Shark Explore R Helmet Review

“The Shark Explore R is a brilliantly well-conceived dual-purpose adventure helmet.”

Shark Explore R Helmet Review

Snapshot

Price: £289.99 for white model (price goes up for other colours)
Mileage tested: 5,000 miles
Testing conditions: UK
Features: ⁵⁄₅
Ventilation: 4⁄₅
Fit and comfort: ⁴⁄₅
Value for money: ⁴⁄₅

Update 2022

The Shark Explore R has now been discontinued. We have left this review up because you can still find the Explore helmet online and may be able to get a good deal on one as retailers clear stock.

Features

Shark pitch the Explore R as a proper dual-sport helmet. It comes with both a visor and a pair of goggles and a removable peak. It also has a flick down sun visor, a micro-lock buckle and decent mouth and head vents.

What’s good?

The Shark Explore R helmet is a very versatile helmet. Not many, if any, adventure helmets come with both a visor and dedicated goggles. You can wear it in one of four ways: visor only, goggles only, visor and peak or goggles and peak.

Think of it as more of a road going helmet with clip on adventure features. Shark has done a fantastic job of building a super comfortable road helmet. The lining is decent, soft against the cheek and all-day comfy. The buckle is easy to unclip and fasten and there’s decent ventilation through the chin bar and top of head vents. It also comes with a nifty neck protector that is unzipped from the mouth piece and folds down to be tucked into your jacket for cold rides. Nice touch.

But what makes this helmet special is its transformative abilities. Sometimes on adventure trips there are hundreds of motorway miles to cover. Battling windblast with a peak and goggles isn’t fun, so opt for it’s road going set-up. And when you finally hit the rough stuff, it takes a minute to screw the peak in, unclip the visor and pop the goggles on.

What’s not?

I do have a couple of small complaints with the Shark Explore R. Firstly, I prefer the big vents some adventure bike helmet chin bars come with and secondly, I do prefer standard goggles. The goggles that come with the Explore are clipped to the side of the helmet and aren’t full wrap arounds. It does get frustrating when stopping for fuel and having to unclip one side to let it dangle. In the end, I just swapped them out for a normal pair so I could pull the goggles down quickly or take them off and hang them over my wing mirror if necessary. They’re minor picky criticisms but something to consider nonetheless.

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Round-up

The Shark Explore R is a brilliantly well-conceived dual-purpose adventure helmet. It does sway more towards a road going helmet over an adventure helmet, but that’s not a problem, and perfect for those who spend more time on tarmac. It’s easy to flit between styles and perfect for those looking for an adventure/ road hybrid.