Suomy Apex motorcycle full face crash helmet review

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Suomy Apex full face street helmet review

The Apex is Suomy’s streetbike helmet that has a nod towards the track.

In their current line up, Suomy has the SR – it’s sports/track helmet, the Halo which is an all-rounder street helmet, and then there’s the Apex which is a bit of both.

Like the SR, the Apex has a shell made of a composite of carbon, fibreglass and aramid (Kevlar). Which is undoubtedly one of the reasons it’s so flipping light because it weighs in at around 1.35Kg (3lbs) and that makes it one of the lightest full face helmets around. But does that also mean Suomy have missed something out?

So, here’s a ton of information about the Suomy Apex, as we dig around and discover what owners think of theirs.

  • Sporty full face helmet
  • Made of carbon/aramid/fibreglass composite
  • Available in 3 shell sizes
  • 1.35Kg (3lbs) – it’s light
  • ECE and DOT certified
  • Sizes XS-XXXL
  • 2 year warranty
  • Expect to pay £230-£270

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    The Suomy Apex France

Best places to buy a Suomy Apex?

Please click below to visit the Suomy Apex 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).

Safety

The shell of the Suomy Apex is made from a carbon, aramid (Kevlar) and fibreglass mix which, aside from meaning it’s super light weight, probably accounts for its moderately high price tag because creating super light weight composite fibre helmet shells doesn’t come cheap.

Suomy also produce the Apex in three different shell sizes. That’s a good number of shells and should make sure the helmet both looks in proportion and has the right ratio of shock absorbing liner for each fitment size. It’ll also make sure you’re not carrying more helmet on your head than necessary because light weight is a good thing when it comes to making an effective helmet.

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This model is the Suomy Apex La Cocca showing chin and forehead vents and rear spoiler

And the Suomy Apex sure is light. It weighs around 1.35 Kilos (3lbs) give or take – and that’s light.

But sometimes making a helmet light can mean it doesn’t quite offer the same amount of protection as a heavier helmet. And that seems to be the case in the Apex.

SHARP tested the Apex and gave it three stars out of five. Which is far from the worst safety score in the world (in fact it’s pretty decent) – but it’s not the best either.

It is of course ECE approved – so you know it’ll offer at least a (pretty decent) minimum level of protection. But there are better helmets out there for safety (see our alternatives section at the bottom of the page).

Other safety features include a double-d ring fastener and clear main visor with anti-fog treatment. So it’s lacking some of the more recent safety innovations such as EQRS or optically correct visor with Pinlock insert that you find in quite a few helmets these days.

Helmet Noise

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Plain white Apex. Note side pods that need removing to take off the visor

Suomy do say that the Apex has been designed using wind tunnels – so that will hopefully make for a slippery helmet shape (which will help reduce noise). But as we’ve found many a time before, even the slipperiest helmets can be noisy – especially if they’re designed for the track where noise suppression is way down the list of priorities.

And while the Apex only gives a nod towards the circuit, it seems to have inherited some of a track helmet’s noisiness as owners seem to think it’s on the noisier side of average with comments ranging from OK to really noisy.

It might also be that in their search for reduced weight, Suomy’s also removed some of the helmet’s ability to keep the noise out. And of course, how noisy you find your helmet is very subjective and dependent on riding style, bike and lots of other factors. So look here if you do need a quiet helmet above all else.

Ventilation

There’s three front vents and four exhaust vents on the apex.

The chin vent has two positions and directs air onto the rear of the visor as well as around the mouth. The forehead vent has a single switch to open both vents and that directs air around the scalp via ventilation channels in the helmet lining. And then there’s two top rear exhausts underneath the spoiler and a couple further down near the collar.

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Suomy Apex Italy helmet. Note all helmets are supplied with a clear visor, not dark

It’s a fairly conventional layout but overwhelmingly owners seem to reckon it’s very effective on the Apex. The air channels are large and the inlets are effective meaning it should keep you cool on all but the hottest days/slowest rides.

Visor

The visor on the Suomy Apex is anti-scratch (obv) and they say it’s got an antifog coating on there – though don’t expect that to be much use in challenging rain/cold/humid conditions because we’ve yet to find a bog-standard manufacturer-applied antifog coating that’s any good (unless it’s an actual insert attached to the rear of the visor).

The visor uses friction not a ratchet to keep it open. Friction visors can be OK but can also be prone to wearing or need fairly regular adjustment to keep them working well, compared to a ratchet visor. Having said that, no one we could find was having a problem with wear or the visor slamming shut so it doesn’t look like it’s a problem with the Apex.

What might be a little more of a problem is that, unusually, the Apex doesn’t have a quick-release visor. There’s a couple of side pods that need popping open using the tool provided: insert the tool into a little groove on the side and it’ll pop off. Once off, you move a couple of sliders (toolless) and the visor pulls off. Apparently it’s a bit of a pain but doesn’t take too long to get the hang of it.

It’s not as quick and simple as much of the competition though. And there isn’t a Pinlock-ready visor available for the Apex either which is a bit of a shame.

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Double top exhaust vents and double lower vents help make for quality ventilation

Comfort & Sizing

Inside the Suomy Apex, the comfort lining is fully removable and washable and, if you find the fit isn’t quite bang-on, there are replacement cheek pads available to help you get the fit just right.

