# With or without helmet Visor?



## richeyr (May 6, 2004)

Do you bike with or without your helmet visor? Why? The visor tends to not let me look as far ahead as I like, but it helps deflect branches and the sun. I wear sunglasses, but am wondering other people's thoughts.


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## Trevor! (Dec 23, 2003)

Without. You can see more and thats probably the most important reason for me.


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## SilverStar (Jan 22, 2004)

*With.....*

I ride with the visor on. It kinda looks dorky without one. I've got a Giro Xen that can adjust the visor 15 degrees so if i can't see too well, I can flip the visor up. The visor keeps the sun and rain off my eyes.


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## lebikerboy (Jan 19, 2005)

With. It's not a downhill ski helmet.


SilverStar said:


> I ride with the visor on. It kinda looks dorky without one. I've got a Giro Xen that can adjust the visor 15 degrees so if i can't see too well, I can flip the visor up. The visor keeps the sun and rain off my eyes.


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## Picard (Apr 5, 2005)

*need visor*

It is safer with the visor. It protects the eyes from small branches that will snap back to the helmet. I ride with full visor. There is nothing dorky about it.

People used to say that it was dorky to ride a bike with helmet. now, everyone realize that helmet is nescessary safety equipment.


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## Hecubus (Jan 12, 2004)

I take them off, they serve no functional purpose 90% of the time. Better visibility without it on the more leaned forward riding position of the XC race bike. A definate no no on the road bike. Your neck will get sore from having to hold your head up so far back to be able to see forward with the damn thing on. I will typically put it on for trails that are completely out in the open most of the time with no shade or cover but for the most part I prefer to just wear sunglasses to take care of that. I don't care if the helmet looks dorky without them. Bike helmets look dorky either way. I'd rather have as much uninterrupted visibility in every direction than worry about looking dorky.


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## SpinWheelz (May 3, 2004)

I ride with the visor. And how grateful was I for that visor yesterday. The trees are still bare, so the beaming sun came down hard - it was the brightest I'd ever seen the trail - so that visor did its job keeping the glare out of my eyes. I also noticed that the visor works well to deflect air away from my eyes, even though I wear prescription wraparound glasses. When I ride without the visor, I still get some air seeping in, making it more difficult to see and/or concentrate.


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## frankenbike (Mar 17, 2004)

I ride with a visor. I do most of my riding during peak sunlight, so it's a must. I also ride in a very relaxed somewhat upright position.

On the streets though, I ride my track bike w/o the visior because of the lower bar position.


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## gunfodder (Jan 13, 2004)

*With, of course*

With the visor, of course. Otherwise how would anyone know it's not a roadie helmet? Besides, if I took the visor off it would get lost.


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## shiggy (Dec 19, 1998)

richeyr said:


> Do you bike with or without your helmet visor? Why? The visor tends to not let me look as far ahead as I like, but it helps deflect branches and the sun. I wear sunglasses, but am wondering other people's thoughts.


No visor. Block my vision. They force me to crane my neck too much to see down the trail and that causes neck and shoulder pain.

The helmet alone does a nice job deflecting branches. I wear sun glasses for the sun glare.


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## rockhound55 (Feb 22, 2005)

*with visor*

with, it looks much better and protects against branches. i wear sunglasses as well, my vision isn't affected at all by the visor.


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## cbmtbr (Aug 2, 2004)

with. I have never had it block my vision on a mtb. Great for blocking glare, protection, etc. I take it off for road riding because it is in the way on the road bike. I look just as lame as road bikers that way, too, so I fit in better.


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## frank n. beans (Jan 19, 2004)

Without, mainly for visibility. I really do not see the benefit of using a visor.


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## beeristasty (Jan 22, 2004)

I prefer without. I think xc helmets look kinda dorky with a visor, but I don't use them because of that. Better visibility as others have said. I always wear sunglasses too so a visor is a little redundant. I'm more concerned about tire fling and bugs in my eyes. A branch will still deflect off your helmet if you're wearing a visor or not. Plus I save 23+ grams without it! 

Its funny you say that b/c I just replaced my old helmet with a Giro Atmos. I must be a closet roadie.


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## richeyr (May 6, 2004)

I asked mainly because of the visibility issue. In the most comfortable riding position on both my bikes the visor allows me to only see about maybe ten feet in front of me without having to lift my head up. Lifting my head causes soreness in my neck and shoulders. I have rode with and without the visor, but I am the only one on the trail without a visor when I ride. I thnk I am going to leave it off more this season, since I wear sunglasses anyways.


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## shiggy (Dec 19, 1998)

richeyr said:


> I asked mainly because of the visibility issue. In the most comfortable riding position on both my bikes the visor allows me to only see about maybe ten feet in front of me without having to lift my head up. Lifting my head causes soreness in my neck and shoulders. I have rode with and without the visor, but I am the only one on the trail without a visor when I ride. I thnk I am going to leave it off more this season, since I wear sunglasses anyways.


