Fly Racing Formula dirt motorcycle helmet review.
Fly Racing was known for their range of lower price helmets – that is, until they launched the Formula range of Motocross helmets.
The first Formula helmet they launched was the top of the range full carbon version, followed by the CC Carbon Composite Formula, then finally the CP Polycarbonate Forumula helmet.
And looking at the specs of each helmet, it’s great to see that Fly Racing are serious about making a helmet that really protects.
Off road helmets tend to be at the forefront of protective helmet tech – arguably even more so than track helmets – probably because riders are subject to a wider range of accident types and are just simply more likely to have a spill. So (some) manufacturers take protection very seriously.
And it’s great to see Fly Racing being one of them. Multi-density liners – check. Multiple shock absorbing materials – check. Slip plane liners – check (kinda). Higher spec helmet shells and dual ECE 22.05.DOT rating – check.
So here’s the lowdown on what you can expect from the Fly Racing Formula if you’re in the market for a new off-road helmet.
- Fly Racing’s motocross helmet range
- Full carbon, composite or polycarb shells
- ECE 22.05 certified
- Snell M2015 certified
- Crash Labs tested: 4 stars safety, 3 stars comfort
- Youth version available
- Rheon, EPS and EPP liners
- Sizes XS-XXL
- Prices around:
- Carbon £425-£500
- Composite £325-£370
- Polycarbonate £180-£200
Looking to buy a Fly Racing Formula helmet?
Please click below to visit the Fly Racing Formula helmets pages at our recommended stores. And if you buy from one, we get a small sum from the sale at no extra cost to you – a massive THANKS! (it’s how we finance the site).
Overall/Summary
Whichever Fly Racing Formula helmet you choose, owners seem broadly impressed with their helmets. They offer amazing venting, they’re very comfortable, pretty light, have solid build quality, and they work well as dirt helmets. Owners generally really like them.
But which one to choose (see further down for key differences)?
You can buy a couple of polycarbonate Formula helmets for the price of one carbon fibre helmet, and they do share most of their tech. And don’t be put off by a polycarbonate shell as they can be great performing helmets. Overall, the polycarbonate helmet is cheaper, looks more or less the same as the more expensive lids and they’re only a few grammes heavier; so if price is a big factor, we’d say go for the polycarb.
As you’d expect, it’s the full carbon fibre helmet that’s lightest – and with its carbon weave it looks a bit special too. And because it’s been independently tested by the Aussie Crash Labs (and Snell certified in the US), it’s always nice to know it offers lab-proven levels of protection (see safety section further down).
If you’re undecided between the two, the carbon composite CC Formula helmet probably offers very similar levels of protection and performance to the full carbon helmet while only being about 30g heavier (that’s about the weight of a pencil if you’re struggling!). And while you might not be able to show off that carbon weave to your mates, you will be saving yourself a nice stack in the process.
Overall, the Fly Racing Formula is a great helmet and very much up there with the big brands in terms of performance and quality. Well worth buying.
Fly Racing Formula – different models
Full Carbon Formula
The carbon fibre Formula helmet has a 12k carbon shell. 12k refers to the number of carbon fibre filaments in each ‘tow’ or group of fibres. It’s a cheaper type of carbon fabric but it also has greater tensile strength, which is probably why Fly Racing say it has superior penetration resistance. It also makes for a lighter helmet, with the full carbon Formula helmet weighing around 1.35Kg (3lbs) which is light weight.
CC Carbon Composite Formula
The Fly Racing CC is pretty much the same helmet as the Carbon helmet, just its shell is made from a composite of carbon fibre, Kevlar and fibreglass. And while it’s a good bit cheaper than the full carbon and looks the same, it’s only a smidge heavier.
CP Polycarbon Formula
There’s a few small cosmetic differences between the CP and the other two Formula helmets – mainly in the placing of the vents – but the main difference is the fact the helmet shell is polycarbonate plastic. And of course that makes it a little bit heavier, weighing around 1.45Kg (3.2lbs).
