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More details on the AGV Corsa Helmet:

You’ve waited for it, and it has arrived. This is the new Corsa, from AGV. This is basically a carbon fiber, aramid and fiber version of the AGV Pista, which Valentino Rossi is wearing in Moto GP. This is the new tri-composite top-of-the-line from AGV, replacing the GP-Tech that you see to my left. This was the classic top-of-the-line pre-Pista, pre-Corsa. This is the classic 5 Continents Valentino Rossi Helmet that I have over to my left. Everything’s different; completely new shell, completely new system, protection, aerodynamics, comfort feature, field of vision. I’m going to walk you through all of it, and it’s all completely changed going into 2014.

Remember, this is a race-inspired helmet designed to be in the tuck. Look at the aggressive profile. The GP Tech had an aggressive profile, this is more aggressive. Notice the way that it’s oriented. It’s meant to be chin on the tack. Notice when that field of view and when the chin bar lines up, again, head down, on the tack, in the tuck, in the ¾. Honestly, you upright riders out there don’t even waste your time. This is top-of-the-foodchain. You’re talking about a motorcycle helmet north of $700; touching on all the technology that developed for Rossi himself, for Moto GP.

This is my winter test graphic for part of the launch graphics. There’s graphics available; there’s solid, there’s matte colors, there’s even this matte white they call primer white, which is really, really gnarly. From here, let’s talk briefly about fitment, and then I’m going to walk through all the key changes, one-by-one. I can tell everything that’s different up front, but honestly, you’ll probably have me spend the correct amount of time on them. Fit is what I’m going to call intermediate to neutral oval. This is the first time we’ve seen a helmet that you can tune the fitment or the shape in the crown. When I get to the point in the video where I pull it all apart, you’re going to see me having these wings that I’m able to move around that change it from more neutral to more intermediate oval head shaped. Keep that in mind.

Remember, you can give us a shout if you have questions about it. As always, we’re going to shape it for free.
I will call out too, that I believe that there’s 8 sizes across 4 shells; extra-small, through a few XL sizes. What you’re going to see is when you get into the mediums, it goes, small, small-medium, medium, medium-large, large. You have these 2 intermediate shapes, as well. When you check the size chart, make sure you take a re-measurement of your head because they’re giving you the chance to fine tune it. The reason they’re doing that is because with 4 shell sizes themselves, they’re building different feeling EPS’s and comfort liners into. What you have the ability to do is get the least amount of helmet that you need for your size head. Again, we have a small-medium, or actually this is a medium-large, and it came in at 3 pounds, 7 ounces for the DOT, ECE-rated version. Again, still under 3½ pounds for DOT, ECE-rated, but remember, that’s the medium-large. The medium could potentially be lighter, and then going down it’s going to get even lighter still. As I walk through the nuances, you’re going to have questions. Subscribers to us at RevZilla TV. Leave us your comments, your questions, [inaudible: 03:02] and your gut reaction feedback as I walk through it.

Let’s start with the shell. I’ve already told you it’s carbon fiber, it’s aramid, which is Kevlar and resins pulling everything together. Notice the shell shape. What they’ve done is they’ve increased the aerodynamic profile and made it more aggressive. Again, it’s meant to be on the tack, but notice how they’ve integrated now this external spoiler held on with polyurethane bolts meant to shear off to extend the back, extend the aerodynamic profile that’s going to integrate with the speed hump if you’re racing. The beauty of it was what that has done, is it’s eliminated 44% of the Z-coefficient drag. You guys know when you’re on the track and you’re in the tuck, and that helmet wants to pull up, it’s creating pressure away from the tank of your bike. By adding the shape of this helmet, now it’s increased your ability to stay down, stay focused, stay in the tuck by 44%. They’re taking that drag away. Nice touch. You can also that they’re sticking with their IVR system in the shell.

