First, the conclusion… after 5,000 miles of testing in a variety of environments and conditions, by any subjective or objective measurement, this is probably the best all-rounder I have yet owned.
One of only a handful of flip-front adventure helmets, the Aventuro Mod is built in Germany for Touratech by Schuberth and bears more than a passing resemblance to that company’s E1 model.
It is easily configured for different kinds of riding and is a joy to wear – despite any criticisms I’ve made below.
Comfort
I am blown away by the close fit all around, including the base of the skull. Of course, this depends on your individual head shape and there is no supplied means of making small adjustments to the fit around different areas of the skull (something Schuberth did do for their J1 helmet).
Plush lining material is used throughout (even on the chin strap), which makes the helmet really comfortable to wear in all conditions. It is also one of the quietest lids I have used (a series of sharks-tooth shaped ‘Turbulators’ moulded along the top edge of the visor have a lot to do with that apparently).
Moulded recesses in the polystyrene inner shell are designed to allow a pair of speakers to fit. I found that the ridges around the recesses cut in to my ear, but It was a simple (if slightly messy and time-consuming) job to carefully pare away a small amount of polystyrene on each side so that I didn’t have to unfold my ears every time I put the lid on.
At 1695g (Medium size, 57cm) this is not feel like a heavy lid, especially considering it’s a flip-front.
Usability
With the face-shield raised and the edges of the helmet pulled slightly apart, getting this helmet on and off is easy even when wearing glasses.
The micro-adjustable chin strap is simple to use and doesn’t leave any surplus annoyingly flapping about. At journey’s end its quick-release tab is easy to find and use.
Operating the face-shield can be bothersome; it seems unusually difficult to close without obstructing its locking pins when wearing extra layers around the neckline and the face-shield will NOT lock in the fully open position unless the rain-visor is mostly closed. Opening the face-shield with gloves sometimes involves playing hide-and-seek with the recessed lock release located at the bottom of the chin piece. A simple slider along the base of the helmet shell on the left side allows the drop-down sun visor to be positioned whether the face-shield is open or closed.
Pre-installed antennae are ready to be plugged in to Schuberth’s optional Bluetooth communication module (based on the SENA 10 system).
Visibility
The Aventuro Mod has a wide aperture that allows very good peripheral vision. The optically perfect rain visor is moulded with easy-opening flanges for either hand; there are four effective stops (closed, 1/4 open, 3/4 open and fully open) to help the rider find just the right level of protection for different conditions.
The ‘Pinlock’ anti-fog insert is well positioned and works very well, although the ridge around bottom of it can distort the rider’s view of smaller detail on a GPS screen when navigating.
The visor can be easily removed and replaced with Touratech’s optional Aventuro goggles, held in place by a clip on the back of the helmet.
An essential feature of any helmet in my experience is a drop-down sun-visor; sunglasses and tinted visors can’t be switched as easily when you find yourself moving from fierce sunshine into a tunnel, galleria or other dark-place. The sun-visor is not as dark as I would like, but I suspect that is down to limits imposed by safety regulations.
A range of different finishes are available for the rain and sun visors. Very few modular helmets incorporate a helmet peak for blotting out the glare from the low-lying sun, but it is a valuable feature of the Aventuro Mod. The peak can be locked in different positions according to need.
Ventilation
With a surprising amount of space around the mouth and nose, and with the pinlock system, the Aventuro Mod allows the rider to breathe deeply without misting up, while a removable skirt on the face-shield does a good job of keeping sand, rain and wind at bay.
There are two vents at the front of the chin guard; one controls air flow to the rider via a removable and washable foam filter, a second vent immediately above this ducts air across the visor. The visor itself can be either locked against the rain seal or left slightly ajar in the closed position.
The flow of air across the rider’s skull is regulated by an adjustable intake on the top of the helmet shell and two exhausts at its rear.
Also, the helmet liner is treated with ‘Cool-Max’ which appears to be quite effective in keeping the interior temperature comfortable.
Stability
The aerodynamic shape of the helmet shell is very effective. The removable peak sits above the helmet shell and is sculpted to aid air-flow, which means it doesn’t catch wind shear in normal riding conditions. It is noticeable on autobahns and in high winds, but the locking mechanism on the visor pivot points makes it easy to remove if necessary.
Even with face shield locked in the raised position the wind doesn’t catch below 40mph or so.
Colour and Finish
Touratech offer a range of colours, but I bought my matt black version early on when the range of colours available in the UK was more limited. Not surprisingly, the outer shell does get very hot when left in the Aegean sun, but the inside remains cool.
Touratech’s branding seems remarkably subtle, with studiously understated gloss back legends all around the matt black shell bringing high-end nattiness to the Aventuro – until the headlights of other vehicles reveal their underlying reflectivity which leaves no one in any doubt that you are a cut above the rest :)
Priced at £469.00 (2016 model year) by Touratech UK for the matt black version, it’s not cheap but it is very reasonable compared to its competitors (not least the £539.99 official price for the Schuberth E1).
The Aventuro meets the ECE 22-05 safety standard required by EU countries and is also sold in the USA and Canada with the additional DOT test certification. The owner’s manual contains warnings not to ride with the chin-bar open, suggesting the test approval may only apply to the closed helmet.
No SHARP test rating available at the time of writing.
Review by Nich Brown.