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Giro Xen
Jim - 7th February 2008
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There isnt a great deal of things to consider when buying a helmet. Its got to be designed for what you're doing, but at the same time not weighing the earth. Giro have spent a great deal of time making a name for themselves in this market, and after seeing what goes into a helmet its fair to say they have the knack of it by now.
The Xen (along with many Giro lids) has carbon fibre reinforement hidden away within that shell in order to make it strong, as well as being able to shave weight to the point where once you've got it on; its forgotten about.
The Xen was also the first cross country targeted lid to come with pisspot style coverage, a lot of cross country helmets will not protect the back of your head, but the Xen will, of course this isnt an alternative to the full face, but its something to wear when the terrain demands it and a full face is just too much.
This year it comes in five finishes, matte black, grey, white digital camo, green and grey digital camo and a black and bronze 'tree' design. Have a look:
We'll leave the matte black & grey to your imagination.
The first thing is the number of vents, it has 17! Using Giros Wind Tunnel technology your head is never going to get warm with this beauty on. As usual it uses the brilliant RocLoc system to fit precisely to your head, even my odd shaped bonce manages to fit nicely despite other manufacturers having a strange fit. A helmet is one of the only things you definitely need to try before you buy, even though you measure your head there's no guarantee the internal shape will fit.
Simply put, if you want the safety of a pisspot with the venting from an XC lid, this is the one. It'll deal with cross country epics, all mountain and freeride. No-one does it better. The Xen retails at £90 but if you snoop around the shops you'll find a deal or two, have a look at the Giro website or head over to Ultimate Pursuits for the range!
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