Ruroc is an interesting compamy. They make some really good kit, and they don't seem to be afraid to mix things up a bit. Now I have to admit that some of their designs don't light my candle. That's OK, it's a matter of taste. There's also no doubt at all that their helmets are very good. They're well made and fully featured. They're reasonably priced for what they are - carbon fibre shells and rich colour, along with excellent ventilation and visor fitment. And the Atlas 4 Track is even suitable for trackdays, with its double-D fastening.

But that's not what makes them interesting. Oh no. What makes them interesting is their habit of doing stuff that's largely, well, unexpected. For instance, take the forementioned trackday (and even race) legal helmet and then for example, make a really high quality bluetooth headset which fits inside it perfectly.

Or this.

Lots of companies make photochromic inserts. Some of them are quite good.

But none of them are as good as this. Allegedly.

You see, it's very clever indeed. Why? Because it has a coating on the inside that stops it steaming up. And it goes from nigh-on clear to almost as dark as a proper dark visor. Or so they claim.

Tall claims indeed. And being the cynical old hack that I am I was very much inclined to treat them with a healthy pinch of salt. But for a variety of reasons I needed a new visor and I found mycelf taking advantage of the post-Christmas sale to pick this up for 50% off, with the aim of probably proving to myself that it was rubbish.

That, um, didn't quite work out as planned.

The first time I used the visor it was cold. Sunny but cold. January in the UK does that, apparently. It's just about the worst possible conditions for visors steaming up in London. With or without inserts - low speed riding in traffic with the visor closed is just about guaranteed to result in condensation forming on the inside. Except... it didn't. Not even a little bit. Which is really rather impressive.

As for the photochromic part... it was, as I said, a sunny day. I put the helmet on inside my garage, opened the door, and within a few seconds it was dark. Properly dark. When I got to my destination I took a the picture below. And after a moment indoors I took the picture above.

This visor is actually as good as Ruroc claim. Which is annoying.

Outside the sale you can get it from Ruroc direct for £150. Like most Ruroc products, it's not cheap. But it's not expensive when the quality is taken into account. Which actually makes it very good value.

SB