Caberg Duke II Modular Crash Helmet Review

The Caberg Duke II is the follow up to the popular SHARP 5 star rated modular/flip up crash helmet, the Duke I.

On the face of things, it’s not hard to see why it’s popular because it ticks all the right boxes – it’s pretty light, looks cool, it’s independently tested to be about as safe as they come (SHARP 5 star rating in the UK) and it has a host of useful features like a integral sun visor lockable chin guard.

That’s all fine and dandy, but if it doesn’t do the basics right, then it’s going to be a pain to live (and ride) with right?

• SHARP 5 star safety rated (UK helmet)
  
• Modular/flip up
• Approved for use open or closed
• ECE 22.05 approved
• Pinlock anti-fog included
• Drop down sun visor
• Micrometric fastener
• 3.4lbs/1550g (light for a modular)
• Typical price range: $200-$250

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Safety

(more about helmet safety)

The Duke’s shell is made of a thermoplastic – ABS to be precise. Old timers like me tend to sneer at plastic helmets as being inferior to fiberglass or kevlar – but it’s all pretty baseless. Thermoplastics make for low cost, lightweight, durable and, ultimately, safe helmets – you don’t score 5 stars in a SHARP test by making a flimsy helmet shell.

The old Duke I scored 5 stars for safety by SHARP, and so too has the Duke II – which is not surprising really because they’re very similar helmets.

Inside the helmet, there’s the usual dual-density polystyrene to absorb impacts and beneath that a fully removable/washable lining. All present and correct there.

A couple of owners have also commented that the shell size seems to be externally slightly smaller than previous crash helmets they’ve owned, meaning looking back and life-savers are that much easier. This is probably a comment from people with larger helmet sizes because the Duke is only available in one shell size meaning for wearers of larger helmets, it’ll feel smaller – see later.

Folks also reckon the the visor aperture is slightly narrower than most – not enough to cause any problems though, but you might find it noticeable.

But what’s great about the Caberg Duke II is that SHARP 5 safety rating (tested on a UK helmet). However, that’s not the entire picture – read the chin bar section below for more.

The Duke has been wind-tunnel designed and owners reckon that’s made a helmet with a slippery shape that many owners reckon has noticeably less buffeting that other helmets. And of course, good aero will also help with reducing wind noise too.

In fact, several owners commented that they don’t ride with ear plugs in with the Duke because it’s so quiet – which is astonishing for any helmet never mind a flip-up.

However, despite a few positive comments like this, overall it’s fair to say the Duke is about average for noise suppression. It’s quiet for a modular, but they’re usually noisy compared to full face helmets.

The Caberg Duke II is available in the usual plain colors as well as a couple of hi-vis options such as the plain hi-viz yellow or the Legend black/fluo. Other options are variants on the dual racing-stripes (was it Gulf that started that design originally?) which is called the Duke II Legend (in red or black versions).

For the latest graphics and deals, please click links through to our recommended retailers below.

Ventilation & Shield

Onto ventilation – and again the Duke scores well.

It has effective chin and forehead vents that pull air in up over the face and through channels in the polystyrene liner to give a decent amount of ventilation.

The top vent has a big slider to open/close it and it’s easy to use even with your winter gloves on. They’re not enough to stop the main shield steaming up on its own (they never are) but despite being one of the lower-priced helmets, the Duke comes with a Pinlock anti-fog insert in the box, which is outstanding value and, as we always mention, Pinlocks really do work in all but the most extreme circumstances (like if you’re sat in freezing temperatures, at the lights in the rain – but that’s about it!)

Sun Visor

The Duke comes with a sun visor too – there’s a slider on the top of the lid to open/close it and it can be stopped at any point in between (not all helmets with sun visors can, which is a nuisance for some riders).

The only down side here is that locating the sun visor slider on the top of the helmet is a bit inconvenient and it’s easy to start fiddling with the top vents when you’re trying to find it.

Even though internal visors are tucked away in the helmet shell, they can steam up in the cold/damp; I’ve yet to find one that doesn’t. So, if you do lots of cold weather riding, some anti-fog spray might be useful. However, the sun visor is optically very good so all in all it’s one of the best.

Chin Bar

The flip up chin bar is easy to use, with a large central button to press before the chin bar raises.

The Duke has been dual-homologated for use on the road. That’s a Euro thing meaning it’s designed to be ridden with the chin bar in either the full-face position or with the chin bar up – not all are so beware.

To ride with the chin guard up, there’s a little P/J slider (P & J refers to the ECE homologation code for closed or open) that you must use to release the chin bar and then lock it in the open position. A lock’s a good touch to stop the chin guard dropping down, although I’m not sure I’d want to have an ‘off’ with the chin guard up as it could easily catch and rotate the helmet. That’s something you definitely don’t want to happen during an accident!

I mentioned in the safety section that there’s more to it than that SHARP 5 star rating. That’s because when SHARP does their testing, they take note of how often the chin bar remains fully locked and closed.

In the case of the Caberg Duke II, it managed it 90% of the time out of 32 impact tests (up from 87% with the old Duke I).

Believe it or not, that’s actually a very good score for a flip-up helmet; though we’ve removed half a star from our overall star rating below because it still compromises safety in an accident.

Any Downsides?

Well one or two folks think it feels a bit cheap and the shell only comes in one size. That means if you’re an XS you’ll get the same outer shell size as the XL – which might make it look massive on you.

A few people reported that there’s not much room for their chin (it seems to be only the occasional modular helmet that has this sort of problem) so if yours is particularly large or pointy, you might want to try before you buy – or buy from our recommended retailers who don’t quibble if you want a refund.

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Other stuff – Fastener and Communications

It has a nice and easy micrometric fastener which we like very much and it’s also Caberg Just Speak Communicator-ready.

Overall/Summary

Just like the old Duke, it’s pretty hard to fault the Caberg Duke II – and very few owners do.

We knew before we started that the Duke II looked great on paper and were wondering if it covers off all the basics to make it a good real-world helmet that’s easy to live with.

And we’re happy to report that according to owners, it sure does. It’s comfortable, light weight and reasonably quiet (for a modular!) and has a host of nice touches that make the Duke 2 a superb all rounder.

And it comes with that excellent SHARP 5 star safety rating, all at an extremely competitive price too.

Very well done Caberg – at the time of writing, the Caberg Duke is one of our top-rated flip-up helmets.
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Alternatives to the Caberg Duke II?

Modular/Flip-up helmets are increasingly popular at the moment so there’s masses of great alternatives out there.

There’s the Shoei Neotech which has similar features and is all day comfortable – though it’s much more expensive and only scored 4 on the SHARP safety test (though the chin guard stayed closed a creditable 93% of the time when being tested). There’s some deals to be had though because it’s been replaced by the Neotech II.

There’s also the excellent AGV Numo Evo which is a SHARP 4 star safety rated modular that owners say is both comfortable and well ventilated.

Or how about the HJC IS Max II; that’s another SHARP 4 star rated modular helmet for around the same money as the Duke, with an internal sun visor and that’s comfortable and well ventilated.

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