One of my regrets with buying my first helmet is that I didn’t understand the style that I wanted yet, and didn’t get a more race style one.
I got a Shoei GT-Air II, mainly because I thought Shoei were a reputable brand and the price was at the higher end which gave me confidence. I was (and somewhat still am) a biking n00b.
To help me love my helmet more, I thought I’d get a tinted visor to give it more of a race feel. I love the AGV race helmets (@Jay the one in your profile pic is ).
Cost £80, but thought fuck it I’ve got the thing for another four years so why not. But… after my first use, I made a really stupid decision to try wipe off some rain drop residue with kitchen towel and my breath… and scratched it .
I later read that this is a big no no. You should soak your visor to soften debris/bugs. It seemed to happen so easy! I applied little pressure. I’ve cleaned my clear visor in a harsher way before and it’s fine!
Are all tinted visors like this?
Lesson learned and I’ll be a lot more careful in the future, especially as this was a high price to pay for the lesson. But it feels like you have to be super gentle with these tinted ones. I’m scared to clean it again!
I have a dark smoke on my Shoei Xspirit and haven’t found particularly susceptible to scratching. I only clean it with a microfiber cloth though. Paper towels are like sand paper.
I can’t say my Shoei tinted ones scratches more easily. I’d normally have them in a soft visor bag but then they’d be hard into a kriega, strapped into the bike or strapped onto me. Yes they got scratched but I’m pretty sure most if not all was when they were on the helmet and the visor came into contact with sth else
@kylejs, bummer. Visors are always prone to scratching so yes you have to be super careful and use damp microfibre cloths with a non acidic cleaner, but even then at some point they’ll get scratched, perhaps from road debris so they’ll need replacing even if you look after them perfectly, plus accidents happen when putting lids down to rest on things (never put them on a bike seat, NEVER!).
Also, visors with a coating, i.e. a reflective one are IME unbelievably fragile and prone to scratching with the slightest of abrasive surfaces. I ruined an Iridium coated one once doing what you did (this was back when Iridium tints were a hot fashion).
I would also expect there to be a correlation between price and durability and would err on the side of OEM over third-party (unless it’s for something OEM’s don’t make like a colour coating tint).
In my experience iridium or mirror finish visors and goggles always scratch easily. Normal tinted or smoked visors not so much.
As mentioned above, it’s the coating to be careful of. I try to use hand soap and a microfibre cloth.
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