Schuberth E1 Flip-up/Adventure helmet review

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Schuberth E1 Adventure/modular crash helmet – full review

Best places to buy a Schuberth E1?

Please click below to visit the Schuberth E1 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).

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Just when you thought you’d seen every helmet design going, Schuberth have created the E1 – a combination of a flip-up and dual-sport helmet.

schuberth E1 Guardian helmet
E1 in Guardian graphics

Their goal for the E1 was to produce a versatile lid that’ll give the utility of a full face (good protection plus sound and wind insulation), the freedom of a flip-up (easy to get on and freedom to use in open-face mode with the chin guard up) yet with the characteristics of an adventure helmet.

Which sounds like a great idea to us.

Like all Schuberth helmets, they’re designed in the wind tunnel to reduce buffeting and noise. And you also get great attention to detail and Schuberth’s outstanding build quality as part of the package too. But then, so you should at this price point.

And the design’s been thought through too. You don’t need to move the sun peak to open the chin guard, and the peak itself is adjustable too. Also, the main visor is class one optically clear, meaning you shouldn’t get any distortion through it.

And if it gets too sunny, the E1 also features a drop down sun visor. Nice.

 

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Schuberth E1 in Radiant graphics

Safety

Schuberth have a reasonable reputation for producing safe helmets.

Of the six helmets they’ve had tested at the SHARP helmet testing labs so far, they’ve scored an average of 3 out of a maximum of 5 stars. The last two fibreglass helmets scored one four stars (Schuberth SR1) and a three stars (Schuberth C3 Pro).

And because the E1 is essentially the same helmet as the C3 Pro but with a different chin bar and sun peak, it’s no real surprise that when SHARP tested the E1, it scored the same 3 star rating.

You can get an idea from the graphic of where it dropped marks – but note that’s for just one of the tests (the 8.5 m/s test) so doesn’t give the whole picture.

By the way, SHARP doesn’t just test the helmet. When they test modular helmets, they record how often their chin guards come unlocked (see our guide to SHARP testing for more information on that) – and Schuberth has a history of doing very well in this respect.

But the E1 did drop a few percentage points here, with the chin bar staying locked and closed in 93% of the tests. Which is actually a pretty good score if you look across all tested system helmets; though whether that’s a good enough score for you, I’ll leave for you to decide.

The E1 also features Schuberth’s AROS chin strap – designed to reduce the possibility of your helmet coming off during an accident. That’s a real problem in bike accidents so it’s good that Schuberth are doing their bit to reduce the chances of helmet roll-off.

Other safety features include a micrometric fastener and drop down sun visor – that’s not just there for comfort but can be a real god send, along with the peak/roost guard, if a low sun catches you out unexpectedly!

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Guardian E1s also come in red/black/white

Helmet Noise

Schuberth uses a lot of wind tunnel testing in the design of their helmets to try and make helmets that are as slippery as possible. A slippery helmet equals a helmet that’s less prone to buffeting and is quieter as there are fewer corners for the air to ‘catch’ on.

To give you an idea of just how far they go, they’ve even put tiny triangluar ‘turbulators’ on the top of their visors to break up the wind flow and remove the chance of the edge of the visor catching air and creating noise.

Of course, like all dual-sports and offroad helmets, the E1 has a huge sun peak/roost guard slapped onto the top of the helmet, so you’d expect that at least to make a bit of a racket, right?

Well, by massive agreement of folks who own an E1, they reckon it’s a very quiet helmet indeed. Even with that huge peak, most owners say that the E1 is one of – if not THE quietest helmet they’ve ever owned.

Part of that is undoubtedly down to the careful wind-tunnel designed helmet shell. But other factors like the removable neck roll, clever ventilation routing and internal comfort padding all play their part.

But whatever the reason, most folks who own a Schuberth E1 are very impressed with how quiet it is.

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Large chin vent on the E1 – with washable foam filter behind

Ventilation

Similarly, owners say that the ventilation’s great.

Schuberth have created a chin guard with a nice large vent in the front. And there’s a single crown vent that pulls air into the helmet through channels in the shock absorbing lining and around the scalp.

That chin guard vent especially lets in lots of air, and both vents are easy to open in gloves. That chin vent also has a washable foam filter behind it for when it gets clogged by off road dirt.

Pretty well all owners said that the ventilation is great. Even riders who regularly ride in temperatures around 100 degrees (I wish!) reckoned it pulls in enough air to keep them (relatively) cool. The only time it seems to struggle is if you’re riding off-road in the sun when it could do with a larger opening to fit goggles and give more ventilation.

