# Helmet help.. Fox Speedframe Pro vs Troy Lee Designs A3?



## mrdoubtfull (May 25, 2021)

Anyone tried both? If so which would you choose over the other? 

Looking for my first good helmet and could use some advice. 

Seems these two are pretty well reviewed/rated. Plus I like the fidlock. 

Wouldn't mind some other suggestions around $250 or less.. 

Thanks!


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## Nat (Dec 30, 2003)

I tried both and kept the A3.

The Fox is dope and has a better looking shape (IMO) but what made it a no-sale for me was the lack of padding on half of the inside of the helmet. It doesn't make any sense why they did that. Having hard foam directly on my shaved head feels terrible. Maybe if you have a bushy hairdo then you wouldn't notice. It's really weird.

The TLD has some really nice interior padding and a sweat gutter thing on the brow that works great. The shape is a bit more rounded and bulbous than the Fox but at least they have some nice graphics.


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## mrdoubtfull (May 25, 2021)

Nat said:


> I tried both and kept the A3.


Thanks for the reply!

I actually saw that in a review on YouTube and it kind of boggles my mind as well.. I can see why it might be uncomfortable if your heads shaved.

Think I'm just gonna go with the A3 so I don't have to work about it haha. I see a lot of people saying it's super comfy plus I like the idea of the sweat guide, sounds like a great idea.

Does the sweat guide work well? I wear a halo band thing (or a sweat cap) so not sure if they'll interfere with each other or compliment each other?


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## Nat (Dec 30, 2003)

mrdoubtfull said:


> Thanks for the reply!
> 
> I actually saw that in a review on YouTube and it kind of boggles my mind as well.. I can see why it might be uncomfortable if your heads shaved.
> 
> ...


The sweat guide works great on my head. As long as it contacts your brow you might not need the Halo band any more.


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## mrdoubtfull (May 25, 2021)

Nat said:


> The sweat guide works great on my head. As long as it contacts your brow you might not need the Halo band any more.


Awesome, sounds good! Thanks!


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## mtbfree (Aug 20, 2015)

mrdoubtfull said:


> Anyone tried both? If so which would you choose over the other?
> 
> Looking for my first good helmet and could use some advice.
> 
> ...


Only right answer is that you choose one which fits your head better, reviews are irelevant compared to fit.


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## Taroroot (Nov 6, 2013)

Nat said:


> The sweat guide works great on my head. As long as it contacts your brow you might not need the Halo band any more.


I removed the sweat guide. I use a head sock/skull cap.


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## EVgEEk (Jan 8, 2015)

No experience with the Fox, but love the A3. In 20 years, the A3 is the only helmet that has been comfortable enough to wear for 1.5+ hours (I have a really wide head and typically get pressure headaches on my temples; aka Charlie-Brown-Head).

Also, sweat guide works great!


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## FrankS29 (Oct 23, 2019)

Been wearing the Fox Speedframe Pro for a few seasons and I absolutely love it. I have buzzed hair and the thin padding has never been an issue for me. I actually like the thin padding as it evaporates sweat really efficiently. I sweat a lot so this is really important to me. 

My first Speedframe Pro bit the dust is a crash early this season when my head smacked into a rock. Helmet did its job perfectly and Fox even sent me a 20% off code to replace it. 

The Speedframe Pro is crazy comfortable and vents really well, most importantly it does a great job protecting your head.


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## mrdoubtfull (May 25, 2021)

FrankS29 said:


> Been wearing the Fox Speedframe Pro for a few seasons and I absolutely love it. I have buzzed hair and the thin padding has never been an issue for me. I actually like the thin padding as it evaporates sweat really efficiently. I sweat a lot so this is really important to me.
> 
> My first Speedframe Pro bit the dust is a crash early this season when my head smacked into a rock. Helmet did its job perfectly and Fox even sent me a 20% off code to replace it.
> 
> The Speedframe Pro is crazy comfortable and vents really well, most importantly it does a great job protecting your head.


