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Schuberth C3 Pro Closeout

Fuzzy

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Just received a new Schuberth C3 Pro from Motorcyclegear.com. The split color helmets are a closeout item for less than a C3 Lite when considering the Lite does not include the pin lock in the box. Advertised as the quietest helmet available and my limited experience over 5 helmets supports the claim. Plots available on their site are yellow / black or white / black.
If looking for a premium modular helmet these can’t be beat.
 
Always check the build date on close out helmets. It could be half it’s lifespan and not so much of a bargain.
 
Always check the build date on close out helmets. It could be half it’s lifespan and not so much of a bargain.
this^^^^ I'm going to need to replace my C3Pro probably next year just due to life span. I'll be looking at the C4Pro or whatever Schuberth does next. The C3 Pro fits perfectly, is really, really quiet and all-day comfortable. It is actually quieter with the short Honda stock screen than with my large CalSci touring screen (which causes just a bit of buffeting at the top of the helmet, causing a low freq rumble). The C3 Pro in clear air sounds about like sitting on an airliner at altitude. It's that quiet.

Their customer service has been outstanding (sent me several free top vent assemblies when I broke the slider on mine). I don't care for how the C4 Pro has to include their specific mic/speakers, but oh well - I can just take those out.
 
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Always check the build date on close out helmets. It could be half it’s lifespan and not so much of a bargain.
June 2020 manufacturing date so year from manufacturing to my head and not old stock. Probably hard to find one less than 6 months old by the time they make it across ocean from Germany and through distribution network. I think people weren’t willing to pay an extra hundred dollars for two tone paint job so now hundred dollars less than solid colors while they last. No other vendor I found had dropped the price yet.
 
Noise and interior ventilation seem to unfortunately correlate. How well does it ventilate compared to the older C3?
 
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Always check the build date on close out helmets. It could be half it’s lifespan and not so much of a bargain.
What is the lifespan, and who determined it?
 
What is the lifespan, and who determined it?
The people who’d like to sell you a new helmet say about 5 years.
(-:

A professional testing entity I’ve spoken with doesn’t necessarily agree, at least when talking about the best helmets out there. They’ve told me before they wouldn’t worry about me replacing my helmet so long as it fits and the padding is still good, even years past the ‘recommended’ replacement date.
 
5 years as an industry standard endorsed by the Snell Foundation. Shoei's is 5 years from first use or 7 years from build date.
I recall the 5 year replacement interval recommendation existed even back in the 1970’s. It seems almost unbelievable that advances in helmet materials and manufacturing processses over the past 50 years would not have improved a helmet’s useful life beyond 5 or 7 years.
 
That timeframe is a worst-possible-case situation for cheaply-made helmets, IMO.

Nothing about an Arai, for example, warrants replacement in under twice that time, IMO&E, assuming reasonable storage when you’re off the bike. I replace interior padding sometimes before that long. That’s it.

If advances in safety (backed by repeatable testing and validation) come along, that’d be the replacement driver for me.
 
That timeframe is a worst-possible-case situation for cheaply-made helmets, IMO.

Nothing about an Arai, for example, warrants replacement in under twice that time, IMO&E, assuming reasonable storage when you’re off the bike. I replace interior padding sometimes before that long. That’s it.

If advances in safety (backed by repeatable testing and validation) come along, that’d be the replacement driver for me.
I would agree.

Arai notes that they have a "limited 5 year warranty" but it seems pretty absurd that ANY BRAND of high quality helmet would "wear out" if the helmet is properly stored. I bring my helmets inside the house when not in use. Storing them in a garage which likely freezes/thaws in the winter and gets hot/humid or hot/dry in the summer, and which probably has various solvents, gasoline, brake cleaner, diesel fuel, etc where chemical fumes would break down the protective foam in the helmet would probably be the biggest contributing factor to a helmet actually needing to be replaced (other than obvious things like an IMPACT to the helmet).

As the owner of a premium helmet, there are 2 reasons why I would get a new helmet every 5 years.
1) I want a new one.
2) I really really want a new one.

New real advancements in safety are pretty hard to achieve and realistically a Snell 2020 is not an exponential increase in safety over a Snell 2015 certified lid. It may be very marginally safer, or not, in fact a Snell 2015 certified helmet may well meet the Snell 2020 standard but a manufacturer trying to sell new buckets is not likely to submit an old design for testing under an "updated" standard since it reduces their potential to sell a new design.

I'll probably buy a modular helmet in the next couple of years, doubt a modular helmet built in 2021/22 will be safer than my 2017 Arai, but if you look at my 2 reasons for getting a new helmet above you will see why I may buy a new helmet.
 
