Icon Airframe Pro: a cool-looking aggressive streetbike helmet

The Icon Airframe Pro is Icon’s most aggressive, sportsbike-friendly full face helmet yet. It’s not quite a track helmet, but with a sportsbike focused ‘head down and in the bubble’ design and with a tear-off ready shield in the options list, it’s definitely on the way there.

It’s also a very cool-looking helmet with a range of urban and out-there graphics to match.

But is it all bling and no burble?

Here’s what the Icon Airframe Pro offers and what owners who invested their cash think of it…

• Sportsbike helmet
• Full face helmet
• Fiberglass and carbon variants
• Great ventilation
• Pretty noisy
• Four shell sizes
• Sizes XS-XXXL
• Expect to pay:
  • $395-$440 (fiberglass)
  • $480-$600 (carbon)

    

Looking to buy an Icon Airframe Pro?

Please click below to jump straight onto the Icon Airframe Pro helmet pages at our recommended stores – all checked for great online ratings. And if you buy from any store, we get a small sum from the sale at no extra cost to you – a massive THANKS! (it’s how we finance the site).

Safety

We love Icon for their mixture of attitude, performance and in-your-face graphics. And the Icon Airframe Pro is no different. But how about safety?

With the Airframe, there’s the option of either a fiberglass or a carbon fiber shell. Icon say precious little about the shock absorbing properties of the helmet but by pulling out the comfort liner, we can see it looks a reasonably conventional shell backed with an expanded polystrene shock absorbing liner in there.

There’s a double-d ring fastener underneath to make sure everything stays put and there’s an extra-wide shield to help keep your peripheral vision as clutter free as possible.

All Icons are multi-certified so they’re legal in a wide range of countries – including both DOT and ECE (Europe/Australia) certification. That gives you peace of mind that it’s not going to shatter on impact and will give at least a decent minimum level of protection.

Over and above that, a handful of Icons have been tested by the UK SHARP helmet testing scheme (though unfortunately none by Snell) including the last generation Airframe.

When that old Airframe was tested it scored a great four star rating (out of five) – although two other Icons have been tested since and they scored a three and a two star rating.

Having said that, both these were polycarbonate helmets whereas both the new and old Airframes are fiberglass helmets, so maybe the four star is more relevant; but it’s hard to say until SHARP tests this newest Airframe Pro.

On the plus side, Icon does produce the Airframe in four different helmet shell sizes which is a great thing for safety and for making a helmet that fits well – and looks right.

Helmet Noise

There was hope that because this latest Airframe Pro has smaller vents and because it looks super swoopy and slippery that those features might mean it’s a quieter helmet.

Unfortunately, that’s not what owners seem to report.

You always get at least a few folks saying every helmet is quiet – and that’s the case with the Airframe. But overridingly owners say it’s noisy. Some say it’s exceedingly loud, others just a bit noisy, but the vast majority say it’s a loud lid.

Much of that’s dependent on your riding style, bike and helmet history of course – and, if you buy an Airframe Pro, stick in some good quality ear plugs and you’ll be riding around happily and without damaging your hearing.

Ventilation

Ventilation is one area where the Icon Airframe excels.

And so it should. On the front of the helmet there’s six air vents and on the rear, five exhaust vents. Now that’s a lot of venting!

In the chin guard, there’s a couple of always-open vents to each side and a single closeable vent in the middle to drive air onto the back of the shield and around the mouth.

Above the shield there’s another three vents – two brow vents to either side and a larger central vent, all closeable.

All those top vents push air through the shell and distribute air through channels in the expanded polystyrene lining and onto the scalp.

Lots of helmets reckon they do this, but if you look closely it’s only in a stripe at the top of the helmet.

The Airframe pushes ventilation wider than that. And that’s borne out in owners comments that it vents tons of air and can keep you cool in even the most extreme temps. OK there’s the occasional comment that some of the vent switches are a bit tricky to find, especially in gloves. But overall, it’s all very positive.

So if you’re after a helmet that vents well and will keep you cool, the Airframe should fit the bill.

Shield

The shield system on the Airframe is a reasonably low-tech affair. There’s no sun visor, there’s no Pinlock antifog, there’s no photochromic.

However what is there works reasonably well by all accounts.

It’s a ratchet shield with a shield lock on the left hand side. It’s quick release too – what Icon calls its Rapid Release system – so you can whip it off quickly to clean it or swap it out for a tinted shield.

And while Icon doesn’t push it in their bumf, quite a few owners comment on how wide the shield opening is, giving really wide peripheral vision. That’s probably even more useful on the road than it is on the track.

Having a decent anti-fog insert is very important for many of us. Unfortunately, the Icon Airframe isn’t Pinlock ready. It has its own anti-fog coating on it and while there’s no word on how effective it is, our experience is that antifog treatments applied to the back of standard shields aren’t that great. That might not be the case with the Airframe of course, but if pushed we’d expect it to be a bit poor.

If having a shield that doesn’t fog up is important to you, you might want to check out our helmets that are Pinlock-ready (with many coming with a Pinlock in the box).

Comfort & Sizing

The Icon Airframe Pro has an interesting 5-part internal comfort liner inside the helmet.

All but the cheapest helmets have removable internal comfort liners, though that’s mostly so you can take them out and wash them. But we’re seeing quite a few of the more premium brands/models offering customizable parts so you can take out the lining to tailor the fit. Adding in new panels or removing parts can help you pack out or slacken off the lining and get your helmet to fit just right. That’s important for both comfort and safety.