Safety
(more about helmet safety)
Fly Racing have taken an innovative approach with the Formulas. All three have an expanded polystyrene shock absorbing liner, and all three have a slightly funky take on the concept that Fly Racing calls Conehead. That means it has separate panels slotted together using cone shaped EPS ‘spikes’ which Fly Racing reckon give them more progressive impact attenuation.
They also use a double-density liner, again designed to give more effective lower and higher speed impact protection.
On top of that, they add little ‘rosettes’ of rheon which is an energy absorbing polymer, again designed to offer progressive impact absorption as well as a certain amount of slip-plane protection – so letting the helmet slide independently of the head during an impact.
Of course, all these features sound great, but the key thing is – do they work?
Obviously, the only real way to find out in any meangful way – apart from buying one and launching yourself off your bike – is to lab test it. The carbon version of the Formula has been Snell certified and the Australian Crash programme did test the full carbon version and scored it 4/5 stars for protection. To put that into perspective, only one helmet so far has scored 5/5, so it’s a decent score.
Actually, looking at their published test info, it looks like the oblique/rotation protection ain’t that great (which is maybe where it dropped that extra star?) – with it scoring 7.7/15 for ‘Ability to minimize the rotation of the helmet in a crash’ and 5.8/15 for ‘Oblique impact energy management’.
And of course, that’s just for the carbon fibre Formula helmet. If we had to guess, we’d say the composite version would probably score something similar but as for the polycarbonate version (that doesn’t have the ‘conehead’ EPS) it’s difficult to say.
Other than this test score, it seems all models are built in three shell sizes – which is good for optimising fit and safety – and they all have double-d ring fasteners. And as long as you’re careful fastening them up each time, double d rings are about as reliable as they come.
There’s also a collarbone-friendly bottom edge, shaped to reduce impact on the clavicle if the helmet’s pushed downwards – and that bottom profile’s filled with a small amount of EPS to cushion the blow further.
Similarly, Fly Racing has lined the chin bar with EPP (expanded polypropylene) to offer some impact attenuation there – which is always great to see and just goes to show the attention to detail they’ve gone to in order to maximise impact protection.
All in all, the Fly Racing Formula should give decent protection; but looking at that test data, just maybe not as much rotation protection as we’d like.
Take a look at our Best Motorbike Helmet Top 10s to find your next helmet too...
Helmet Noise
(more about helmet noise)
Helmet noise arguably isn’t as important for a dirt helmet as a street helmet. Sure, if you’re riding fast and loud competitively you’re not going to want to deafen yourself day-in day-out, but for most of us being able to hear the engine and your riding mates will probably mean you don’t mind a bit of noise getting into your helmet.
And with so many ventilation holes covering the helmet (see below) each is a pathway for noise too.
For a dirt helmet, opinions we’ve found say it’s about average – so you shouldn’t have any real problems with noise if you buy a Fly Racing Formula. If you find it too loud, the solution’s always the same – buy some decent ear plugs and you should be fine wearing most helmets, including the Formula.
Ventilation
(more about helmet ventilation)
Whichever model of Formula helmet you go for, ventilation should be more than enough.
They all have generous venting in both the chin bar and forehead, taking air through the shell, around channels in the EPS liner and into the helmet. The comfort liner has a stack of air holes in it and riders across the board reckon there’s a ton of airflow.
Once in the helmet, warm and moist air vents out the back of the helmet through seven rear exhausts, giving a very open and free flowing movement of air through the helmet.
We found heaps of Formula owners who rated it highly for ventilation and the Crash Labs testers agree, scoring it 20/20 for ventilation.
Peak/Goggles
(more about peaks)
The peak on all versions of the Formula is light weight plastic and designed to break away under impact (the full carbon Formula comes with a spare in the box).
They’re all slightly up/down adjustable and they’re all aero sculpted to reduce lift at speed as well as direct airflow into that top forehead vent.
