Our Stan gets out and about on his Ducati Scrambler Desert Sled and puts Held Gear through its paces.
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| Stan's Ducati Scrambler Desert Sled |
Today, we'll hear about how Stan's been getting on with his Held Alcatar Adventure Helmet:
3.5 Alcatars for one of your..
"There's a saying that 'the quality remains long after the price is forgotten' - which is how you justify big-ticket items; The initial 'sting' of forking out a lot of money eventually goes away but the quality product you've bought keeps on doing the job beautifully. This sounds like I'm breaking news that the Alcatar is expensive, well actually it isn't. It's under £140. What you'd expect to carry a big price tag doesn't, but you get a hell of a lot of bang for your buck with this helmet. Exceptionally good value for money.
In fact you can get 3.5 Alcatars for the price of a well known competitor's similar lid. I've worn both and in my opinion there really isn't anything in it when you compare them, especially if you consider what you're getting for your money! Let's take a look at the Alcatar, what I like and what I don't like about it.
The Overview
For starters, it's a nice looking lid. More than a touch of the 'Master Chiefs' about it so first impressions for anyone with a certain style of bike would be good. Put it this way, it's perfectly suited to the Desert Sled, as it would be to the likes of the BMW GS, Triumph Tiger, Honda Africa Twin etc. It comes in a number of schemes, including Gloss black, Matt black, white & red, black, white & red or black and white.
It's not any where near as heavy as I expected yet feels very robust. The cheek pads are washable which is a bonus with this helmet designed for mile munchers. It has a visor that doesn't interfere with the peak and a flip-down integral sun visor. The flip switch for the visor was a bit tricky but a squirt of WD40 sorted that out. I like the fact that when the sun visor is down you push a button on the side and the visor pings up out the way.. The main visor is Pinlock ready and you can if you wish get a dark tint version of this.
If you're worried about changing / removing visors (Hands up who has broken side pods!) then don't be - the Held Alcatar scratchproof visor will come off with the help of a flathead screwdriver, very easy! The helmet is also very well vented too, at the chin and on top which allows a nice flow of air.
Likes
The style! check it out from the front:
The soft fabric interior for comfort over long miles
The price tag!
The fact the peak didn't cause my head to flip back at 60mph+! Held have the airflow correct
Dislikes
The fact I got a black one! My bike is white & red 😏
Integral sun visor system not quite as easy to operate as other Held helmets - but a bit of practice and a squirt of WD40 later and it's fine.
Final thoughts
It's a very decent lid at an absolute steal for under £140. All the features you get and the style for that price you can't go wrong."
You can see more about Held including our online Made to Measure configurator, full online catalogue, gear care tips, dealer locator and the history of the company by clicking here