Just leave it off all the time. Sounds like you do not ride in the Sit-Up-and-Beg position that best suits visor use.


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## WeakMite (May 11, 2004)

*Without for me...*

...I guess I have a weird shaped skull, but the visor blocks my vision.

Speaking of visors. Knowing the roadie disgust for helmet visors. I got such a huge kick out of it last year when Armstrong had Giro build him a custom visor to wear during the TdF. That together with his black socks... and dominant victory... it created quite a quandry in the minds of the roadie fashion set.


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## Guest (Apr 12, 2005)

I'm pretty lucky to live in a sunny place(except for the melanomia, that is). Always ridden with a helmet visor. Definitely helps keep the sun out of your eyes.


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## Blue Shorts (Jun 1, 2004)

richeyr said:


> Do you bike with or without your helmet visor? Why? The visor tends to not let me look as far ahead as I like, but it helps deflect branches and the sun. I wear sunglasses, but am wondering other people's thoughts.


I usually leve the visor on. When I ride my beefier bike with a more upright riding position, I keep the visor down. When I ride my XC bike with a more aggressive riding position, I tend to flip the visor up.

If I used a road bike, I'd go without the visor to keep from having to crane my neck.


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## Lighty_ (Sep 16, 2003)

With. It actually saved me from getting a sunburn on my face this weekend. If you're like me, there are always those rides where you forget sunblock or didn't expect to need it.


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## bike_freak (Dec 24, 2003)

I ride with the visor. I find it stops alot of branches hitting me in the face. It laso blocks out some sun light(but I wear sunglasses anyways..). 

If I did roaid riding ,then I would certainly take the visor off.


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## Trevor! (Dec 23, 2003)

shiggy said:


> No visor. Block my vision. They force me to crane my neck too much to see down the trail and that causes neck and shoulder pain.
> 
> The helmet alone does a nice job deflecting branches. I wear sun glasses for the sun glare.


Ditto! As I have already said, no need for a visor. They are pointless.

Glasses are a must - even wirth a visor.


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## shabbasuraj (Mar 7, 2005)

I use my visor.

Why? Looks better, and keeps sun out of my EYE GUY....


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## VTSEAL (Apr 20, 2004)

Do whatever you want - the bike ride is for you not everybody else...

Personally, I find that on night rides; visor = eye saver. Especially in the spring when the trails are more overgrown, and there is always some thorny vine reaching out to steal your glasses just as you've locked up the brakes and are leaning into that switchback... Of course if I lived in Moab where there are no trees maybe I'd think the visor was dumb...

Hey am I the only one who finds it ironic that some Roadie Dude who thinks nothing of shaving his legs and stepping into a set of bibs finds it perfectly reasonable to pontificate about fashion to everyone else? The sock thing is the one that really cracks me up...


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## jasonwa2 (Oct 28, 2004)

Without a visor ! in fact, i choose a helmet that sticks close to the front of my head. Visors block your vision against low limbs and so do helmets that stick an extra half inch to an inch in front of your skull. 

I cant believe i am reading several people say that they like their visors because it deflects branches?????

If the visor wasnt there , you would be able to see the low branch and duck underneath it.


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## Dave719 (May 29, 2004)

richeyr said:


> Do you bike with or without your helmet visor? Why? The visor tends to not let me look as far ahead as I like, but it helps deflect branches and the sun. I wear sunglasses, but am wondering other people's thoughts.


I've seen a couple endo crashes where the visor shattered into many sharp pieces when the person's helmet hit the ground. One person had some large scrape marks on her face and throat from it. We all felt lucky none of the pieces stabbed or cut into her eyes or throat or things would have been much worse. Perhaps helmet makers should make it out of a less rigid and brittle material.

Since then I've debated whether to leave it off. I agree it doesn't provide much protection, from the sun or branches.

Dave


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## BruceBrown (Jan 16, 2004)

richeyr said:


> Do you bike with or without your helmet visor? Why? The visor tends to not let me look as far ahead as I like, but it helps deflect branches and the sun. I wear sunglasses, but am wondering other people's thoughts.


I ride in a lot of wet and mud conditions, so riding with the visor helps limit the amount of mud that ends up in the eye area.

BB


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## cbchess (Dec 20, 2003)

richeyr said:


> Do you bike with or without your helmet visor? Why? The visor tends to not let me look as far ahead as I like, but it helps deflect branches and the sun. I wear sunglasses, but am wondering other people's thoughts.


I used to wear helmets with Visors - the last three had Visors they were mid-range offerings from Specialized, Trek and Gary Fisher.

My current helmet does not have one and I never missed it for a minute. Lighter weight and one less thing to worry about. Never felt like the sun was in my eyes too much or branches were hitting my face any more.

I use a Louis Garneau T - bone helmet and it works great. I wanted a helmet with more venting and less weight. T bone was it.


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## Swerny (Apr 1, 2004)

without on the road, with on the trails.


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