Word is that the viewport is large enough to take pretty well any type of goggles you want. We heard from riders fitting 100% Accuri OTG goggles without a problem, so if you’re a glasses wearer and need larger goggles, you should be good to go.
A couple of useful links…
– Helmet’s that’ll fit a bluetooth headset –
– Snell motorcycle helmets –
Comfort and Sizing
(more about comfort and sizing)
Comfort’s another major tick in the box according to pretty well every Formula owner we found.
All Formulas are medium oval fitment internally and we heard from quite a few owners saying how they found it to be the most comfortable dirt helmet they’ve ever used. While one or two owners found their helmets tight at first, they also reckon they do break in quickly. The internal shape seems to be very forgiving and the liner soft, comfortable, antimicrobial and moisture wicking.
And while there isn’t any adjustment internally, if things aren’t quite right there are a range of different cheekpad sizes available from Fly Racing if you need to tailor the fit further.
On the whole, sizing seems to be about right for most owners – so use our Fitment Guide to measure your head and order the correct size through one of our recommended stores.
While most owners we found rate it as an exceptionally comfortable helmet, it’s worth noting that Crash Labs (who also test each helmet for comfort) scored it a middling 3/5 stars.
Looks & Graphics
There’s a huge range of graphics and colourways available for all three Formula helmets (four if you count the Youth versions). If you’re after a solid, then the CC and CP both do matt black plain helmets and there’s a plain white carbon helmet available. If you’re after a plain black carbon Formula, the blacks are basically either a gloss or matt lacquer over the carbon (see Carbon Black above).
Other than that, the carbons all tend to show off that carbon fibre weave and while we’ve dotted some of the graphics up and down the page, you should click the links below to check out the full ranges at our recommended stores below – click and you’ll drop straight onto their Fly Racing Formula helmets pages.
Best places to buy a Fly Racing Formula helmet?
Please click below to visit the Fly Racing Formula helmets pages at our recommended stores. And if you buy from one, we get a small sum from the sale at no extra cost to you – a massive THANKS! (it’s how we finance the site).
Fly Racing Formula Helmet Video
Top video is a 9m30s video looking at the Formula Carbon and the bottom one a 7m video covering the Formula CP – both from Rocky Mountain in the US.
Other stuff – build quality, warranty
One comment we found time and time again is that Fly Racing Formula helmets are well built with good paint, quality materials and a solid feel (except perhaps the peak that’s designed to break off).
Hopefully that rings true for the lifetime of the helmet because Fly Racing helmets only come with a one year warranty.
Crash Helmet Buying Guides & Top 10s
For (hopefully!) other useful information to help you when buying your next helmet, check our various Motorcycle Helmet Buying Guides - or have a look at our Top 10 best helmet lists where we've got the top 10 best rated helmets overall along with Top 10 Best Budget/Top 10 Safest/Top 10 Best Full Face/Top 10 Best Modular/Flip-up/ Top 10 Best Sportsbike/Track helmets.
Good Alternatives to a Fly Racing Formula Helmet?
You can find all our dirt helmet reviews here, but here’s a small selection of our some other motocross helmets that we think you should check out.
One of the main competititors to the top-end Fly Racing Formulas is the 6D ATR-2. That’s another motocross helmet that focuses on max protection by using MIPs and dual density liners. It’s a great helmet too that most owners love.
Another great top-end dirt lid is the Shoei VFX-WR. The DOT version’s been Snell M2020 certified too – it’s got MEDS rotation protection, EQRS and it comes in four shell sizes. It’ll fit a bluetooth headset too.
If you’re more focusing on value for money, the HJC CS-MX II is highly rated by owners and it’s super cheap – half the price of the base spec Formula even. It covers all the basics – though it hasn’t been rated for crash protection yet.
Looking to buy a Fly Racing Formula helmet?
Please click below to visit the Fly Racing Formula helmets pages at our recommended stores. And if you buy from one, we get a small sum from the sale at no extra cost to you – a massive THANKS! (it’s how we finance the site).
