I spent 250 miles with the vintage inspired, all around good looking ( in my humble opinion ) NEXX X.G100 “Muddy Hog” recently. This road test was conducted over the course of a few days, in all types of weather conditions. Georgia has been particularly bipolar with its weather lately, and as such we got to put the NEXX X.G100 through rain, sunshine, and unseasonal hot 90 degree spring days. I know this may not make me the absolute authority on this helmet, but I would like to think I have a pretty good sample of what this helmet is capable of.
As some background/context to what my daily rider is: The Bell Bullit ( standard edition/ not carbon fiber ). I spent almost 10K miles riding from Atlanta to Los Angeles and back wearing this helmet and while riding I always wear glasses.
The first thing I noticed upon unboxing the XG100 was that it visually looks expensive. I was specifically sent the Maria Motorcycles “Muddy Hog” edition in blue, and the whole helmet looks extremely well made. The colors are bright, vibrant and just nice to look at. The helmet I was given looks like it could be entered into the 21 helmet traveling art gallery. It’s just that class.
The next big impression I had was that the helmet is incredibly light because of it’s carbon fiber design. It looks a lot heavier than it feels as it weighs in at just 2.65 pounds. This helmet is so shockingly light that several times while road testing this helmet I would pass it to friends to check out and all of them made the same comment. “Man this is a light helmet”. I understand there are probably lighter helmets out there, but I would argue that no other “novelty” or “vintage inspired” helmet compares to at this price.
While riding, the single vertical vent hole in the front of the helmet provided more than ample ventilation. I have found that my Bullit’s vent never really worked no matter what speed I was traveling at. Even in cooler temperatures I found this to be just the right amount of air flow. My complaint with the ventilation would be that while riding in heavy rain, the goggles did tend to fog up while sitting in traffic or on slower moving roads. This can be taken with a grain of salt however, as I do wear glasses while riding. I was able to lift up the goggles ever so slightly to create a larger gap and that helped clear a lot of the fog out. Not an ideal, solution, but then again these are vintage inspired helmets.
The two biggest downsides to this helmet in my opinion is the field of view and the visor at highway speed. I felt like this helmet greatly reduced visibility in my peripherals, so much so that while riding in a group I felt like riders next to me were sneaking up on me. The helmet visor was great around town to block that extra bit of sunlight, but on the highway the upward force kept me struggling to keep my head down. The force was bothersome enough that after an hour of highway riding I had to pull over and remove the visor for the remainder of our trip.
Overall I would recommend this helmet to someone who is looking for that really great around-town aesthetically pleasing helmet. It did perform surprisingly well in all kinds of weather during my riding tests. I never once thought the helmet was lacking in anyway during my in-town commute. In fact, I would prematurely say that the X.G100 will more than likely replace my Bell Bullit as my daily commuter helmet. It is light, looks expensive, and is surprisingly cozy. With all that being said, for highway riding or touring, I think it would be a stretch for me to recommend this helmet. The issues aforementioned, combined with what I would believe would be a major difficulty to install a communications unit, make this a no-go for cross country riders.
SUMMARY
NEXX helmets are a Portugal based and manufactured brand of Helmets that make a full line of riding gear. The XG100 is a D.O.T. approved “vintage inspired” or “novelty” helmet that falls into the same price range ( $349.99 ) as the Bell Bullit or arguably even the Biltwell Gringo S. In comparison to the other novelty helmets I have worn and owned this is quickly becoming a favorite for my in-town commutes. It’s lighter than the other helmets in this space and looks/feels much more expensive. It has a few shortcomings like all novelty helmets, but I would highly recommend this helmet as an in-town commuter. For longer trips, I would look to something a bit more refined. But don't take our word for it, soon we will be able to have some for you to try on yourself at our new location?
1 Star = Would not recommend / not worth the hype
2 Star = A good product but has it’s issues.
3 Star = A nice product with all around appeal and value
4 Star = Recommended product. Would personally own and is of great value.
5 Star = A must own. This should be in every motorcycle enthusiasts kit.