Let’s talk about the venting. The venting scheme on this helmet has been increased by nearly 150%. Dramatically larger vents, chimney vents. You have a center vent. Notice on the Corsa, these are open and closable, whereas on the Pista, they’re going to have the rubberized inserts. Again, they’re fully functional, tying in with this ridge system which is the IVR system that moves and sweeps the air through these ridges in the EPS all the way back. Notice there are 2 passive vents in the back of the helmet, again, for that passive Venturi effect to suck that air through the back. What I like that they’ve done as well, is underneath the helmet, you’re going to see when I flip it upside down, the chin vents are now open and closable by finger operation. That’s going to be inside the helmet. If I can get my finger in there, you can see how we’re working; open and close. Again, all the vents have this honeycomb weave behind in this structure. It has some ventilative properties that’s going to suck that air in, not inhibit it, and get it flowing through the helmet. Again, nearly 150% increase in air flow, and that was one of the big pieces of feedback that Rossi gave them coming off of the GP Tech.

Let’s move into this shield; completely different. I believe is the Race 2 shield from AGV. What’s different about it is Class-1 optically-correct. Notice it’s as flat as it potentially can be, but again, it’s up to 3.3mm-thick in the front of the shield, and that’s an impact-absorbing property. They’re giving you that thicker, more crash-protective shield than we’ve had in previous versions. You’ll notice that it’s a center-locking mechanism, both up and down, again, so you can use it with either hand. Then it’s going to come with tear off posts, and these tear off posts on the inside of the shield are actually going to have pin lock posts as well, so you can use a pin lock insert for your anti-fog. A helmet at this level, you’re going to want to use the pin lock lens. You can purchase it from us and install it.

As I move over to shield change mechanism, I like what they’ve done here, as well. This is the new quick-release-style of shield-change mechanism from AGV. What you do is you open it, and now I’m going to pull this piece down, and the shield comes right off. It’s that simple. I’m actually going to do it on-the-fly. I’ve removed my shield; that simple. You can see the profile of the shield. If I move it inside, you can see our pin lock post, again, for that pin lock lens, and that’s how you get the best form of anti-fog. Now I’ve removed it, I might as well show you the eye port. The eye port has this big new style rubberized gasket. What they’ve done with the eye port is it’s about 9% wider, so you’re getting left-to-right field of view. Here is the key feature: I’m putting my shield back on because I want to show it. Shield goes on, one pop, comes around on this side, two pops, snap it up. There’s my shield; that quick, that easy. Think about that in the pit on a race on a change. Think about the Isle of Man, what’s that going to mean for riders. Again, really, really quick and easy.

What they’ve done . . . I’m going to show you the profile. I’m going to go back to my side profile. Remember, this helmet is designed to be fit and oriented in that position. That’s square for you. What they’ve done is they’ve added 15 degrees field of vision. Where that comes into play is from center line-up. Typically when a racer’s in the tuck, they’re going to have the brow of the helmet getting into their line of sight when they’re in the tuck with the chin on the tank. AGV with Rossi, has now added 15 degrees of field of view from the midpoint-up. You’re now seeing full cinema view and full peripheral view. Dramatic improvement in face shield visibility on the AGV Corsa Helmet.

As I take the Corsa and I roll it up, you’re going to see the redesigned neck roll. Again, aggressive profile; you see it on the chin, on this really aggressive, almost hawked-billed peak. Look at the distance, giving you better coverage for your chin, knowing it’s going to be on the tank. A rubberized piece, so that’s going to protect the bike but also your sternum if you’re having a crash and put your head down. Notice the way that this is cut out along the back. This is meant to integrate with the back of your race suit. I’ve seen Dainese making race suits now that have more of a mesh along the back of the collar. Now they’re taking Corsa models like the AGV Corsa Sole Luna helmet and they’re creating that little scoop so it’s not going to get in the way, and you’re going to have full range of motion, up-down, left-to-right, when you’re in the tuck. I will say that the piece is a little different; they’re almost using a neoprene collar which is different and much more race-oriented. This helmet’s got to be setup to be great and quiet year round. Remember, on the racetrack they wear ear plugs all the time, they don’t care about quiet. This helmet provides a great balance of both quiet and flexibility in the neck roll. You can see its one piece as it goes all the way around.

