Gear Assessment 2020: Helmets
Smith Forefront 2 shown here in Matte Iron (Blue) and again below in Matte Gravy (black/grey). Photos by OLAB.
Things to consider as MTB season lights up.
Recently, we started considering helmets, tires, grips, and eye glasses, but first lets talk helmets. After riding the same helmet for the last four, five, six years (whoa), we started looking a little deeper into what the best replacement might be. In this case, we are in the market for a new trail riding helmet.
There is lot to consider. Price, how much should you spend? In this article, we’re taking the stance that your brain is of high value and deserves the highest end protection. This position narrowed our search down to two Pacos offered helmet models. The Smith Forefront 2 and the Specialized Ambush with Angi.
As you can see in the photos, both helmets are aesthetically beautiful, have the maximum air ventilation possible and all of the current bells and whistles that the high dollar price tag affords you. For us, at this time, it comes down to these three color way options.
The Smith Forefront 2 is an amazing helmet. It has a unique design and several Smith specific features. It is very lightweight, has a goggle functioning visor, MIPS protection, and incredible airflow. It also has a telescopic fit dial called Vaporfit that is intuitive and easy to adjust on the fly, when you’re running behind.
The two color options shown here are our “at the moment” favs. But in the end, we choose the Matte Gravy (Black/Grey) color-way for it’s stealthy look and black chin straps. The Matte Iron (Deep Tahoe Blue) color way is our second pick from Smith, and as you can see from these photos, it was a tough choice… the blue might be your color.
We also noticed a screw post mount in the top of this helmet which makes mounting a camera rig on the top a breeze with minimal additional fixtures if you’re into that. Scroll below to see our thoughts about the Specialized Ambush and our final conclusion.
Specialized Ambush with Angi shown here in Black
The Specialized Ambush with Angi helmet caught our attention for its lightweight sensibilities, its ultra minimal MIPS integration, and the final deal closer—the Angi emergency notification technology. This helmet from Specialized is also $31 less expensive than the slightly more stylistic and aesthetically unique Smith Forefront 2 (our second choice at the time of this writing). At the moment, we are all riding mostly solo, so having Angi, and being slightly lighter weight than the Smith make this helmet our choice of the day.
The Angi technology is said to digitally notify your emergency contact in the event of a crash. The aesthetic is easily palatable, more than that actually, this thing looks awesome. The only concern is that there is no mesh cover for the vents to keep bugs and harsh UV rays from touching your head. In this case, we might just add a mullet wig and a good sense of humor. This helmet has the most protection tech, and is lightest weight. The visor is a bit loud as you move it up and down, and the chin straps have been simplified to possibly shave weight but lost adjustability. This did not bother us tho so we chose this one for our 2020 brain bucket test. We were also influenced however by the Editors Choice Award given to this helmet by the South Lake Crew at Outdoor Gear Lab. Stop by to try them out for yourself.
