[mayberry32]

My LBS suggests a Giro Xar and says it provides maximum coverage. It feels comfortable and seems to have really good air flow. I've also seen a lot of people here mention the Bell Super. It seems like a great helmet, but I do have concerns about the venting. I live in Georgia and ride mostly xc, and the heat/ humidity here is brutal. I need a really good helmet, but I also need something with air flow. Which do you think is better?

 

[shiggy]

My LBS suggests a Giro Xar and says it provides maximum coverage. It feels comfortable and seems to have really good air flow. I've also seen a lot of people here mention the Bell Super. It seems like a great helmet, but I do have concerns about the venting. I live in Georgia and ride mostly xc, and the heat/ humidity here is brutal. I need a really good helmet, but I also need something with air flow. Which do you think is better?

The one that fits your head is the best, which may be neither.

 

[bongski]

The one that fits your head is the best, which may be neither.

^^ This. Giro helmets fit my head very well, but TLD, Bell and Fox are either too large or too small.
Make sure you try helmets first.

I can recommend the Xar from MY personal experience crashing at 25mph.

 

[hidperf]

I picked up a Xar after I cracked my old Giro helmet. It saved my skull so I decided to stick with Giro.

Two reasons I picked the Xar:

1) It seemed to have coverage down the back of the head, which is what took the blow that broke my old helmet.
2) I kept reading about how good the airflow was, and I was going on a 7-day trip across two states where it would be 100+ on many days. And it gets crazy hot and humid here too.

So far it's been a great buy and Chainlove has been throwing them up for less than HALF what I paid for mine. The only gripes I have are that it looks MASSIVE on my head and that I'm having a hard time figuring out how I'm going to mount my light and possibly my camera.

 

[Harold]

I ordered a Xar from my LBS last fall and have been happy with it. Giro helmets have fit me well in the past, so I was comfortable with ordering it. Bell helmets don't fit me as well so I didn't consider the Super.

 

[someoldfart]

I LIKED MY Xar but have retired it to spare duty. I am a difficult fit I think as I often seem to between sizes ang going to the larger size tends to get a helmet that sits on my glasses. On cooling I have learned, genetically, that hair is what really makes a helmet hot. I ain't got much anymore so I find just about any helmet well vented. Even the Urge Enduromatic.

 

[tartosuc]

I used a remedy before, wanted to get the xar as a replacement and found that the fit was very different... Try before you buy....

 

[kapusta]

My LBS suggests a Giro Xar and says it provides maximum coverage. It feels comfortable and seems to have really good air flow. I've also seen a lot of people here mention the Bell Super. It seems like a great helmet, but I do have concerns about the venting. I live in Georgia and ride mostly xc, and the heat/ humidity here is brutal. I need a really good helmet, but I also need something with air flow. Which do you think is better?

The Xar is anything BUT maximum coverage. It's coverage is actually pretty minimal, as little as any helmet I have owned or tried on.

Like the Xen (which I have) it LOOKS like it comes down farther in the rear, but in fact it just comes down less on the sides, giving the illusion that it comes down in the rear. Also, a lot profile back gives the appearance of coming down farther.

 

[Harold]

Yeah, the coverage of the xar is pretty typical for an xc lid. But I wasn't really looking for anything else.

 

[kapusta]

Yeah, the coverage of the xar is pretty typical for an xc lid. But I wasn't really looking for anything else.

Yeah, I was not recommending against it (I really like my Xen, which is also less coverage than one might assume), but people should be aware that if max coverage is a priority, it does not have it.

In the end, fit and comfort are really key key to me, and I don't think the difference in "coverage" is really that important.

 

[TwoTone]

I'll be getting the new MET Parachute. You don't need to be downhilling to crash and hit the face. After my last crash, I won't be riding a 1/2 dome anymore.

I know, people will say a lot of things, but I also have been riding most of my life and the scar on my eye brow reminds me how close I came to possibly losing an eye.

Worth considering. It even passes the ASTM 1952 standard.