When it comes to protecting yourself while mountain biking most (if not all) would agree that your helmet is the most important piece of safety equipment you will use. Sure you can fall and break your arm but if you break your head then it's going to be much worse. There are different types of helmets for different types of riding and if you do any kind of downhill or bike park riding then you need a full face helmet because your chances of crashing and hurting yourself is much greater with this type of riding.

DemonZero Helmet Reviewed by Jim Bernstein Review Date: 12/02/2013 Product Rating

There are many helmet manufacturers that make many models of helmets and most of them offer good protection. Some of the more popular brands are Giro, Fox, Bell and Troy Lee Designs but one lesser known brand that make some nice helmets is Demon. Demon has come out with the 2014 Zero helmet that has a lot of nice features for the price. Plus Demon makes other protective gear to go along with their helmets.

The DemonZero helmet is lightweight at around 2 pounds 2 ounces and has a fiberglass shell rather than plastic which other helmets use. The helmet is only a few ounces heavier than many carbon fiber helmets. Some say fiberglass is also tougher for crashes than plastic but that just may be an opinion.

When it comes to features, the Zero helmet is a winner. It is chock full of ventilation openings to help keep you cool, especially since the helmet is black which can kick it up a few degrees in the summer. Inside you will find an EPS liner that can take an impact and is also removable so you can wash it after sweating in it all day. On top you will find an adjustable visor with aluminum screws rather than plastic ones you see on other helmets. And if you use goggles while riding you will like the goggle channel that helps keep the strap in place on the helmet. For music lovers there is the optional audio earpads (by Brain Teaser) that can connect into your music player of choice allowing you to pump your favorite song right into your helmet.

We got our hands on one of these Zero helmets and put it through some rides to see how it performed. We did not test falling on our head with it so its durability will not be part of this review even though the helmet is CPSC certified and should be able to take a beating. As for the way it fits the helmet is pretty comfortable and feels light while wearing it. You do notice the front tip of the helmet in your vision in front of you but once you are riding it's not an issue. If you wear goggles the goggle grove is great but we notice that the opening is a little on the small size which can make it harder for larger goggles to fit properly. As for keeping cool the air vents do a good job and letting the air flow in and you should get too hot unless it's really hot outside then I don't think any helmet will prevent you from sweating. The Zero uses a D ring setup for the strap rather than a clip in buckle like many helmets use so if you have never used this style of strap it will take a little getting used to but not too long. One cool feature is the snap at the end of the strap that keeps the slack in the strap out of the way of things like chest cameras.

Overall the DemonZero is a nice helmet for the price which is around $110 depending on where you buy it. You can get it in any color you like as long as it's black and it is a good looking helmet so you can't go wrong there. So if you are in the market for a new helmet you may want to give the Zero or one of their other models a try.

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