NZI helmets aren't a very well known name in the UK. Yet. A quick trip across to Spain would tell a different story, as they are one of the leading brands over there. And it doesn't stop on the street. To demonstrate their worth, NZI sponsored one Jorge Lorenzo on his way to becoming World 250cc GP champion. And while I guess Jorge didn't get to hold that Number One plate by throwing his bike into the hedge at every opportunity, he might be called a bit of a crasher. So clearly NZI helmets are up to protecting the little grey cells at least reasonably well...

So let's move on a couple of years. The large box arrived on my doorstep and inside it was a beautifully finished helmet in a very high quality bag. Looking good so far. First impressions are actually rather more than good. I'm astonished at how light the helmet is, for a start. At around 1350g, it weighs noticeably less than most other helmets in this price range. The carbon fibre construction will have a lot to do with that, of course. Yes, you read that right. A genuine carbon fibre helmet for well under £300 is pretty remarkable. The finish is frankly superb, with deep and lustrous paintwork and excellent graphics. I usually go for plain helmets myself, but in this case I'm happy to make an exception and say that I think it looks great. Though there's nowhere to put my usual MBT stickers. But that's a small point.

As far as features go, pretty well everything you could reasonably expect is there. Ventilation is taken care of by four rather neat click open/click closed vents - one on the forehead, one on either side of the chinbar and a central chin vent. They are assisted by extract vents at the back which have a negative pressure area around them when you're moving and so suck the air out. It's a common technique for the simple reason that it works.

That there is an easily removable visor will come as no surprise, though the relatively intuitive system surprised me - I managed it without resorting to the owners handbook. The visor is treated with both anti-scratch and anti mist coatings and they seem to work. The anti scratch I can't really comment on, but the anti-mist hasn't ket me down yet and I've used the helmet in rain, fog and cold early mornings when it would probably have misted up if it was going to. There is also a sort of curtain at the base of the helmet which serves to keep your chin and upper neck warm as well as having some more clever extraction bits. Having this on should make any misting problems far worse, so the fact that vision remained clear must presumably mean that the coating works.

The lining is plush and, in common with most top of the range helmets, removable and washable. It's also anti-bacterial treated and is has excellent wicking propertiesto keep you commfortable. Bizarrely, should you normally suffer from helmet hair this might be something to look at. For some reason I haven't had that problem while I've been using it.

But.

You do get ever so warm. A spirited country ride showed that the extraction works fine and there's sufficient airflow to keep temperatures reasonably under control, but through towm regardless of how many vents are open, things get pretty warm in there. I suspect that trying to avoid boiling your brain would not be considered an acceptable defence as to why you were doing seventy along The Embankment. Though perhaps it might - please do let us know if you decide to try it.

In fairness, though, that's a pretty minor criticism. The NZI Spyder is actually fantastically comfortable, the visor aperture is huge and it's extremely quiet as well. Even gettinga real move on I wasn't able to induce any buffeting or discomfort at all, and the light weight makes it really easy to move your head around if you're that type of rider (I am). On these points alone I'd give it a pretty sturdy endorsement.

But there's something else.

See those buttons on the bottom left? The Spyder comes prepared for a Bluetooth module. Just pull out the left cheek pad and slip the comms unit in. It's all integrated and ready to plug in. Now I haven't had the chance to test it because at this stage the modules aren't available. But by the time you can buy the helmet they will be included. If you'd rather remain in blissful isolation (and that's fair enough - it's hat a lot of us use bikes for) then there is a non communications version available as well. Or you could just pop the standard cheek pad back in and leave the comms unit in the box...

So here we have a light weight, beautifully finished helmet with all the features you could possibly ask for plus a couple retailing for just £279. It's comfortable as well, and I'm pretty confident that were I to use it in anger my the contents of my skull would remain no more scrambled than they presently are.

And that's as resounding an endorsement as I can give.

SB

Note: NZI Helmets are currently available from Bulletproof Clothing. A full dealer network is about to be announced.