Nolan N100 Review
The Nolan N100 “classic,” now replaced by the N100E, is an injection molded Lexan-shelled helmet with an outer clear coat. This means two things—toughness and lightness. It is a modular (flip-up style) helmet, which makes it perfect for long rides with frequent stops, as a hard a task (with a helmet) such as drinking is made easy simply by lifting the front part of the unit.
N100s come with scratch resistant visors, again made out of General Electric’s wonder material—Lexan. The opening of the chin guard on an N100 is made easy by Nolan’s Smart Lift system, where one needs to press a single lever on the left side. The pads are washable and removable, made of sanitized hypoallergenic material. It is also standard with Nolan’s anti-fog technology.
A closer look
The N100 is avaible on a wide variety of sizes ranging from XS up to XXXL. The catch mechanism is two sided, but closes and releases very easily. The chin vents can easily be operated with gloves on; it has this sort of scoop system with very big internal vents. Ventilation was, dare I say it, a breeze.
The face shield is removable without any tools; it has very good visibility and clearness. The chin bar pivots are neatly done and tucked, and moved around a sort of elliptical pivot which automatically closes the shield when the opened.
Inside, only the cheek pads are removable for cleaning. It does not leak in mild to heavy rain but the liners can still get dingy after a while.
The only problem with Lexan-based shields is if you’re wearing sunglasses underneath, you get a sort of rainbow effect on the colors of your natural view. Other than that, at around $120-$180 nowadays, the N100 is still of excellent value.
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