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We first found out about the Leatt DBX helmet line when we saw pictures of Sam Hill floating around on the internet wearing one. It was odd to see Sam wearing anything but a Troy Lee Designs D3 but we figured there must be something appealing if he decided to make the switch. Back at Sea Otter we got a chance to shred around on drift trikes in our DBX 6.0 Carbon test lid for the first time and out of the gate we were pretty impressed with fit, function and finish. Follow along to see how it’s treated us for the last few months…
If you haven’t taken note from the bullet points above, you’ll see that Leatt have packed in a handful of interesting features into this lid. Clockwise from top left in the photo above : the breakaway visor is one of those safety features that one wouldn’t typically think of, but it does have a sound justification for increasing safety. Next, a port for a hydration pack’s hose enters seamlessly through the jaw for hands free sipping. Bottom right : each of the vents can accept foam liners to block dirt, mud and debris without restricting airflow too much. Lastly, the jaw pads snap out for emergency removal.
Leatt utilizes “360° Turbine Technology”, which are a series of 10 strategically placed, gelatinous discs that help dissipate impacts to the rider’s skull while also allowing the head to move slightly within the helmet to avoid rotational impacts. The discs are specifically shaped and made of “Armourgel” – a unique material that hardens under impact impact. It’s not easy to quantify exactly how advantageous this technology is, but as a renowned company that does lots of research, Leatt holds a great reputation and we’re confident they’ve done the math.
When we first put the DBX lid on our dome, we thought….”Hmmm – this thing feels good”. The chin bar is a bit drawn and tapered in on the sides and perhaps there is some sort of functional/safety reason for that, but it does go on a bit tough as the width of the opening for your head is a touch on the narrow side. Not a huge deal and it didn’t bother us in the long run, but worth mentioning. Once you’re in the pads are buttery soft and for the shape of our cranium the helmet’s fit was impeccable. We should mention, our tester is usually a size Large but the rep at Leatt cautioned us that the helmet fit a touch on the small side. Oddly enough, he found the opposite to be true and settled nicely into the Medium.
Out of the gate our test rider didn’t have any personal hangups with the DBX 6.0 Carbon, but something you’ve got to keep in mind when spending your hard earned cash on a pricey helmet is that every head shape is different. For our rider, it fit comfortably and worked well with with his Scott Tyrant goggles, plus it didn’t move around when things got rough. The padding is absolutely cream of the crop; there’s something nice about velvety soft liners when you’re bashing your way down a rough nasty track isn’t there?
The ventilation was good but to be honest, we’ve never ridden any full face gravity oriented helmet where we were shocked at how cool it kept us, as the priority here is obviously safety. With that said, the DBX was certainly one of the better lids we’ve used in terms of airflow. While our test rider doesn’t wear a neck brace, Leatt has tailored the shape of the DBX to play nice if you are wearing one. Lastly, the strap was smooth, comfortable and everything stayed in place nicely; there wasn’t any bouncy, shifty feeling.
It’s hard to fully rate a helmet without having any serious blows to the head so we’ll leave that to the lab tests that we’re sure Leatt have done many of. Our tester has taken some serious diggers over the past 18 years of riding downhill bikes – 8 of which have resulted in serious concussions so he was quite happy to conclude this test without slapping his head. If we had to nit pick and find anything to complain about, it would be our vanity getting the best of us: we’re not sold on the looks of the visor and the mouthpiece, but both pieces are being updated for 2017 so we’re not alone in feeling that way. Keep in mind, those two quips have nothing to do with performance whatsoever and this is still a rad looking helmet overall.
As a consumer, it’s up to you to do the research and determine if the DBX 6.0 is right for you. We can tell you that it feels incredible and is packed with nice features but they don’t come cheap. It’s also fairly small and lightweight – both of those attributes help to increase a helmet’s safety. Although we didn’t pound our head into any rocks while wearing this helmet, it was confidence inspiring to say the least and it’s definitely worth a look if you’re in the market for a new premium gravity helmet.
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