Product Review: SCHUBERTH C3 Helmet

On first impression the SCHUBERTH C3 helmet looks to be very high quality and a well-made helmet. SCHUBERTH, a German company, has been making motorcycle helmets since 1954 and makes helmets for the police, fire, auto racing and military I think they have their priorities in the right place.



The glossy black helmet looks very nice and comes with a well-padded case along with the anti fog pin lock shield. I have an oval head shape and the xl fit just perfect for me.



Modular design and shell constriction
SCHUBERTH states that the helmet is made of S.T.R.O.N.G fiber, a special glass-fiber reinforced Duroplast matrix. This process makes the helmet strong and lightweight, it weighs in at 3.7 lbs. I personally like lightweight helmets, as they tend to be easier on your neck muscles when on long cruises. After wearing this helmet I didn’t experience any muscle fatigue. The chin guard locking mechanism worked well. I hadn’t had a lot of experience with modular helmets, but once I got the hang of popping up the chin guard everything worked well. Safety reflective tape is strategically placed for maximum nighttime visibility. I was also impressed, as the setbacks at your temples were further back so as to increase your peripheral vision. This in my opinion is the biggest difference between helmet manufacturers and is a very important feature. Schuberth also makes a modular helmet specially fitted for ladies C-3W.



Padding
The COOLMAX® pad system is removable and washable. It has a comfortable fit for me as I have an oval shaped head. For those with a rounder head shape there might be a tighter fit in some areas. I suggest that you try this helmet on for the correct fit. I do understand that the C-3 Pro has addressed this problem and if we get a chance to review the C-3 Pro, I will give more information on fit. Because of the modular design the check pads are further back then the regular full face helmets that I have used in the past. Still the C3 was snug, fit and feel was very good and easy to wear. - the way it should be with a full-face helmet. The additional acoustic collar makes a very good seal and virtually no wind noise gets through. This type of sealing might make some people feel the need for more air to the mouth and nose area. Should that be the case, all one needs to do, is remove the Velcro chin piece for more air flow to the face. Overall a full face helmet should fit snug around your face and should never be loose. How tight the helmet fits can be a personal preference.

Chin strap
Taken from the SCHUBERTH website:
The Anti-Roll-Off-System especially developed by SCHUBERTH is provided as a safety feature in every SCHUBERTH motorcycle helmet. It ensures that once the chinstrap is closed and correctly adjusted:
· the helmet cannot pivot off the head from behind
· the risk of contact between the chin section of the helmet and the chin or neck of the rider is minimized due to small angle of tilt
· the consequences of the helmet coming into contact with the chest as the result of an accident are reduced.
· the helmet is fastened by a micro-lock ratchet lock.

It is my feeling that you need to know all the safety features that this helmet has to offer. I particularly liked the quick release, the wearer can get the helmet off even if wearing heavy gloves, there are no “D” rings to fumble with. The quick release chinstrap can be loosed up if it’s too tight with the clip. (See the video in this article)



Venting
SCHUBERTH claims the optimized ventilation system vents 2 gallons of fresh air per second at 60 mph. I agree this helmet has excellent ventilation. I first used this helmet in the winter in Southern California on some cold days, around 55 degrees. Granted, not as cold as some of you ride in but still chilly enough that I could feel an abundance of air flow through the upper part of the helmet even with a knit cap on. I was impressed - in all the helmets I have used over the years this one certainly has the best airflow. It is engineered with a very unique system, there is only one inlet on the top and the exiting air outlet is in the back at the base of the helmet. The vent cap pops off for easy cleaning. If too many bugs get caught in your vent inlet, just pop it off and clean it out. The tab to open and close the vent pops off and the vent can then be removed and all the inlets can be cleaned. There was a lot of thought that went into this design.

Sun shades
The inner sun visor is tinted and has an anti-fog coating. There are two locking positions, one up out of the way and the other fully deployed with the shade down. The shade is dark, at one point I was riding directly into the setting sun with my regular sunglasses on and was getting blinded. I dropped the sun shade down and that allowed me to easily see the road again.



Face Shield
According to SCHUBERTH the face shield is formed in the curve shape and does not distort your vision like so many other helmets. As I looked from side to side there was no distortion in the curvature. The optics of the face shield are very clear and undistorted. I also wear polarized sunglasses and there is less spectrum change through this face shield than with others that I have used.

There is an anti fog pin lock system to keep the face shield from fogging up. Seems that many high-end helmets are going to this system and getting away from coating the face shield itself. The helmet comes complete with the anti fog pin lock duel lens shield system.

Detaching the face shield is an easy task. Just open the face shield to its highest position and then push up the two tabs at the rotation points and it just pops off. This makes for easy cleaning. It’s even easier to replace the face shield when you're done. Fit it back into the rotation slot and it clicks in!

Aerodynamic
The SCHUBERTH C3 is aerodynamic and with just 84 decibels at 60 mph it’s quiet. After riding with this helmet for close to 1000 miles I was well acquainted with it. The wind noise is cut to a minimum at speeds of 60 mph and over. Not quiet like wearing earplugs but I could still hear what was going on around me very clearly. The SCHUBERTH C3 aerodynamics makes this helmet stable at speeds upwards of 65 to 100 mph. I found no buffeting or oscillating at any speeds.

The SCHUBERTH mobility program
I like this program very much. To my knowledge SCHUBERTH is the only company that has it. Register your helmet and within 3 years of registering if the helmet gets damaged SCHUBERTH will replace it at one-third the cost of a new one. Great add on to an already great helmet. Lets hope you never have to use it!

In conclusion
I found the SCHUBERTH C-3 modular helmet to be very well made. Its unique features and high quality set it apart from other modular helmets. If you are going to buy a modular helmet then you should definitely consider the SCHUBERTH C-3. I think that these modular helmets are the best for touring and all around cruising. I really couldn’t find anything that I didn’t like about this helmet. Everything was as advertised and it seems like SCHUBERTH put a lot of though into the design and engineering.

Price $699


US DOT and ECE 22.05 certified