Well, Icon has taken things further, with every part of the comfort lining being swappable for either a thicker or thinner piece. That should help you get the fit just right – and that’ll make it more comfortable and much more user-friendly. It does cost a bit extra for the kit to customize it but it’s good to know that if things aren’t quite right, rather than just send it back for a different size, you can play around with things and (hopefully) get it bang on.

Aside from that, the Airframe’s lining uses a material called Hydradry – that’s both a wicking and antimicrobial fabric, designed to keep things both moisture and pong-free.

But does it all work? Well it very much seems so because most owners reckon it’s a really comfy helmet.

As long as you’ve an oval rather than rounder head shape (the Airframe’s designed for oval heads) and follow our guide to get a helmet that fits right, you should be fine. Though note, a number of Airframe Pro owners reckon Icons size a bit small, so you might need to go for a size larger than normal.

One other cool feature of the Airframe is that rear cut away at the bottom rear off the helmet (in the neck roll). That’s there to stop the helmet interfering with the collar of your jacket or hump (or back pack if you wear one), and lots of owners said it works great and really helps in freeing up head movement.

And if you’ve a big head and need a more extreme large fitment sizes, you’re in luck, because the Airframe is available in up to size XXXL. Yay!

Looks & Graphics

Icon puts a lot of effort into the design of all their gear, and the Icon Airframe Pro is no exception. OK, there are aggressive helmets out there, but the Airframe is a really aggressive looking full face and comes in some quality, out-there graphics.

You can have both a raw fiberglass and raw carbon helmets where their weave is exposed (the Construct and Carbon respectively). There’s the camo-effect Deployed Camo and the reasonably crazy cartoon/monster Brozak (above). The Halo are available in lots of colors as are the Airframe Pro solids which are in black, white and Rubatone (a matt rubberized version).

But as always there’s new graphics coming out all the time – as well as retailer discounts. So to see these, click our recommended retailer links below and we’ll drop you straight on their Icon Helmets pages so you can take a look.

Best places to buy an Icon Airframe Pro?

Please click below to visit the Icon Airframe Pro helmet pages at our recommended stores – all checked for great online ratings. And if you buy from any store, we get a small sum from the sale at no extra cost to you – a massive THANKS! (it’s how we finance the site).

Icon Airframe Pro videos

First up, the official Icon helmets trailer – that’s a moody 2m long look around the carbon Airframe Pro. Below that, a more detailed 5m video.

Other stuff – audio, weight, aero, warranty

If you’re looking to use a bluetooth communicator with your Airframe Pro, that’s fine as long as the speakers are pretty thin. There is a cut-away in the EPS liner to slot the speakers in there, and one owner said it works fine with their Sena. But another said they can feel it’s very tight in there even though their bluetooth sticks to the helmet shell without any problem.

One of the big selling points of the Icon Airframe that it’s light weight. That’s especially true for the carbon fiber version that weighs in at 3lbs (1.36Kg) whereas the fiberglass version is actually a bit heavier than the average fiberglass helmet at 3.4lbs (1.53 Kg).

Onto aero, and the smaller, more aggressive profile of the Airframe (one of Icon’s design aims) seems to have contributed to making a helmet that’s got great aero characteristics. Most owners reckon it’s got great stability, doesn’t lift and has little buffeting.

Finally, unfortunately Icon offers a paltry one year warranty on their helmets. With many manufacturers offering 5 year warranties these days, that’s a bit disappointing.

Overall/Summary

Most owners are going to be grabbed by how cool the Airframe Pro looks – and how crazy the graphics are. And why not, we all love a cool-looking helmet.

But beyond that, it’s gotta work well. And in most respects, the Icon Airframe Pro delivers.

It’s not the quietest helmet and it doesn’t offer some of the bells and whistles of some other helmets (check our alternatives below if you want some of those). But it’s comfortable, has great fitment flexibility with its customizable lining, it’s got wonderful ventilation and while that shield’s a bit basic, it gives a nice wide view of the road. It’s got great dynamics on the road too, so you can riding along in a buffeting-free zone while looking super cool in your Airframe Pro.

OK it’s a bit noisy and we can’t be sure how great that impact protection’s going to be until SHARP (or Snell) run some tests on it. But it’s the look of it along with that decent price point that’s probably gonna sway things for most buyers. And if you’re already sold, check out all the designs on our recommended retailer’s sites above, and we wouldn’t be at all surprised if you’ll have many happy years together!

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Good Alternatives to the Icon Airframe Pro?

If you’re after a mid-priced full face helmet, there’s a massive range to choose from. So let’s narrow it down a bit to some of the safest and best rated helmets out there.

First up is HJCs 5 star safety rated FG-ST. Just like the composite version of the Airframe Pro, The HJC is a fiberglass full face helmet too, but it’s a bit cheaper than the Airframe, and comes with a Pinlock Max Vision anti-fog in the box.

Then there’s the AGV K5S – SHARP 4 star safety rated, sun shield, carbon composite shell – and for less money than the Icon (though the graphics may not be quite as cool!).

Another Italian thorougbred is the 5 star safety rated X-lite X-702 GT. Yep, it’s more of a touring helmet, but it’s fairly light, pretty quiet and has great ventilation. Well worth checking out.

Finally, if you’re after something carbon and sporty, then how about the LS2 FF323 Arrow? It’s MotoGP developed, light, comes with a Pinlock, optically-correct shield in the box and is SHARP 4 star safety rated. And you get all that for about the same price as the Airframe.

Looking to buy an Icon Airframe Pro?

Please click below to jump straight onto the Icon Airframe Pro helmet pages at our recommended stores – all checked for great online ratings. And if you buy from any store, we get a small sum from the sale at no extra cost to you – a massive THANKS! (it’s how we finance the site).

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