Simpson has been in business since 1959, starting with the drag racing world. The retro helmets of that age heavily inspire their Bandit line of helmets, but with more modern features. But, do they pay justice to their old glory with this helmet line? Check out our Simpson Street Bandit review to find out!
Table of Contents
Simpson Street Bandit Review – Features
If you are in a rush, here are all the essential features of the Street Bandit helmet in the list below:
- Lightweight fiberglass shell
- Weighs 1,53 kg (3 pounds and 6 ounces)
- Intermediate to neutral oval shape
- Pinlock-ready clear face shield with high field of view
- Two sets of cheek pads
- Moisture-wicking inner liner
- Single-density EPS liner
- Two passive chin vents
- Two active top chimney vents
- DOT, ECE, and Snell-certified
Without further ado, let’s start our Simpson Street Bandit review!
Construction & Design
The Simpson Street Bandit sports a lightweight fiberglass shell that proves to be quite protective. It is quite a lightweight full-face motorcycle helmet at 1,53 kg (3 pounds and 6 ounces).
When it comes to fitment, the Street Bandit helmet features an intermediate to neutral oval shape. That means that the helmet has a slightly longer front-to-back section with a little more space on the temple area. It sits down in the middle, as it is not a normal longer oval but neither a normal intermediate oval shape.
All that means that you will get more width in the whole helmet that looks strikingly retro-inspired. The elongated chin bar will provide a two-inch (5 cm) gap between it and your mouth.
As we look at the chin bar, it has that retro-styled, aggressive Predator look to it. It looks similar to the old-school car drag racing helmets, but this looks amazing as a motorcycle helmet too!
Vision
As we continue with our Simpson Street Bandit review, let’s look at its clear face shield. The one thing we like about it is how thick it is, with 3 mm of thickness. It’s an optically correct clear face shield with a substantial field of view, making it quite a moto-centric face shield. This improves the 3/4 riding position greatly as you ride on the road.
Simpson is keeping their classic DNA intact on the Street Bandit, for better or worse. First of all, there is no quick-release mechanism to the face shield, so you will need to unscrew it with a screwdriver if you want to replace it eventually. You can operate the face shield with the small plastic piece on the left side, which also serves as a locking mechanism.
Also, there is no anti-fog coating on the face shield and no Pinlock out of the box. Still, this face shield is Pinlock-ready, so make sure to invest in a Pinlock insert as soon as you can.
We would love it if Simpson has improved the gasket of the Street Bandit, which provides a lackluster visor sealing. If you are riding with the Street Bandit in rainy conditions for a longer amount of time, the water will eventually break in the shield. This feature makes the Street Bandit motorcycle helmet not fit for touring riders.
Still, the mixture of style and functionality is decent, and the field of view you get with this helmet is awesome!
Comfort
Now, let’s delve into the guts of the Simpson Street Bandit helmet!
First, we have the cheek pads. They are connected to the lid with Velcro. One nice thing about the cheek pads is that Simpson actually prepared two sets of cheek pads in the box. This comes in handy, especially if the default set of cheek pads isn’t narrow enough for your cheeks. Overall, the cheek pads feel quite comfy, albeit a bit thinner than usual.
The inner lining is quite thinner than we expected. It is fully removable, moisture-wicking, and of course, you can wash it whenever you feel like it. It snaps in the back, which is great, as it won’t create any uncomfortable pressure points on the front. The lining has bigger cutaways to enhance the ventilation system, which we will talk about in the next chapter.
When we remove the inner lining, we can see that the helmet has flat sides so that you can install a communication device here. An excellent addition, that’s for sure.
Looking for a suitable Bluetooth communicator? Check out our picks for the best Bluetooth communicators on the market!
Overall, the Simpson Street Bandit is a quite comfortable helmet but may feel less so on longer rides due to thinner cheek pads and inner liner.
Airflow
Let’s continue our Simpson Street Bandit review with the breakdown of its vent scheme.
First up, we have the chin vents. These are passive “whisker” vents that let in air to the middle of your helmet.
The air that the chin vents let in is taken care of by the two 15 millimeter top chimney vents. These vent in the air directly to your head to keep it cool on warm summer rides. Also, these two are active vents, so you can open and close them as you please.
As we look at the back of the helmet, we can see a lack of rear vents. Still, the helmet feels quite aerodynamic thanks to the EPS cutouts connected with the rest of the vent scheme.
The Street Bandit has a single-density EPS liner with 15-millimeter holes that complement the top chimney vents. This helps with the airflow to the interior of the helmet.
Keep in mind that the ventilation system doesn’t work too well when riding slow or completely stopped, which is a shame.
When it comes to this helmet’s noise levels, it keeps the noise low until you hit 60 mph (97 km/h) speeds. The wind noise will be unbearable if you don’t invest in a decent pair of earplugs.
Overall, the Simpson Street Bandit airflow does its job reasonably well, especially when you are riding faster, below 60 mph speeds. If you ride too slow, the vent scheme won’t work as well, and if you ride too fast, the wind noise will get annoying. It’s the middle ground for the Street Bandit.
Safety Ratings
Simpson has paid attention that their Street Bandit helmet comes with all the necessary safety ratings. It comes with DOT, ECE, and Snell safety ratings, making this helmet quite safe to wear on any road you come across.
Available Models
Simpson Street Bandit motorcycle helmet comes in three shell sizes:
- XS/SM – 52 to 54 cm/54 to 56 cm
- MD/LG – 58 to 58 cm/58 to 60 cm
- XL/2XL – 60 to 62 cm/62 to 64 cm
Right now, it’s pretty hard to find the Street Bandit helmet around. Right now, you can find it in select color schemes:
- Black
- White
Check out the gallery below to see how the Street Bandit looks like in the mentioned color schemes:
Price
Right now, you can find the Simpson Street Bandit around for $320/€264/£227. If looking for a stylish, retro-style motorcycle helmet with a modest set of features, it’s certainly worth that price tag.
Summing Up
Now that we are wrapping up our Simpson Street Bandit review, what is our final verdict?
First of all, it’s quite a lightweight and protective lid and is even Snell-approved, which means something on a safety front. The field of view you get with it is very nice, even though the visor could use a better sealing for sure.
It is quite an aerodynamic helmet, even though the ventilation system feels a bit basic. Still, it will do just fine for those warm summer rides, that’s for sure.
We like that Simpson took a step forward and included an additional set of cheek pads just for additional versatility. Overall, the helmet will feel comfortable for shorter rides but may feel a bit stiff on longer rides due to the thinner interior material.
So, what can we make out of the Street Bandit helmet? It’s an incredibly stylish lid that looks premium but could use a better vent scheme that drowns out wind noise to be the real contender for the best full-face helmet. But, if you are looking for a stylish helmet to show off on your street rides, go for this one. You won’t regret it!
Interested in more helmet reviews? Make sure to check out our motorcycle helmet reviews section then!
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