Dirt bike riding is one of the classifications available when it comes to motorbiking disciplines. This discipline predominantly features bikes and their helmets made for all your off the road adventures. Dirt biking is all about roads, which are anything but smooth. These off-road biking adventures involve extremely rough roads that are often naturally made like sand, riversides, snow, and mud. It is quite natural that off-road biking or dirt biking includes a whole different set of skills, bike helmets, and a dirt bike.
If you ever noticed that there are particular types of cars which are designed specifically for off-road travel adventures. All off-road drivers are often found driving SUVs, ATVs, dirt bikes, snowmobiles, and mountain bikes. You may be wondering why are dirt bike helmets different?
All types of motorsport activities involve different bikes, biking equipment, gears, and helmets because of the difference in terrain. So, in case, of dirt biking, the bike itself must be different because you can’t ride a road bike on a rough patch of a trailer. Road bikes are designed specifically to take you faster through the smooth pavements from point A to point B.
These road bikes usually are sleek with sleek tires and hardened suspension so that you don’t have to compensate for your speed. However, dirt bikes are naturally equipped with better suspension for all the ups and downs on the road. Dirt bikes are not designed for speeding but to endure the rough roads and glide through despite the gravel and moist mud.
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Why are dirt bike helmets different?
First of all, dirt bike helmets are not suitable for highway biking or road biking at all. Dirt bike helmets are designed differently than the full face or 3/4th helmets to best suit the off-road biking. Dirt bike helmets are better in terms of design because it comes with a larger visor. These large visors are strategically placed to safeguard your eyes from sudden flashes of sunlight to your eyes.
Chin Bars
The chin bars on a dirt bike helmets are accentuated for better airflow. Moreover, you will be getting the majority of your airflow through the chin bar. The reason for that is there are not many open spaces above your head like large bores as on a road bike. The reason for not keeping large open bores is to protect your head even better. Helmet manufacturers and designers figured out that if there is too much open space left for your helmet, something or the other may sneak pass and enter directly inside the helmet damaging your scalp.
Safety
So it is now starting to get clear as to why these dirt bikes are different. The point is that dirt bikes are designed to ensure the utmost safety, minimum weight for comfortable wear, and perfectly flowy ventilation throughout your rough off-road biking during summer. You are not going to find fancy features like Bluetooth speakers and whatnot that you may find in sportbike helmets or road bike helmets.
Visor
There are many sportbike helmets or road biking helmets that provide for detachable goggles with the visor. The reason for not including such delicate accessories to the dirt bike helmets is because of the bumpy rides anyway.
Often, before such designs of off-road biking helmets were finalized, they were checked. It might have been found that detachable visor goggles prove to be an extra burden on the dirt bike helmet. Moreover, the non-inclusion of visor goggles was to ensure that they do not fall off during motocross or other dirt bike motor sporting events. It may be a problem if these magnetically attached visor goggles come off and remain stuck in the wet mud. The bikes behind the person involved or the person himself may have it stuck to their tires, or the tires may be blown off for stumbling on these broken goggles parts.
Goggles
You should be prepared for using your tight-fitting goggles so that you are safe from solar flares. If you use googles, you will be able to protect your eyes from UV rays, and you will also be able to focus on your biking skills better. By the way, when it comes to dirt biking, the reason why you should be wearing your goggles is not just to protect yourself from the glaring sun.
Precautions
When you are riding your bike on a muddy surface with loads of watery potholes, there remains a high risk of gravel or mud particles entering your eyes. If that happens, you know you will not be able to complete the motocross or cycling event. Moreover, its a significant health hazard too. You may not be able to take that dirt off your eyeballs ever, thereby damaging your eye or eyes for life.
Material
There are many off-road bike helmets available that are made with composite materials or elements. The best options for your dirt biking helmet should be fiberglass, carbon fiber, and kevlar. Now, these are the materials that make sure your helmet is lightweight but very strong from within and outside. These materials guarantee you to absorb shocks in the best possible manner and make sure that you do not feel too tired or fatigued after wearing it for an entire day. If it weren’t for these composite materials, manufacturing a dirt bike helmet would have been a nullity.
Conclusion
There are many dirt biking fanatics out there who love wearing neck braces and body armors for an extra layer of protection. You should probably try on your dirt bike helmets after you have worn all these additional layers of gears so that you can get an idea as to the perfect size. Many times finding the correct size for a helmet is a nightmare. You should check out our guide on sizing where we have discussed in detail how you should figure out the correct size of the helmet.
And besides, do not forget to check whether your favorite pair of goggles nicely fit on to your head before you purchase yourself a dirt bike helmet. It is quite possible that not all helmet companies provide enough space for you to fit in all types of goggles. If the company which made your helmet, provides for eyewear, make sure you try them on some time. Now we know that you have received the answer to your query as to “why are dirt bike helmets different?”
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