Bell Apex Double Cross Helmet Review

Bill — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 22:10:03 +0000

Bell helmets were a mainstay in the helmet world for a number of years and have just recently risen from the dead to bring back some pretty hot motorcycle helmet designs. We're going to take an in depth look at a Bell Apex Reactor helmet in this review.

The Bell Apex series of helmets are the value line of helmets in the Bell lineup with the Bell Star series of helmets being the top of the line offering from Bell. We, just like most of you, are big fans of quality helmets that can be bought at discount prices. Nobody wants a cheap motorcycle helmet but everyone wants a bargain.

The helmet world is full of choices in this day and age so why would anyone pick a Bell motorcycle helmet? What makes them worth investigating? Good question, and one that we had ourselves so we decided to take a closer look at a buddies Bell Apex helmet.

Let's take a deeper look at some of the details.

Helmet Weight

The shell of the Bell Apex is constructed from a Kevlar composite, which typically means a lightweight helmet and the Apex did not disappoint. It's no featherweight but it did weigh in at a svelte 3 lbs., 9 oz. in the XL size. So while it isn't a superlight helmet, a Kevlar shell simply sounds cool.

Under power the Bell Apex cut through the air nicely and does no impose a significant amount of buffeting or drag like some helmets can do. No matter the weight, the design is much more critical to how it feels going down the road. We road all day with the Bell Apex atop our noggin and felt great at the end of the day.

Bell Apex Fit

The Apex is one of those helmets I would describe as having a "neutral" shape, meaning it isn't round but nor is it the typical longer oval shape helmet. It personally fit me well, very similarly to the HJC CL-SP helmet that I am so fond of wearing.

Bell has carefully designed their helmets to fit a wide variety of heads and this neutral shape seems to be more and more common with other manufacturers as well.

Bell Visor

I was pleasantly surprised by the visor setup on the Bell Apex helmet. I recently reviewed an HJC CL-SP and I ahve to tell you, that visor is one of the best I have ever seen. I expected the visor on the Apex to come up short in comparison but I was pleasantly surprised. The visor is quite sturdy and produced almost no flex under a moderate amount of torque.

The Apex visor uses Bell's quick release removal system. It worked quite simply, just raise the visor up the 3rd position, pull down on the D-ring and it pops right off. A child of 5 could work this visor pretty easily. I wouldn't hesitate to say it is one of the simplest visor removal systems of any helmet we've tried.

Noise Levels

Noise can be a very subjective factor in a helmet review but I would say this helmet exhibited nothing out of the ordinary when it came to helmet noise. I rode it on a bike with no fairing and I wear ear plugs so your results may be slightly different, but I was perfectly content with the noise level of the Bell Apex helmet. The liner was quite snug so combine that with the ear plugs and it's really no surprise that it sealed against my head nicely.

Venting and Air Flow

I am a big fan of motorcycle vents that flow a lot of air and work simply. The more simple the setup, the better in my opinion. The Bell Apex sports a top sliding cover that operates two small air vents. Both of these vents are covered with a fine, mesh screen. The small size of the vents and the design of the linder did not allow a lot of airflow across the top of the head at all.

Your experience may differ, but when I rode, at the angle that I ride at, I barely felt any air flow at all in the top of the helmet. This makes for a nice quiet helmet, but very little air flow. I guess it depends on which is more important to you.

The chin vent on the Bell Apex was a direct contrast to the top vents in that it flowed a decent amount of air. It's designed similarly, with a sliding plastic cover that exposes two screen mesh covered vents. The air exits these vents and onto the rider's face through a rectangular opening in the rear of the chin bar.

The excellent flow of the chin vent makes up somewhat for the very poor flow of the top vents but it's still not enough for me. I am biased in this regard though, I prefer a LOT of air flowing around my head....I can live with extra noise, as long as I have air blowing across my scalp. Some riders prefer a quiet helmet over air flow though and this helmet is that. It's dead quiet, at least on my shape head.

Paint, Graphics and Overall Quality

The Bell Apex helmet comes in a number of different graphic combinations from a mild solid color to a wild and funky Yakuza style graphic. The helmet we looked at was the Bell Apex Double Cross. This design in our humble opinion was sweet, as we're a fan of a more understated design than something that is over the top.

The surface finish on the Bell helmets is a unique finish that kind of reminds me of the pearl coats that adorned some of the show cars in my youth. It looks "deep" and was pretty attractive if you ask me. The graphics were very smoothly applied and appeared consistent around the circumference of the helmet.

The helmet overall was of excellent quality. The visor fit nice and snug, the liner is outstanding and one of the nicest we've seen. The fit, finish and construction left nothing to be desired on our example. Bell seems to be back, and back with a quality motorcycle helmet that you would be proud to wear on the Saturday ride with all your friends.

Conclusion

The Bell Apex meets both DOT and Snell approval and offerws a five-year warranty on the helmet. In summary, I would say I am pleasantly surprised that the Bell Apex is such a good helmet. Bell is not one of the names that you typically think of when you think of a motorcycle helmet but that could change over the next few years. The Apex is available in a wide variety of other colors and patterns, it fits nicely, it's priced moderately, it's quiet and seems to do everything well.

I would list it as one of my all time favorites if the top vents flowed better than they do. In spite of that, I will say it's a far better helmet than some much better known brands and even some that cost twice what this helmet cost.