Interesting take on the less padding! It seems a lot of people find the fox comfortable as well so I'm guessing it's going to come down to fit, as others have mentioned.

I live in NY and while I sweat a lot, there's more cold months than warm ?

I wish I could try them on locally but I'm just gonna order one and try it out I guess.


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## dysfunction (Aug 15, 2009)

There is literally no padding inside my drt5. It's not an issue at all for me, makes cleaning easy (just wipe). It comes down to fit unfortunately.


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## Nat (Dec 30, 2003)

mrdoubtfull said:


> Interesting take on the less padding! It seems a lot of people find the fox comfortable as well so I'm guessing it's going to come down to fit, as others have mentioned.
> 
> I live in NY and while I sweat a lot, there's more cold months than warm 😔
> 
> I wish I could try them on locally but I'm just gonna order one and try it out I guess.


It's not "less padding" or "thin padding," it's "no padding" (on the back half). MIPS is the contact layer. Maybe it'll work for you though.


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## Eno Esool (Mar 30, 2021)

Speedframe Pro. I had the A3 and it didn't vent NEARLY as well as the Speedframe. I live in Florida so that was important to me.


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## FrankS29 (Oct 23, 2019)

mrdoubtfull said:


> Interesting take on the less padding! It seems a lot of people find the fox comfortable as well so I'm guessing it's going to come down to fit, as others have mentioned.
> 
> I live in NY and while I sweat a lot, there's more cold months than warm ?
> 
> I wish I could try them on locally but I'm just gonna order one and try it out I guess.


I also live in NY and I didn't have any issue running the Speedframe in cool/cold weather.

You can actually manage air flow through the helmet with the visor. Put it all the way down and it tends to shut off some flow, push it up and it funnels air onto your head. In the cold I just run the visor down, or you can just wear a skull cap.


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## FrankS29 (Oct 23, 2019)

Nat said:


> It's not "less padding" or "thin padding," it's "no padding" (on the back half). MIPS is the contact layer. Maybe it'll work for you though.


The helmet is designed for the back of the helmet (hard foam) to not really be in direct contact with your head. The retention system cradles the back of your head, leaving a very small air gap.

This might not work for all head shapes.


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## mrdoubtfull (May 25, 2021)

FrankS29 said:


> I also live in NY and I didn't have any issue running the Speedframe in cool/cold weather.
> 
> You can actually manage air flow through the helmet with the visor. Put it all the way down and it tends to shut off some flow, push it up and it funnels air onto your head. In the cold I just run the visor down, or you can just wear a skull cap.


Nice! I like the idea it's a little cheaper, too. Plus I think it looks a little better (design wise) from what I can see online.

If I could find a pewter color in stock I would grab it. White looks pretty cool but not sure it'll match my mostly dark theme lol.



Eno Esool said:


> Speedframe Pro. I had the A3 and it didn't vent NEARLY as well as the Speedframe. I live in Florida so that was important to me.


Thanks! Nice to hear from someone who's tried both. I think the fox is gonna be the winner as I can add layers in winter, can't really remove much during summer haha.


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## FrankS29 (Oct 23, 2019)

mrdoubtfull said:


> Nice! I like the idea it's a little cheaper, too. Plus I think it looks a little better (design wise) from what I can see online.
> 
> If I could find a pewter color in stock I would grab it. White looks pretty cool but not sure it'll match my mostly dark theme lol.


The pewter color is sweet. I grabbed that color and another one in black after my last one broke in the crash. With how short in supply everything is I decided I wanted to have a backup helmet.

Considering NY seems to be the worlds newest humid as hell rainforest in the summer, having options to keep cool and then warm in the winter is great.


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## Nat (Dec 30, 2003)

I had the dark blue/lighter blue Fox and it looked so good. They hit a home run with their aesthetics on this one.


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## FrankS29 (Oct 23, 2019)

Nat said:


> I had the dark blue/lighter blue Fox and it looked so good. They hit a home run with their aesthetics on this one.