I’m going to pull my doughnut up, and let’s start to disassemble my Corsa that I have in front of me. The first thing I’m going to do is I’m going to pull my chin curtain out; removable neoprene chin curtain. Notice the notch cutout in the middle; that notch cutout is going to allow me to get in there and operate my chin vent. There’s my chin vent operation, you can see it. Still double D-ring. Remember, we’re on the racetrack. Micro-metric ratchets are not as safe as double D-rings. Double D-rings are the way to go. As I start to pull out my cheek pads, there are a few things going on that are even tunable with the cheek pads and the neck roll. I’m going to pop it out. One piece, Coolmax lining, which is a wicking lining. Let me pull it out; pull it out across my straps. This is a premium lining, which means it’s going to be very comfortable. It’s going to be wicking; it’s going to be anti-microbial. Notice how that all comes together in one piece.

There are few things going on. Notice the cheek pad. You see how I can get to the cheek pad? I get my finger right up in there. There’s actually a cutaway and it comes with two ergonomic side-mounted pieces of foam that are going to allow you to fine-tune your cheek pads. What you can do is you can slide this in if you want a higher-density cheek pad; again, a really nice touch from AGV as they’re thinking about the tuning of the helmet.

Moving into the back of the helmet, you can see the way that it comes together. They’ve done a zonal EPS, which means a higher-density EPS along the cheeks, medium density in the crown of the head, and then you’re going to have along the jaw line maybe a lower density. Again, they’ve done that knowing where the most prone areas of impact are, so they’re going to allow it to be tuned so to actually the facial structure of your face and your head so that you don’t have the wrong density of EPS or foam when you’re getting into areas or types of crash that can end up hurting you. Again, that’s a safety feature that’s part of the tuning. As I move inside, you’re also going to notice the way the comfort liner comes together. Again, antimicrobial, and it’s going to be wicking. One of my nitpicks too, is there no emergency cheek pad system. I’m not sure why they did that, but again, that was a choice they made potentially for the way that they wanted to redesign the ergonomics of the comfort liner.

As I bring out my comfort liner, I’m going to put it there for a second. Let me show you the interior and the vent scheme. Again, the IVS system, Integrated Ventilation System, that integrates with the zonal EPS and those big lumps or ridges on the top of the head, again, right up there, that are going to channel air in through the front, move it to the back, and again, circulate it throughout your head. There’s my interior, and again, it’s going to be that intermediate to neutral head shaped. As I put my Corsa Sole Luna helmet down, here’s how I’m going to tune it. Here’s my comfort liner; look at the amount of cutaway they have. Notice where it connects. It connects at the front along the brow, and you’re going to have a lot of cutouts that are going to flow air. Notice these little adjusters. These are adjusters that completely pull out, are dual-density foam, and really, they come out to increase the ventilation to the top of your head. Again, they’re right over that IVS channel that’s cut away. Again, you have the ability to tune those.

If I turn over the helmet and the comfort liner, I actually have the ability now to insert this piece of foam which is also included. If I would insert it, it adds additional support at the back of the head. Now I can fine tune that piece of foam to give me better occipital ridge support. Here’s where all of the great fine-tuning comes into play; 3 positions. Really, it’s what works best for you. Wide for a more narrow head, medium for a medium head, internal for a more round head. What you would do is you really need to do it yourself and ride with it. Notice it’s front, back, left and right. You have the ability to tune the comfort liner of this helmet that’s going to allow you the best shape and the best fit while riding. Notice there’s no material where you don’t need it, so you’re getting the maximum air flow, which you can also tune, over the top of your head. Again, the first helmet manufacturer that we’ve seen do that and now gives you the ability to go from that intermediate shape and get slightly more round, slightly more narrow, and really integrate the helmet the way you want it for the ergonomics of your ride.

Looking at it on the interior, again, Coolmax wicking lining, microfiber. Again, super-premium. This is the same liner that Valentino Rossi’s going to use. Again, that’s the technology that you’re investing in, in models like the AGV Corsa Winter, you’re just not getting that $400 carbon fiber exterior shell and the more race-oriented thoroughbred style neck roll. Everything else in this helmet is really the same, and that’s the beauty of it.