Airoh Aviator 2.2 helmet review
 

After picking up and holding my friends Airoh 2.2 and feeling how light it was, I decided to buy one immediately. There are no dealers anywhere near me that sell these, and neither do the big online retailers that have nice return policies (BTO, Rockymountain, etc).

I purchased a brand new helmet from a seller on ebay for approx $500.

First impressions:
- Gorgeous looking shell
- the goggle opening looks a bit smaller than other helmets
- the chin strap is a cheesy webbing material - very cheap looking
- the helmet comes with a bag of goodies including a Airoh specific GoPro mount and an extended visor attachment
- lame helmet sack (unlike a Bell Moto 9 which comes with a felt lined bag with a zipper)

Upon trying it on, the cheek pads were clearly too big. I have been wearing a Bell Moto 9 size L and it fits perfectly. I emailed Airoh from the address on their website, politely explaining that I'd be interested in trying out size Medium cheek pads.

The response I got back was "you should have tried it on first". I'm not kidding.

I'll chalk a bit of this up to the support person's not-so-strong English, as they are located in Italy, but c'mon. I amp'ed it up, told them that was a non-helpful reply, and that I would have loved to try one on but, oh yeah, there are no dealers in Texas. I told them I'd be happy to BUY replacement cheek pads, if they could just point me to an online retailer (even in Europe) that carried them. I was then informed that size M cheek pads won't fit into a size L helmet. In fact, there are 2 sizes of cheek pads S/M which fit S/M helmets, and L/XL which only fit L/XL helmets.

The fix:
I pulled the cheek pads out of the helmet. If you are familiar with a higher end Bell, their cheek pads are magnetic - awesome. The Airoh's have plastic snaps which will round out and fail the more they unsnsap/snap. They are also held in on the bottom by these little plastic pieces with a slit and a hole that slides over a plastic rod. Really poor, cheap construction for a $500 helmet.

I used an Exacto knife, cut open the back of the cheek pads, removed the foam entirely, took a layer off, put the foam back and re-installed the cheek pads. Voila! Fixed and the fit is much better.

Overall, unimpressed with the build quality of this helmet. The weight is the big selling point - it is extremely light.
I watched a review by Keft online comparing the Airoh with the Suomy. The Suomy
is apparently a knock-off, actually weighs a few grams less, and is less than half
the price. It would not take much for them to make it over the low bar set by Airoh support either.

Recommendation: Look elsewhere for a high end helmet, or give the Suomy a try.

Weird. My experience is 100 percent opposite.
RevZilla has liners and cheek pads.

That's really good to hear Girard. I see needing new cheek pads well before the life of the helmet is up. I'm pretty disappointed with my experience so far - glad to hear you are a happy customer. I did wear the helmet this past weekend at the TSCEC event and it was nice and light in the Texas heat.

I've had my AIROH for over 3 years now. The snaps are still tight. The slots on the cheek pad retainers allow the pads to be removed easily by medical personnel in case you're injured.

Sorry you had a bad experience. Several riders I know have AIROHs and love them.

I have not tried on the Airoh Aviator 2.2, but lifting it up by comparison to Suomy Mr Jump I didn't feel any weight difference. I own Suomy Mr Jump and it is a VERY good helmet (very light, extremely well ventilated, high quality etc). So if anyone is reading this thread and choosing between Airoh and Sumoy, my vote goes to Suomy on that one.

I have had an older Airoh stelt. Very nice, light helmet, but I agree with the OP. the fit and comfort was not as nice as my Bell moto 9, Shoei or Arai. I now have a Suomy. It's somewhere in between the other 2. Both my Airoh and Suomy have white interior linings. What kind of idiot puts white linings in a dirt bike helmet. Also, the sleeves that cover the chin straps on the Suomy do not detach which make cleaning a pita.

For a light weight, mid cost helmet I think the main choices are Airoh, Suomy and Vemar.
The higher end Bell moto9 flex, Shoei, Arai, and 6D are just priced too high for me the replace every few years.