Other than that – and for most of us road warriors – the ventilation on the Schuberth E1 should be just fine.

Visor

Like the visors on all Schuberth helmets, the visor on the E1 is class 1 optically correct, meaning there shouldn’t be any distortion. The visor’s also Pinlock anti-fog ready and a Pinlock insert should come in the box – but always double-check with your retailer before you buy.

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Sun peak on the E1 Crossfire is locked with the orange locking tab – and removed using the circular finger screw

The visor on the E1 is the same visor as the C3 pro, so they’re interchangeable if you need to order a new one.

Most owners say the field of view is nice and wide too and also that the quick release visor mechanism is one of the best. So all good with the visor on the E1.

Sun Peak/Roost Guard

The sun peak/roost guard has been well designed too.

It’s 3 way adjustable by just moving the peak up or down with one hand. And when you’ve got it at the right position, there’s a locking switch that’ll hold it in that position. Simple.

If you have it in the lowest position, a few owners commented that it’s great at shielding your eyes from a low sun. In that position, it doesn’t even get in the way if you decide you want to open the chin guard. Because whatever the position the peak is in, the peak rotates back when the chin guard’s raised. Then when you drop the chin guard down, it rotates back down to the original position. Great design.

A few owners were worried that the sun peak might wobble or vibrate when they’re riding along on the road (quite a few do). But must owners agree that it’s pretty much as solid as a rock. Yes, one or two owners did say it vibrates a bit, but more say it doesn’t. We reckon that’s going to be a bit dependent on the type of bike you ride and things like whether you’ve got a screen up or not – so it’s impossible to say that you won’t have a problem at all.

But like one owner said – if you have a problem, you can usually rotate the peak out of sight or out of the airflow so it doesn’t bother you. And if it’s still a problem, with the quick removal system, it takes just a couple of seconds to take it off entirely. Job done.

Sun Visor

The E1 has a drop down sun visor too. That’s not class-one optically correct and neither is it anti-fog (which to be fair, most sun visor’s aren’t!)

It operates using the slider on the bottom of the left side of the helmet (one of the best places for it) and while a couple of owners said it’s probably a bit too lightly tinted, that’s not really the fault of Schuberth as it’s a legal thing in most countries to ensure vision’s not impared too much.

It’s also something lots of us moan about from time to time, so far from just a Schuberth problem.

Other than that, we reckon it’s well worth having a sun visor on your helmet these days, and the sun visor on the E1 works well.

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The Hunter E1 – available in blue and red

Off Road performance

Of course, a dual sport helmet needs to be good for off as well as on-road performance.

The Schuberth E1 has the ability to remove the visor so you can wear goggles, and it has that large roost guard to protect your face from flying rocks and dirt.

There’s also a removable and washable foam filter on the vent in the chin guard. It’s there to stop dirt and dust getting through and it’s something we see on lots of motocross helmets, so that’s useful.

However, all’s not rosy on the off-road front.

A few owners said that visor opening isn’t large enough to fit most goggles. And that also means there’s not as much area to let in the tons of ventilation serious off roaders need – especially if you’re riding in the sun.

There’s no groove around the back of the helmet to hold the goggle’s strap in place either. And of course if you want to open up the chin guard while you’ve got goggles on, you’re gonna come unstuck.

So while it’s OK for some off roading, the E1 is no real replacement for a motocross helmet. Which I’m guessing is probably not that much of a surprise – or problem – for most folks looking for a dual sports helmet, who’ll mostly use it on the road anyway.

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Gloss white E1

Chin Guard

The chin guard on the Schuberth E1 is opened by a single button underneath the guard.

Press the button and move the chin guard up and the visor and sun peak move up too. Drop the guard down and they both move down again to their original position.

As we mentioned in the safety section above, Schuberth chin guards do very well when tested by helmet safety people SHARP.

The chin guard on the E1 is different from the C3 Pro helmet it’s based on, and when SHARP tested it, the chin guard stayed locked and closed in 93% of impact tests.

That’s actually a reasonable score if you look across all the system helmets that SHARP has tested – but you’ll have to decide whether it’s good enough for you.

Comfort and Sizing

The Schuberth E1 is available in a wide range of sizes, from XS all the way up to XXXL.

Inside the helmet, aside from comfort, Schuberth has designed the lining to be cooling and moisture-wicking and also antibacterial.