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Wear time, fit, climate of average use are important variables. I ride a lot in a climate that is warm and humid and my helmet doesn’t fit as well after several years and maybe 60 or 70,000 miles at 20,000 + miles annually. I prefer the premium level Shoei brand and buy all new interior padding in the 4th or 5th year to extend life another year or two but even the EPS liner compresses slightly from perhaps 1500 hours use and the original snug fit is compromised. Until I try on a new one in my size do I fully realize how the fit had gradually changed. I never hang the helmet on a mirror or store it outside when away from home. The neck strap still becomes age hardened, takes a “set” and doesn’t tighten with the same feel.

I would probably be buying new helmets in a 5 to 7 year cycle anyway even if I didn’t believe it was a worthwhile recommendation. I realize everyone perceives risk and value differently as well as uses their equipment differently.
Yesterday I followed another rider into my neighborhood. I had seen him before but didn’t personally know him. His motorcycle was very shiny and made loud noises. His preference for head and face protection yesterday was a piece of cloth knotted at the back of his neck. As we rolled down the main entrance road into the subdivision he leaned back and opened the left saddlebag and fumbled for something. I assumed it was a garage door opener but he pulled out a half helmet and put it unbuckled on his head just as he turned down his street. I guess his significant other makes his helmet choices for him. I make my own choices.
 
I’m with Dduuelin that use and environment are critical factors. Little concern if sitting on shelf, but daily wear in hot weather is different matter. If padding has compressed to point of being loose then helmet is less safe and will more likely have painfully hotspots than a snug fitting helmet. The 5 years is a safe, general standard to keep company lawyers happy. My HJC SyMax 3 used to be hi-vis but now is mostly white.
 
I wear mine year-round in southern AZ and the West. That’s the basis on which my opinion and experience are built.
 
You can replace the liner components if, after years of sweat and use, your helmet no longer fits perfectly. But the fact that the liner components may need to be periodically replaced does not mean that the safety aspects of the helmet have been degraded by some marketing group's timeframe, which is more to insure repeat customers, that actual safety.

You replace wear parts on a motorcycle when needed. The liner parts of a helmet can be looked at the same way. When you routinely change your oil that does not mean the bike has mechanically failed. When you change out a few sweat soaked or worn out pads in your helmet that is, similarly, not an indication that the shell of the helmet has failed.


FWIW, I'm still curious if the C3Pro, size large fits in a Frunk. I'm actually more interested in the E1, which has the same shell as the C3Pro, uses the same shields, but has a chin bar with added ventilation.
 
Wear time, fit, climate of average use are important variables. I ride a lot in a climate that is warm and humid and my helmet doesn’t fit as well after several years and maybe 60 or 70,000 miles at 20,000 + miles annually. I prefer the premium level Shoei brand and buy all new interior padding in the 4th or 5th year to extend life another year or two but even the EPS liner compresses slightly from perhaps 1500 hours use and the original snug fit is compromised. Until I try on a new one in my size do I fully realize how the fit had gradually changed. I never hang the helmet on a mirror or store it outside when away from home. The neck strap still becomes age hardened, takes a “set” and doesn’t tighten with the same feel.

I would probably be buying new helmets in a 5 to 7 year cycle anyway even if I didn’t believe it was a worthwhile recommendation. I realize everyone perceives risk and value differently as well as uses their equipment differently.
Yesterday I followed another rider into my neighborhood. I had seen him before but didn’t personally know him. His motorcycle was very shiny and made loud noises. His preference for head and face protection yesterday was a piece of cloth knotted at the back of his neck. As we rolled down the main entrance road into the subdivision he leaned back and opened the left saddlebag and fumbled for something. I assumed it was a garage door opener but he pulled out a half helmet and put it unbuckled on his head just as he turned down his street. I guess his significant other makes his helmet choices for him. I make my own choices.
Those factors you described are reasonable for determining helmet replacement time. Quite simply, it gets replaced when it is worn out. The replacement clock is not running when the new helmet is in a box at a warehouse. If a manufacturer insisted on a five year replacement, regardless of new helmet storage factors, they should have an automatic pro-rated price reduction, and then remove unsold product from the market at five years age.
 
Those factors you described are reasonable for determining helmet replacement time. Quite simply, it gets replaced when it is worn out. The replacement clock is not running when the new helmet is in a box at a warehouse. If a manufacturer insisted on a five year replacement, regardless of new helmet storage factors, they should have an automatic pro rated price reduction, and then remove unsold product from the market at five years age.
We don't know the environmental conditions of the warehouses along the way, the conditions of the chemical plant next to the helmet factory or warehouses, or if it sat in a steel shipping container with 3600 other ones in the tropical sun for 12 months at a port of embarkation. Being in transportation and logistics for the better part of 40 years I've seen all of these plus probably worse that I haven't seen.

The 5 to 7 year replacement cycle is a suggestion not a requirement. Kind of like brushing your teeth. There are folks that think dentists and doctors are only out to extract money from their pockets and they might be right, or not. They take their chances.

For their part, Shoei warranties a helmet 7 years from build date or 5 years from purchase date which I think is reasonable.
 
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