Bell Super 2R

A lot of us spend too much money on bike kit. Guilty as charged m’lud. However, there are certain occasions when investment in kit makes perfect sense and I had one of those last night.

I have (had) a Bell Super 2r helmet which I bought pre-Alps last year and I love it dearly.

It’s comfy, has excellent head coverage (important detail…), is light, fits my stupidly large melon head, looks good and has the all important chin guard for Alpine, Wales or bike park trips.

However before I bought the Bell I read some negative comments about how it was “not as robust” as a proper full face or “felt a bit flimsy” which did concern me a bit.

Horseshit.

Last night I was hooning it down Patrick’s Passage (local trail… stop laughing..) enjoying the oh so dry trails. It was a beautiful evening and enthusiasm was in the air.

What happened next I’m not exactly sure but I think the back of the bike frame caught a branch or something similar. The net result being my forward momentum (Strava said 23 mph) made the bike flip 180 degrees which catapulted me head first into a sturdy Surrey tree.

Apparently I managed to turn my head before I hit face first and impacted the tree on the right occipital bone (the back right hand side of my head) and frankly knocked myself stupid. I spent last night in The Royal Surrey Hospital A&E (who were simply awesome) getting assessed and as you would imagine, the prognosis was concussion caused by severe impact.

Minor scratches

Busted Exposure mount

Looking none-the worse really

The cage came away here

However, it’s only a mild concussion.

I feel mildly drunk and I have a headache the likes of which I would not wish on Donald Trump, but basically aside from other incidental cuts and bruises I’m fine. I walked / staggered away from that one.

So yep, the Bell Super 2R earned every single penny of it’s cost last night.

The impact has broken the Exposure mount off and caused three cosmetic scratches to the surface of the helmet and interestingly the force of applying ‘head to tree’ caused the internal cage to “come-away” from its mounting (see photos above) but basically that’s all there is to say.

So my conclusion is that a lesser helmet with less coverage at the back of the head would have resulted in a much less happy outcome for me and probably an absence of blogs for a couple of weeks!

So how does the Bell Super 2R perform in an actual crash? Bloody awesome, that’s how.

James G has had some “pedallingly” good fun today and has penned a review:

The Purchase

I’ve been riding Time Atac pedals in various guises for the last 15 years so a pedal change was going to be a big thing for me… us humans we fear change!

Firstly the pedal had to look right..so vain! On seeing Matt’s green X1s I was “green with envy”, then seeing his orange X1s on his pimped Covert “I tangoed myself” and the final nail in the coffin were Steve’s stealth black X1s…. it is like they are carved out of ebony! These pedals looked good!

Then the hours of research began! My research by the way generally occurs whilst sat on one of our recently installed traps (thanks Mbuild! ) which are über comfortable… a review for another day and perhaps a different site! The research in truth didn’t last long – Aaron Gwin rides them (and he recently signed to YT Industries ) and they are a Dirt 100 product.

So I ordered two pairs – one yellow and one black. The yellow ones unfortunately turned out to be gold. The internet certainly lied about the colour, these didn’t work out against the “very yellow” Mavic Crossmax rims. The second pair are black with a white stripe. The stripe not only matches my newly bought Bell Super r2 but also the white Rockshox decals…. they look mint.

Installation.

Two things I learnt:

1. When it come to pedals I didn’t have the right tool and

2. I am weak. A quick text and an hour later the bike was on a stand at Matt W’s with newly installed slabs!

Before the first ride (that tricky garden run) I wound out the tension, I’ve read these pedals can be quite tight. Then I clipped in and pedalled…. whoa they felt different in a good way…. a really positive click.

The real test … 4 pieces of kit on show

HT X2 pedals
100% Ride Accuri goggles
Bell Super 2r chin guard
Six Six One – Exo short sleeve jacket

Basically trailing my Morzine kit!

Location

So as part of my Enduro training I’ve been heading to the Devil’s Punchbowl and sessioning “Bomb Holes”. I think I may make a change though as it isn’t a balls out DH but a more of a great single track.

Pedals. When you are in you are in! They are way tougher to unclip than the Time Atac but that could be because I’m so used to the in clip action on the Atacs. I stacked it on one bomb hole and didn’t unclip the right pedal in time, I’ll get used to the action. The pedals themselves are awesome providing sure footedness on the down hills they feel really firm. Also surprisingly they were also better on the ups a larger surface area to push against. The Capra really lived up to its name today and flew up the climbs. All in all I’m very happy… just need to get used to the unclip!!

Goggles. Now these look awesome and are a great price at £35, you even get two sets of lenses. They didn’t steam up an gave a massive range of vision. I’ve never worn goggles whilst riding and will need to get used to the feel on the cheeks however mid-ride and amongst the dirt I didn’t notice. Another Dirt 100 product.

Chin guard. Didn’t put it through its paces … i.e didn’t ride full tilt into a tree. It wasn’t too hot and again looked the business. The Bell just keeps on giving great head ….. protection! Again this product is a Dirt 100.

Protective shirt. Didn’t notice I had it on which kind of says it all. Not sure what real protection it would give as foam pads but maybe it’ll stop me skinning myself.

Well there you go that is my first full review, all great products. Not a bad ride too, seven PRs fell. The Capra is certainly dialling in and I’m starting to do it justice, quite simply it is an awesome bike!