Shark Spartan RS Blank W01

The Shark Spartan RS Carbon Skin helmet, which is a sports touring helmet and the latest novelty from the French brand. Having successfully passed the new safety standard E 22-06, the Spartan RS is the first Shark helmet of this new generation. Its shape was designed to minimize the effect of wind drag and reduce noise at medium and high speeds. It has a visor with different thicknesses, which will avoid visual distortions regardless of the viewing angle. It will compete, mainly, with the AGV K3 SV, Icon Airflite, HJC F70, Shark Skwal 2.2 and the Scorpion Exo-1400 Air helmets.

Material

There are two version of the Spartan RS. The ordinary version is made of fiberglass and the Carbon version is made of – big surprise- carbon. I say mainly because the outer shell is made of fiberglass, a material that, together with the multi-density EPS, offers the highest level of safety. In addition, the internal padding combines suede and Alveotech sanitized labeled textile. The Spartan RS Carbon Skin comes in only two shell sizes.

Weight

If we weigh the Shark Spartan RS Carbon Skin in a size M, the scale shows about 1475 grams. If we look at its competitors, all of them, except for the Icon Airflite and the Scorpion EXO-520, weigh about the same as the Spartan RS Carbon Skin and get the same number of stars. This is why the Spartan RS Carbon Skin will score quite well in terms of weight. Interesting to see was that for entry level Sport Touring helmet, the Spartan RS together with the HJC F70 and the EXO-1400 were the only helmets to come under that 1500 mark, with a weight of just 1450 grams for the F70 and a weight of just 1460 for the EXO-1400 earning both helmets the full 5 stars. With the weight of 1475 grams it is fair to say that the Spartan RS scores very well overall earning it 5 stars for weight.

Visor

The visor of the Spartan RS has a good field of view. It features the VZ300 visor for Spartan RS Carbon, which we’ve already seen on the Spartan GT. It has different thicknesses, which will avoid visual distortions, regardless of the angle . The helmet features an internal sun visor, the UV380, which is ergonomic and features a new notch system for a precise fit. Finally, it is good to see that the Spartan RS Carbon Skin comes prepared for pinlock and includes the 120 Max vision pinlock lens in the box. Therefore the new Shark helmet gets four stars in this section. The visor mechanism is quite okay, especially compared to its competitors where we sometimes still see some very simple lever mechanisms. All in all the Spartan RS ticks off all the boxes regarding the visor resulting in a 4 stars score. The Icon Airflite was the only helmet to let us down on the visor, all the others pretty much offered the same kind of features.

Features

The helmet features a double-D rings closure and comes prepared for the Sharktooth communication system, although, if you want to have it, you must buy it separately. In addition, visor adds some level of security thanks to its four-point anchoring system, inspired by the Race R Pro GP, and it also features quick-release mechanism so no tools needed to remove the visor. Finally, the shape of the Spartan RS was designed and developed to limit aerodynamic movements, minimize the effect of wind drag and reduce noise at medium and high speeds. As Shark usually does, it was not tested in a wind tunnel, but they have done it with their own software. In this way, and in my personal opinion, it is a shame to see how it influences the finish of the helmet and its wind resistance, contrary to how higher quality brands develop the design using the expensive testing method of wind tunnel testing. This is the only point where the Spartan RS Carbon Skin really disappoints and gets just 1.5 stars, although its competitors do not stand out in this regard either, which makes sense. Eventually we are talking about entry level helmet which usually miss all the bells and whistles of high-end helmets