My first Speedframe Pro was the Daiz Black version.

I was bummed that I cracked that one&#8230;


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## Eno Esool (Mar 30, 2021)

FrankS29 said:


> The pewter color is sweet. I grabbed that color and another one in black after my last one broke in the crash. With how short in supply everything is I decided I wanted to have a backup helmet.
> 
> Considering NY seems to be the worlds newest humid as hell rainforest in the summer, having options to keep cool and then warm in the winter is great.


Agree on the pewter...


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## mrdoubtfull (May 25, 2021)

Eno Esool said:


> Agree on the pewter..


Nice Spearfish, love that yellow! That helmet looks awesome, too! There was one on ebay two days ago and I should of just ordered it, I'm so mad now lol. Now of course I can't find it anywhere..


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## Nat (Dec 30, 2003)

Whoever the designers are at Fox have been doing a great job the last few years. Their helmets, armor, clothing all look so sharp.


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## Eno Esool (Mar 30, 2021)

mrdoubtfull said:


> Nice Spearfish, love that yellow! That helmet looks awesome, too! There was one on ebay two days ago and I should of just ordered it, I'm so mad now lol. Now of course I can't find it anywhere..


Thanks and I feel your pain. That one took me a month to find.


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## mrdoubtfull (May 25, 2021)

Eno Esool said:


> Thanks and I feel your pain. That one took me a month to find.


If I want one now it looks like my options are black, green camo or white.. I actually ordered the TLD green camo option but then I saw a real picture of it on backcountry.com and it looked really cheesy and not dark at all like the stock pictures make it look so I canceled it.

If you had to decide between white or green camo for the speedframe pro, which would you choose? I'm not good at picking things out lol. The green camo fox one looks way better than the camo TLD model so I'm leaning towards that one at the moment..

Here's a picture of my bike.. Looks kind of dark forest green but changes color in the sun. Changed grips and pedals to orange already.. Really thought pewter would go best with it as it's more neutral.. But now I can't decide lol


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## Ghost021 (Jun 1, 2021)

I’ve been wearing my Speedframe Pro for a couple months now. I absolutely love it. Very well vented and incredibly comfortable. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## mrdoubtfull (May 25, 2021)

Ghost021 said:


> I've been wearing my Speedframe Pro for a couple months now. I absolutely love it. Very well vented and incredibly comfortable.
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Great to hear! What color are you rocking?


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## MTBGV (Jul 13, 2018)

I have a Pewter speedframe pro and love it. The color and style are great and for me it fit much better than the TLD and is much better ventilated. I also prefer the fox clasp.


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## mrdoubtfull (May 25, 2021)

MTBGV said:


> I have a Pewter speedframe pro and love it. The color and style are great and for me it fit much better than the TLD and is much better ventilated. I also prefer the fox clasp.


Damn, pewter really seems to be pretty desirable lol. I'm glad you like it! Guess I'm gonna order the camo model and just deal with it (looks like it'll go with my setup). Watch the Pewter be back in stock in 2 days 😔😔

Enjoy!


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## MTBGV (Jul 13, 2018)

mrdoubtfull said:


> Damn, pewter really seems to be pretty desirable lol. I'm glad you like it! Guess I'm gonna order the camo model and just deal with it (looks like it'll go with my setup). Watch the Pewter be back in stock in 2 days 😔😔
> 
> Enjoy!


Not sure what size you are but Evo has a large in Pewter.


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## mtbfree (Aug 20, 2015)

mrdoubtfull said:


> Damn, pewter really seems to be pretty desirable lol. I'm glad you like it! Guess I'm gonna order the camo model and just deal with it (looks like it'll go with my setup). Watch the Pewter be back in stock in 2 days 😔😔
> 
> Enjoy!


