HJC R-PHA Max helmet review

Reviewed by: Wayne Tempest for 2000miles 
RRP: £359

I was very impressed with the long list of specifications that the HJC R-PHA Max boasted, and was eager to see whether it lived up to my expectations. HJC claim that it has a very strong, but lightweight shell due to its carbon fibre, Aramid and glass fibre construction. When I first tried it on, it certainly was light weight, and I must say, very comfortable. I wear glasses, and the helmet has grooves in the inner lining to accommodate them, so I didn’t have the usual pressure from my spectacle arms. The flip front was smooth and easy to operate. The internal sun visor operates via a small sliding lever over the top of the helmet. It took me a bit of getting used to, but after a while I found it easy to operate even with winter gloves. The quick release button is situated on the top of the helmet, but it took me a few goes to locate whenever I wanted to put away the sun visor. I did wonder whether the slider groove would let in any water, but I found it to be water-tight during our wet summer. The best thing about this helmet? It was extremely comfortable, it was certainly very quiet, and it was nice and cool, with good ventilation. The worst thing about it? Well, this came as a big disappointment to me, but after a few months of trouble free use, and TLC on my part, one of the plastic retainers that forms part of the ‘flip-up’ mechanism broke. However this gave me a chance to test the customer service of Oxford Products, who didn’t disappoint at all. On the contrary, it turned out I had a helmet from an early batch with a potential fault. They fixed it and had it returned within the week.

More info: www.oxprod.com