Review | Nishua Carbon Evo adventure helmet

Any helmet’s primary job is, of course, protecting you in the event of a fall. But style also plays an important part for many riders, and your choice of lid says much about which biking tribe you belong to and the kind of riding you aspire to. Built very much with off-road and adventure riders in mind, this fully carbon helmet from Nishua and sold through German kit giant Louis Moto is a versatile and competitively priced alternative to similar products from flashier brands, and can be run with a visor for road use or with goggles if you’re using it for dirt.

Brand pays a big part of any helmet choice, and it’s safe to say there is a pecking order in prestige and perceived quality. And, indeed, protection levels. Saying that any helmet needs to pass the required regulatory safety tests and, value brand or not, Nishua’s Carbon Evo satisfies the more stringent ECE 22.06 testing standards so is more than just a cheap skid lid for low-speed green lane fun or mucking about on a field bike. Indeed, with its premium lacquered carbon finish it’s arguably a bit posh for that kind of thing, even if you can easily remove the visor and run with goggles if that’s your thing. We tried it in this configuration for off-road test rides at the ABR festival and appreciated the sub-1,400g weight.
Clipping the visor back into place for road riding is a quick and easy process with just two quick-release fixings to fiddle with – a Pinlock included in the box is a nice additional feature. Looking at the forward-jutting MX-style chin guard and larger than typical open space beneath it we had some concerns it might be noisier and more draughty than a dedicated road helmet but, in fact, this wasn’t as bad as feared, at least for shorter rides. We also appreciated the size of the face aperture and extra peripheral vision, to the point it felt more like the all-round view of a space suit than narrow slot of a suit of armour! The large peak is also handy for keeping low sun out of your eyes, which you can do by simply ducking your head down a tad. You can also remove it easily enough, though the helmet looks a bit weird without it. Ventilation seems adequate rather than spectacular and the fit of our Large example was good, if a little looser than the similarly sized Nishua flip-front road helmet we tried previously.

The Nishua Carbon Evo looks like great value for money in terms of its carbon shell, comfort, slick finish and features, which is some compensation for its less fancy branding. We also appreciated the lack of weight. Expectations weren’t all that high for road use and we’d still not opt for a helmet of this style for sustained motorway cruising or touring given the extra noise and drag. But if you ride the lanes and want an adaptable helmet that works on- and off-road and dig the MX style it’s a more versatile option than we’d have credited when we first got it out of the box.