Full Face Helmets

Full Face Helmet Buying Guide

A full face helmet adds a chin bar that protects your jaw, teeth and lower face from impacts. For downhill racing, bike parks and aggressive riding, a full face is essential — facial injuries from crashes without chin bar protection are common and expensive to fix.

Lightweight vs DH-Certified

Lightweight full face helmets (Fox Proframe, Troy Lee Designs Stage, Bell Super DH) weigh 700-900g and are designed for enduro racing where you pedal uphill in the helmet. They have more ventilation and less material than DH-certified lids. DH-certified helmets (Fox Rampage, Troy Lee D4, Bell Full-9) are heavier (1000-1200g), more robust, and meet the stricter ASTM DH certification standard. If you're racing DH or riding bike parks with big jumps, DH-certified is the right choice. For enduro where you're pedalling 80% of the ride, a lightweight full face is the better compromise.

Convertible Helmets

Bell Super DH and Giro Switchblade have a removable chin bar — open face for the climb, full face for the descent. They're heavier than a dedicated open face and less protective than a dedicated DH helmet, but the convenience of one helmet for everything has made them very popular for trail and enduro riders who want chin bar protection on descents without overheating on climbs.

Goggle Compatibility

Full face helmets are designed to work with goggles. The goggle strap sits in a channel at the back of the helmet, and the goggle lens should seal against the helmet's brow without gaps. Some helmet-goggle combos work better than others — Fox helmets pair well with Fox goggles, Troy Lee with Oakley, etc. Try the combo before committing. A gap between goggle and helmet lets in dust, rain, and cold air.