Wiki Helmets

[Lamnidae]

Okay.


I guess it's about damn time I wrote up a good-n-proper review of the Wiki Wave 100.

I have the black one. If it wasn't for the flowers on the other (c'mon, man design, please?) I'd be totally rocking it... I love plumerias and other tropical flowers, but c'mon, this is not something I want to wear to work on Hawaiian Shirt Fridays....


But less I digest..... First off, what sold me on this helmet was the fact that it has a photochromatic shield....







"WTF Ambly, why do you use such big words?"

"Well it's simple my douche-nozzle, I do simply because I can."






Photochromatics / Photochromic.... capable of changing color on exposure to radiant energy (as light). Think of those nice nifty transition lenses, and you'll get the picture. This resolves the issue of having to carry around your eye-sight saving tinted shield during the day and a clear/yellow shield for night time riding.

Overall build quality - I'd have to give this one an A. The helmet isn't too heavy so it doesn't feel like a brick on your head. Vents open/close quite firmly. Foam does'nt break down too fast (btw, real f'king tight the first while you wear it to break it in, almost like one size too small tight)... Finish is nice and solid. Slight issue w/ the first shield though, which I'll bring up in a moment.

Sound - B- Okay, so it's my own fault I ride a Hayabusa... I guess they're not used to this thing having wind wrap around it at 150MPH+ so there's a lil' more wind nose than I had w/ my old Shoei... but granted, I didn't pay Shoei prices for this little treasure, either. Engine noise.... well, yeah you can still hear it, but that's what earphones/earplugs are for, right?

Comfort - A fits real well... foam padding is good and stays so for a while. Hell they even give you *extra* foam in the package to help adjust your fit


The shield.... A+ Definately A+ There's got to be something said about having a photochromatic ability that's not applied thru a stickie. This damn thing works.... I head out to the bike at the end of my work day... by the time I get to my bike it's mostly already shift, by the time I have the bike started, helmet on, gloves on, it's done and I'm ready to ride. Okay, first off, I did have a small problem with my first shield.... After a couple of months, it didnt' seem to "shift" anymore and just had this yellow tint to it.... Not quite right, expecially after just a couple of months.... So, onto my next bullet..

Here's a nifty as hell chart on some of the shifting properties and a comparison of the Wiki Shift shield and one of the tape photocromatic stickies (i think that's right).

Customer Service - If there was something higher than A+, the company would get it... They're pretty quick with emails and typically got back to me within 12 hours, though I did have to wait a day and a half once... However their staff is more than friendly and definately bring the Aloha spirit (god I miss the tropics) to customer service.... I wrote them and explained what was happening with the shield. They said they hadn't heard really of anything like that before (and well they might not have) but they immediately shipped me out a replacement medium smoke lense (dark smoke was on backorder). No questions asked, no issue w/ return shipment, whatever... Oh, guess what showed up today. My replacement dark smoke lense. Those guys and gals are on the ball and definately know that keeping a customer happy and doing the right thing (rather than some of the horror stories I've heard) is the way a business needs to be ran. TY Guys @ Wiki for the service.


So, overall:

Would I buy another/again? Definately
Would I recommend this product? Definately
Can you go wrong with a hot polynesian chick as your mascot? Definately NOT!


Price - Solid black $200.00
Purchased in Jan/Feb 2008
http://www.wikidesigns.com




It's definately a hell of a lot better deal than Tatter's ex wife....