Icon Airflite Freedom Spitter

The Icon Airflite helmet is a budget Full Face sport touring helmet that can give you a lot of versatility, then you probably don’t need to look further than the Icon Air Flite helmet. This helmet is also DOT and ECE22-05 certified to give it an even wider range. However, for safety this helmet only scored 3 stars from the SHARP helmet safety ratings scheme, doing a bit poorly for forehead and side impacts. So there are certainly more safe helmets out there. If you’re curious about this helmet’s other competitors, then they would include the HJC F70, Nolan N87 Plus, Shark Skwal 2.2, AGV K3 SV, HJC i70, Scorpion 520 EVO, Scorpion EXO-1400 EVO, Bell qualifier DLX, Shark Spartan RS, Nolan N80-8, Scorpion EXO-491 and the Nolan N60-6

Shell

The Icon Airflight is made of an polycarbonate shell. The only thing for polycarbonate is it is a cheaper material and it takes a bit more of it to give as much protection as fiberglass or carbon. When we weighed this helmet, it came in at about 1720 grams in a size XXXL. The helmet also has dual-density EPS to improve impact resistance. This helmet comes in 3 shell sizes, which is pretty decent from a budget helmet since it’ll give you a better fit and comfort.

Ventilation

For ventilation, this helmet should do pretty well. There is a large vent in the chin with an interesting choice from Icon to have the visor come down to the chin. But there are still holes in the visor to bring air to that vent, giving this helmet a Shark S-Drak vibe. There are also two adjustable vents in the brow, which feed straight into the helmet’s EPS channels. This hot air will then come out two exhausts in the back under the helmet’s spoiler.

Visor

Looking at the visor more closely, the first thing you’ll notice is that it’s very large and should give a very good field of view. It’s the Icon Fliteshield visor and this means that it’s only anti-fog treated and doesn’t have pinlock. However, you can purchase the pinlock prepared visor and visor separately. This helmet also has an integrated high visibility visor, which out of the box comes in this yellow tint to improve vision when riding in grey, rainy conditions. You can operate the sun visor with a small slider on the side. To remove the visor, you need to pull the side panels out on either side and then move the visor back until it lifts off the helmet. The helmet comes with a clear visor. So, very easy overall.

Liner

Moving onto the liner now, it does match the helmet in terms of its entry-level budget category. The liner is made of Icon’s HydraDry liner which is removable and moisture wicking. This helmet has an intermediate oval fit and may be a bit tight around the ears so it may require a size larger than usual. Looking inside the helmet, you need to pull out the cheek pads on either side with buttons. The helmet has a double-D ring chin strap. Then, you can take out the comfort liner with the buttons in the back and snaps at the front. You can also see the helmet has grooves in the sides for the Icon RAU Bluetooth Communications Device or any other that can fit. This exposes the EPS grooves, of which there are many though they are somewhat shallow.

Summary

The Airflite definitely delivers on looks and style, but for performance it was at an entry level, though the ventilation was still very good. However, for value for money, this helmet loses out to other helmets like the Shark Spartan Carbon. It does also fall short in performance compared to other helmets in a similar price range like the AGV K3-SV, which has a better value for money. If you want to learn more about the Airflite, make sure to check out our Icon Airflite Video Review and Roadtest.