Five years ago, Scorpion announced the Exo 520 Air, which changed the game for mid-price point helmets. All the features packed into that price point that everybody's after. It has now been replaced with the Exo 520 Air with even more features.
So let's talk about a couple of colorways we've had through early this.
There there are nine graphics in total, including a matte black. A quick note on the matte black one is there are two versions of the matte black.
You've got the standard matte black, and then you've got the one that comes with the comms built-in.
Now we know the colors available, let's look at the rest of the helmet.
The Exo 520 Air runs a polycarbonate shell which contributes to a weight of 1609 grams. That's for this size medium helmet as weighed on our scales.
That is slightly on the heavy side for a sporty helmet, but lids with plastic shells like this one tend to weigh a little bit more, so it's not a big surprise that it comes in at that weight.
The ventilation on the Exo 520 Air is simple and effective. A chin vent under the visor is very glove-friendly and reveals two openings for air flow through to the inside.
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Another chunky slider on the top for ventilation reveals four holes. The two in the middle with two more on the flanks of this vent.
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Each of those vents has a corresponding hole that runs through the helmet's interior. Once the air flows inside, it comes down into the interior.
There are channels in the EPS that allow the air to flow from front to back, and then it comes out through exhaust vents just under the rear spoiler.
The visor for this helmet is quick release. It's the same as used on Scorpions' popular EXO 1400 air helmet and is quick to remove and refit.
The visor lifts and locks on the central tab located on the front bottom of the visor. The idea is to give it an extra push to lock it down, or you can leave it slightly latched for air.
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In my experience of using this helmet, it takes great care to close the visor without locking it in place while you're riding.
The main visor is backed by Scorpion's speed view visor, their internal sun visor that operates with the side slider switch on the side of the helmet.
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What you also need to do with this is the last little push on the slider switch. This locks it in the up position and stops that visor from dropping down and covering your view.
This helmet is protected against mist by a pinlock 70 insert which is the middle grade of Pinlock's anti-mist protection.
That sun visor is also anti-mist coated, which is a handy feature. This means you'll get a clear vision on chilly mornings with low sun.
At the same time, some other helmets have visors that will fog up in those kinds of conditions.
The interior for this helmet is Scorpion's quick wick 2 comfort liner. It's soft, supple, antibacterial, and quite good at managing moisture if you get too warm while riding. It's also easy to take out the interior.
There are emergency release cheek pads. There's also a handy feature that only scorpions seem to have persevered with over the years, called airfit.
What that entails is there are inflating pockets of air that sit behind the cheek pads.
Pushing a pump inside the chin bar moves those cheek pads slightly closer to the face and gives you a tighter fit.
There's a brass button just to the side of the pump, which means you can relieve the pressure afterward.
That does seem a bit of a gimmick, but customers report that operating that system means getting a better seal around the neck and reducing the wind noise while riding.
There are also pockets behind the cheek pads that leave room for intercom speakers. This helmet is designed for Scorpion's Exo-Com units.
There's a cover on the side of the helmet that you can remove to attach the Bluetooth unit. There's also a housing in the back where you can stow the battery.
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If you buy the separate Exo-Com unit, then the price on that at the moment is £16.99. If you don't want the hassle and want to save a few pounds very soon, there will be an Exo 520 smart helmet with the speakers and the wiring pre-installed. You get the battery and the control unit in the box, so pop those in place, and you're away.
The Exo 520 smart helmet will only be available in Matte Black and will cost from $199.99/£299.99.
However, if you like that color and want comms, you can save yourself $60/£40 over the price of buying the Matte Black lid and then separately purchasing the comm system.
Something about this helmet that may disappoint those people who want something that's completely and utterly sporty is the strap fastener.
It's a micrometric buckle rather than the D-rings that a lot of sporty and racing riders prefer.
It's ACU gold approved so that you can use this on the track. For racing, it's also ECE 2205 approved for the road.
That's not been tested by sharp as we write this review, but then, in fairness, it's only just come out, so they wouldn't have had a lot of time to do those impact tests and reveal their star rating.
The Scorpion's Exo 520 Air Helmet is an all-new, lightweight, and super comfortable helmet that offers superior protection.
The Exo 520 features the latest in helmet technology and offers the highest level of protection in a helmet that is easy to use.
The Exo 520 is the first helmet to be KwikWick2 certified. KwikWick2 is the world's first antimicrobial fabric that prevents bacteria growth on the helmet interior. The helmet also features the latest in internal ventilation.