They use CoolMax materials (same as used across their current range of helmets) which are designed to quickly move moisture away from the head.

They’re also Öko-Tex 100 certified. Which means they’re made with materials that don’t contain harmful substances and so shouldn’t irritate human skin.

schuberth e1 flip front helmet antracite side view
Classy looking solid antracite grey version

The lining is of course fully removable and washable too (as you find on all but the most budget of budget helmets these days).

But most importantly, owners say their E1 is very comfortable. A couple said they found it’s better for rounder heads (though most said it’s more suited to slightly longer rather than wider heads) and a few said that the removable neck roll was particularly impressive – stopping pretty much all noise and wind entering up inside the helmet.

Looks and Graphics

As usual, we’ve tried to put examples of all the currently available graphics available for the E1 at the time of writing. But there’s usually more variants for each design that we’ve room to put on the page, and helmet makers push out new graphics all the time.

So take a look at the links to our recommended retailers below. They’ll drop you on their Schuberth helmets pages where you should be able to quickly find the latest designs and any deals that are going on.

Best places to buy a Schuberth E1 helmet?

Please click below to visit the Schuberth E1 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).

Buy from SportsBikeShopBuy from GetGeared

Schuberth E1 Video

First up, a 2m review from a guy at DriveMag. Followed by a 4m look around the helmet by WebBikeWorld.

Other Stuff – audio/communicator, weight, build quality, warranty

Like a number of other helmets in the Schuberth range, the E1 is designed to seamlessly integrate with Schuberth’s own bluetooth sets. In the case of the E1, it’s the Schuberth SRC System Pro, which is a kit made by bluetooth specialists, Cardo. The SRC System is a collar that buttons on the bottom of the helmet and has the controls and cabling included. But you can use other aftermarket kits with the E1, though of course they won’t have the same level of integration. Word is that owners with Sena 20s and 10u have both been easily installed – though using sticky pads rather than any sort of integration.

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SRC System is Schuberth’s bluetooth collar that attaches to the bottom of the helmet (in this case a C3)

As to weight, the Schuberth E1 isn’t the lightest helmet, weighing in at around 1.8Kg (4Lbs). It’s only about 100g or so heavier than your average modular helmet though so shouldn’t be a problem.

Build quality of the E1 is universally praised though. The fitting and finishing and the quality of the parts used is widely said to be outstanding and the design well thought out.

And finally, the Schuberth E1 comes with Schuberth’s five year warranty, though you need to register the helmet on Schuberth’s website to get the extra three years on top of the standard two year warranty.

Overall/Summary

The Schuberth E1 is a lovely helmet. OK, so it’s not the best off-road helmet in the world, but a helmet like this is always going to be something of a compromise. And given that the E1 can be used as a street helmet (without peak) dual sports (with peak) and is a quality modular helmet that performs very well in all guises, that’s no mean feat.

In safety terms, the E1 drops a couple of stars by scoring 3 stars out of 5 and a 93% score on the chin bar when SHARP tested it. But with its decent drop down sun visor, great noise suppression, pinlock anti-fog, integrated communications and excellent ventilation, it excels in so many other areas.

Because the E1 has been out a couple of years or so, its price has been dropping. So if you’re after a modular helmet or a dual sports helmet, that means you can now get a lot of lid for your money. And if you buy one, based on what owners think of theirs, we’re pretty sure you won’t regret it.

Alternatives to the Schuberth E1?

There aren’t many dual-sports modular helmets on the market to challenge the E1.

In fact, there is the excellent Caberg Tourmax which is a SHARP five star rated dual sport flip-up helmet that’s also one of our top rated helmets. And that’s about it!

So to cast your net a bit wider, we suggest checking out our top 10 modular helmets or our adventure bike helmet reviews.

Definitely want a Schuberth?

Here you'll find all our Schuberth crash helmet reviews and previews including full face, flip-up and open face helmets.

Best places to buy a Schuberth E1?

Please click below to visit the Schuberth E1 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).

Buy from SportsBikeShopBuy from GetGeared

Star Ratings

REVIEW OVERVIEW
Safety
Comfort
Noise
Features
Value
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schuberth-e1-flip-upadventure-helmetThe Schuberth E1 isn't the cheapest helmet on the market but boy, does it deliver. Owners love em too. OK they're not the best for serious off roading, but if you're after a modular or dual-sports that's nice and quiet, well vented, comfy and with integrated comms that's mostly for road use with the occasional trip off the beaten track, then the Schuberth E1 is a very very serious contender.

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