown of the new Shark Raw Helmet available at Revzilla.com.
3 years in the making, this is the latest-and-greatest from Shark, and we finally have a production
version. This is the new Raw, sub-$300, urban assault café-styled, naked bike-styled. This
is a very different take on the open-face helmet. If we look at it, and this is my matte
green version; remember, there’s a black, matte black, a white, a handful of graphics.
Remember DOT and ECE-rated as an open-face helmet. Even though you have this polyurethane
mouthguard, you have this optically-correct goggle system, it’s still rated as an open-face
helmet. I’m going to walk through these more in detail as we move along. Keep that
in mind; this helmet is designed for style and protection for the urban, for the cafe,
for the naked biker elite. I think Cobra Commander would be really proud, as well.
Let’s briefly touch on fitment. This is a Shark helmet; Shark comes from France. We
seen them do a mixture of fit types; this guy’s going to be more intermediate, to
neutral, to round; keep that in mind. It’s not as much of a long oval; it’s going to
be more of that neutral to round shape. It’s going to fit folks that have more of a wide
circumference on their head. Remember, we do ship for free, and I would love to hear
your gut reaction on the Shark Raw. Click here, subscribe to us at Revzilla TV. Leave
me your comments, your questions, but more importantly, leave me your feedback, your
gut reactions on this bad boy.
Diving into some of the feature set: What we see is a very lightweight helmet. Remember
you don’t have a chin bar; it’s only rated as an open-faced. It’s going to be 2 pounds
13 ounces, so that means that it’s coming in underneath that 3-pound mark. Very lightweight,
very agile; you’re not going to feel it. It is polycarb too, and the polycarb’s not
going to be as lightweight as a fiberglass, but again, that’s how they’re able to
keep that price point, sub-$300, which is a nice touch. Remember, you’re going to
move up a little bit in price as you go into some of the graphic versions.
If I start to flip it on its side, you’re going to see as we break down the basic anatomy;
one big vent scoop on top and it’s meant to not have any protrusions, any switches,
no big vent scheme. Knowing it is an open-face, you’ll get a ton of air through the front.
What they did was they gave you one vent to the scalp, and that’s going to be controlled
by this removable rubberized stopper; open or closed. I love what they did; they even
gave you a little cloud with some rain there to remind you that really only need to put
it in if you want to block the rain. Does have a hole in it, so you could attach it
to your key chain so you won’t use it. Again, that’s them looking at this helmet and saying,
“This is designed for someone that really cares about the style and the complete look.”
Think about some of that hardcore [inaudible 02:35] gear that you might see on the market
coupled with this helmet. It’s a very intimidating look.
If you look along the sides, you’re going to see how that goggle system ties back in.
If I move it around to the back, you’re going to see that it sweeps, back but again,
very clean lines going all the way back. We think from a design and aesthetic standpoint;
this thing knocks it out of the park, but there is a bit of a trade off because you’re
getting a helmet that in certain cases is going to have a little bit less protection,
and then also you have a goggle which is a little bit fussier to work with. I’ll be
honest about that, than if you had an open-face, a flip-up helmet, or even a full-face helmet.
Diving into the goggle itself, you’ll notice that this helmet comes in 3 configurations.
You can completely remove the goggle and wear it in a full open-faced design. You can remove
this piece which is your mouthguard, and its polyurethane, and it can be a little fickle
putting it on and off. Notice that it’s vented on the back, but it does have a film
for debris and dust blocking. Keep in mind guys; this is not part of that DOT or ECE
rating. This is just a block that continues the badassery and blocks some of the dust
and some of the debris, but in crash situations, it’s going to give you minimal protection.
If you move into the goggle system, this is actually one of my favorite pieces about this.
It really is like a high-end ski or snowboard goggle. It has the double-pane design. It’s
Carl’s Ice optics which are high-end lenses out of Germany. A double-pane means that while
it does have an anti-fog coating, it’s going to almost give you that pin lock factor that’s
not going to fog. If I turn the Shark Raw on its side, you’re going to see it’s
completely vented. You’ll notice on the back side of this that it has a full foam
layer, so it’s going to be comfortable against your skin.