That is the worst possible approach to buying helmet "looks like it'll go with my setup") 
Fit is everything, you must try first then buy. Speaking from experience, there is nothing worse than badly fitted helmet, no matter how it looks. Its like buying shoes that don't fit - you will start to avoid them very quickly, which is in case of helmet way worse than in case of shoes


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## OldMike (Apr 30, 2020)

Just bought my first helmet in over 15yrs.
The minute I out on the Speedframe Pro I discovered it fit better than the helmet It replaced which had been "molded" via worn padding. 
A tad pricy but worth it IMO.


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## fredcook (Apr 2, 2009)

mtbfree said:


> Only right answer is that you choose one which fits your head better, reviews are irelevant compared to fit.


ding, ding, ding... we have a winner


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## Nat (Dec 30, 2003)

mtbfree said:


> you must try first then buy.


Actually, if they're only available online then you have to buy first then try. ?

But yes, fit is foremost.


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## mrdoubtfull (May 25, 2021)

mtbfree said:


> That is the worst possible approach to buying helmet "looks like it'll go with my setup")
> Fit is everything, you must try first then buy. Speaking from experience, there is nothing worse than badly fitted helmet, no matter how it looks. Its like buying shoes that don't fit - you will start to avoid them very quickly, which is in case of helmet way worse than in case of shoes


Thanks! While I get that may be important, I just can't do that. Unfortunately, I have to buy first, so might as well get the color I want/that matches, no? I don't live near shops and I'm not driving a couple hours to try a couple helmets.. If it doesn't fit then I'll return it and try something else. Believe me, I'd love to go try a few different helmets and see colors options in person!

Edit: actually thanks to you I just called a shop an hour away and they have the pewter medium in stock so it looks like I'll be able to go try it after all! Thanks a lot because I wasn't planning on driving for one but since pewter is out of stock everywhere online I think it's worth it 😉


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## mrdoubtfull (May 25, 2021)

OldMike said:


> Just bought my first helmet in over 15yrs.
> The minute I out on the Speedframe Pro I discovered it fit better than the helmet It replaced which had been "molded" via worn padding.
> A tad pricy but worth it IMO.


Great to hear, thanks! Can't wait to try it 👍


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## mrdoubtfull (May 25, 2021)

Super happy with the Pewter! Thanks everyone who's helped me make a decision!


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## Ghost021 (Jun 1, 2021)

mrdoubtfull said:


> Great to hear! What color are you rocking?



















Pewter here as well. Wife runs the black/teal for her setup. I even like the white/silver combo and I typically don't care for white helmets. Fox killed it with the design. Just looks great in any color combo 

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## Ghost021 (Jun 1, 2021)

mrdoubtfull said:


> Super happy with the Pewter! Thanks everyone who's helped me make a decision!
> 
> View attachment 1941867


Got to say, you have great taste. That Spark is awesome too! 

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## mrdoubtfull (May 25, 2021)

Ghost021 said:


> Got to say..


The pewter is awesome and It looks way better in person as well! I'm glad I decided to call a couple shops instead of settling on what was available online lol.

The white was really nice, too! After seeing them it definitely became my second choice over the green camo model..

And thanks for the compliment! I went through 5 bikes this year trying to find the best one for me.

??


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## Brules (Jul 10, 2021)

EVgEEk said:


> No experience with the Fox, but love the A3. In 20 years, the A3 is the only helmet that has been comfortable enough to wear for 1.5+ hours (I have a really wide head and typically get pressure headaches on my temples; aka Charlie-Brown-Head).
> 
> Also, sweat guide works great!


100%. I've tried both and the A3 fit my 7 3/4 nugget like it wasmade for my head. Of all the helmets I tried on (literally all of them - Scott/fox/TLD/POC etc) the TLD A3 fit like a glove. Love all the spare pads they give you as well and their designs are killer. I got the Uno Cyan Blue. Matches my mineral Hightower wel too lol.


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## OldMike (Apr 30, 2020)

I went with the Carbon/Teal as it looks ok with the 21 SJ









Also grabbed a matching shirt while I was at the LBS


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