The materials inside are designed to be moisture-wicking and breathable. It uses a Coolmax fabric which is a polyester fabric that’s popular among lots of helmet makers because it makes for more breathable helmets (although one owner reckoned it doesn’t work very well in the Apex).

Suomy also use something called Interpower treatment. That’s a treatment that’s designed to reduce the contact points between the skin and fabric thereby reducing moisture build-up.

Word is that the helmet can be very comfy (as always, provided you get it to fit right in the first place) though a word of warning – most folks reckon Suomy’s size small, so if you’re thinking about buying one and you’re between sizes, or not sure, we suggest you go for a size larger than normal.

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This one’s the Apex Pike in red/black

Looks & Graphics

Suomy aren’t really known for their shy and retiring graphics! They do offer plain solid black and white versions but as you can see from their current line up on this page (in the form of the Rolling Thunder, Pike, Jap and both the France and Italy graphics) they prefer bright and in-your-face colours.

If none of these are your cup of tea, then click through to our recommended retailers below to find out what back catalogue graphics they’re selling – or any new graphics or deals they’re offering.

Best places to buy a Suomy Apex helmet?

Please click below to visit the Suomy Apex 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).

Suomy Apex video

Here’s a quick 4m video looking over the Suomy Apex.

Other stuff – build quality, warranty

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They don’t come much more ‘out there’ than the Apex Rolling Thunder!

Many owners say that the finishing and quality of materials on their Apex is really great. However, one or two do say that the build quality isn’t actually that good with things like the top vents being a bit too flimsy and breaking easily. We have to say however that most makers design vents to break off easily so they don’t compromise safety during an accident – or dig in and rotate the helmet – so it might not actually be a Suomy problem (even top of the range Arai’s suffer from ‘flimsy’ vents from time to time).

And finally, Suomy offers a 2 year warranty on all their helmets.

Overall/Summary

If you’re after a really light weight helmet at a reasonable price, then the Suomy Apex may well be the right helmet for you. And, as for all helmets, if it feels right and fits right, then that’s two massive plus points because correct fit and comfort contribute massively to safety.

However, there are alternatives on the market (below) which edge the Apex in terms of features and overall safety – and offer more bang for the buck.

Which is not to say the Suomy Apex isn’t a great helmet, because it is and many owners love theirs. But things like quick release visors, Pinlocks and EQRS along with higher marks for safety make some helmets that bit easier to live with and give you extra piece of mind that they’ll give you great protection in an accident.

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The Apex Jap in black and gold

But like we said, if light weight is right up there for you and you fall in love with the design and graphics, then go for it because the Apex is a capable all-rounder.

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 the Suomy Apex?

The HJC FG-ST costs around the same money as the Apex but it’s a SHARP 5 star rated full face fibreglass helmet with drop down sun visor and with a Pinlock antifog insert in the box.

Or if you’re definitely after something at the sportier end of the street, try the LS2 FF323 Arrow. That’s a SHARP 4 star safety rated fibreglass helmet (there’s a carbon version too if you’ve got the dosh) that comes with an optically-correct visor and Pinlock in the box. It’s about as light as the Apex too.

The X-Lite X-702-GT is quiet, comfortable and has great ventilation and it’s only a smidge heavier than the Apex. It has a maximum SHARP 5 star safety rating on it too.

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Plain matt black Apex

For more helmet suggestions, visit our smart filters, our gallery pages or our top 10 helmets to quickly find your next helmet.

Best places to buy a Suomy Apex?

Please click below to visit the Suomy Apex 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).


Other full face helmets?

We've got lots of other ways you can find your ideal full face helmet. You can check out our Top 10 full-face crash helmets list to see our best rated helmets or head over to our Smartish Filters pages and zoom in on helmets with your 'must have' features. You can browse through all our full face crash helmet reviews as well as our safest motorcycle helmets page where you'll only find helmets that are SHARP four or five star rated - so you'll know you're wearing the best protection out there. Finally, check out our helmet gallery to find a lid that takes your fancy.

Star Ratings

REVIEW OVERVIEW
Safety
Comfort
Noise
Features
Value
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suomy-apex-motorcycle-crash-helmet-reviewThe Suomy Apex is a full face sports/street composite fibre helmet. On the plus side, it's super light, comfy and has great ventilation. On the minus side, it's lacking some of the features found in some other helmets and it's pretty noisy. But with a SHARP 3 star safety rating and race-developed carbon/aramid/fibreglass shell, there's many owners out there who love their Apex helmet. And if it looks right to you and you love those 'out there' graphics - and can live with one or two compromises - then there's no reason you'll not love your Suomy Apex too.

2 COMMENTS

  1. Hi, im looking for Double D Ring and straps to replace my current quick release straps as its not allowed in racing. Can i buy these straps from you and have it fixed here.

    • Sorry mate, you need to buy a helmet with the right sort of fastener – they’re integral to the helmet and not replaceable. As you say – double d ring are probably the way to go, though it’s not actually stipulated in the rule book. Certainly not here in the UK where the ACU have told me they don’t have a problem with micrometric fasteners (though it needs to display an ACU gold sticker, whatever the fastener).

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