While I am going to tell you that it fits nicely, it fits snugly, it’s going to create
a great seal against your eyes; the removal of it can be a little fickle. What I mean
by that is because it is soft, what you can do . . . I’m going to pull this side pod
off. You could see how I would do this. It’s one of those things that takes a little bit
of time. Getting it off’s much easier, and as I pull it open, you’re going to see how
it would slide out. There is my foam layer; it’s vented on the top. Again, premium in
its designed; stealing a lot of technology from what I would call the dirt world, from
the snowboard world, from the action sports world. They really looked into that. Notice
how this side pod would go on. I find personally when I want to remove this goggle, I’m actually
going to do it from side pod side of things versus doing it by undoing these side ports,
because it is soft and it can be a little bit finicky to get it back on. Pull this down.
You can see as I snap it back.
I will say as well that you saw me rotate that off from the sides. You could in certain
instances rotate this goggle up and put it on top of the head, but I’m actually going
to recommend that you don’t do that, because what’ll happen over time is I believe that
this foam layer will start to come unglued over time as you rotate it up. I what I would
really recommend is if you’re wearing it with the goggles on, you pull it on and off
your head leaving those goggle in the same position. If you want to remove them, you
remove the helmet and then remove it from the side pods, that way you’re going to
give yourself the best lifespan out of your Carl’s Ice goggle lens and goggle system
which is foam-backed.
Keep in mind as well that we should see Shark rolling out new styles of goggles, new finishes
for lenses. You’ll be able to accessorize this bad boy or buy a replacement set of goggles
moving forward, which is nice because they realize that over time if you’re rocking
this bad boy everyday especially in city riding, you’re just going to beat it up. It’s
part for the course; that’s what happens on motorcycles. You end up dinging up shields
over time, so keep it in mind.
As I flip it open, you’re going to see, I’m going to pull my doughnut up here; Double
D-ring construction and they’re using the same premium bamboo liner that we first saw
in the Race R Pro. Hypoallergenic, cool to the touch; it’s going to be wicking. You’ll
notice around the forehead . . . going to undo this guy and open it up so you can see
it fully. You’re going to notice around the forehead and around the cheek and areas
where you really might sweat that the material absolutely changes. Again, that’s going
to be for additional wicking capabilities. It’s a nice touch; it’s forward thinking.
Remember, Shark has Moto 2 and Moto GP riders wearing their stuff. They’re not spring
chickens; they’ve been doing this for awhile, so they really understand what it takes to
make a premium quality helmet. You’ll see too, notice that secondary material which
is softer to the touch and is going to wick a little better. Cheek pads come out very
easily; they are Velcro.
Keep in mind as well that Shark has the Sharktooth system. The Sharktooth system is their OEM-style
Bluetooth connector. What that does is it allows you to go bike-to-bike or connect with
your peripherals and listen to music. This helmet is already going to have a cutout for
it, and it’s going to have cutouts on the earpieces so that you’re going to be able
to incorporate those speakers seamlessly. Notice here is my comfort liner. Notice 3D
in its design. Plenty of cutaways. Remember, its limited venting from the outside-in, but
you’re going to get great air flow from the inside or from the front of the helmet.
There’s that secondary material. Most of us, including myself, tend to sweat a lot
on the forehead, and it’s nice that they gave you that extra wicking material that
I’ve talked about a few times. It is hypoallergenic, which means it’s not going to stink over
time and your body really should not react with it, even if you have sensitive skin.
Looking in the interior guts of the helmet, you’re going to see big venting channels.
Again, they run all the way down to the back of the neck. You could see how they come together
starting or emanating from that peak up front. Even as I go over to the ears, you’re going
to see these speaker cutaways to take that Sharktooth system. Then in the back of the
helmet, this is where you’d remove a piece, you’d incorporate your Sharktooth system,
and that’s where the battery and the housing lives. It becomes a very scene less design
over time.
Keep in mind, what we really love about the Shark Raw helmet is the style. It’s very
unique. I’ll call a spade a spade. You have the Bell Rogue helmet which feels like that
Bane-style. This guy’s really Cobra Commander city-inspired low profile, very fashionista,
very French, very European and premium in its field. What you’re trading-off is some
protection in the face because it’s not full-face, and you’re also trading off the
ability to *** it around a little bit. Remember, they’re using high-quality optics and you’re
using some PU injected-molded pieces that over time if you don’t take care of them,
you might wear them out a little bit. They are also replaceable, so keep that in mind,
guys.
The next step in your journey is to click right here and read other rider reviews of
the Shark Raw helmet at Revzilla.com. Remember, start with my information, but you don’t
have to take my word for it. As always, we ship for free. If you want to talk to a gear
geek, see us at Revzilla.com or 877-792-9455. Thanks for watching our detailed breakdown
of the new Shark Raw helmet. I’m Anthony. We’ll see you next time.