GREAT mid-tier helmet! One Industries has a winner.
What a great helmet that's ultra light weight and very comfortable. I'm a fan of the top tier helmets but with trying to be diligent by replacing my helmet every 5-7 years, I can't justify an $800 helmet anymore. My last helmet, an Airoh Aviator Carbon was outstanding but it's overdue to be replaced and Airoh still has a bit of a small presence in the U.S. so their isn't a lot of feedback from buyers on their newest line. The X-297 is over 1/2 the price of the top tier helmets but has the weight of some of the lightest carbon fiber shell big money helmets made. The biggest factor in my decision, besides it having the MIPS technology for added safety is the helmet having dedicated speaker pockets for comm systems like my Cardo Packtalk. My wife and I ride together often when trail riding and our paces are much different...keeping in communication with each other as well as enjoying some bluetooth music is a nice benefit. Sadly, street bike helmets are mostly the only style with lots of speaker ready models out there. Offroad is slowly catching on and many don't have any provisions to fit speakers inside. The One Industries X-297 does, and my Packtalk system with 40mm JBL speakers worked perfectly on the helmet. I'm a big fan of buying helmets from helmet companies like Airoh, Shoei, Arai, Bell, 6D, etc. That being said, I strayed from that desire and gave this one a shot...and I'm very pleased I did. Outstanding value for the features!