surfinfazer
Junior Member
Well, being riding season again, I've been buying lots of new farkles for the bike, but I thought I'd pick up a little something for the helmet to make riding a little more pleasant and quiet. I am currently using an HJC ac-12 helmet, which is pretty good, but never did a good job of sealing out the wind at the neck and chin areas. I looked around to see if there were any fixes for this, and I came up with a product out of England called the Windjammer II, from a company by the name of Proline. The Windjammer is a neoprene ring that is fitted at the bottom of the helmet and aids in sealing out the drafts.
The first big thing to consider about this product is that to the best of my knowledge, the only place to buy one is directly from the company in England. While I would prefer a local source, this is not too much of a problem in today's global economy. So, I ordered one online for 10 pounds plus 4 pounds for shipping. I think this works out to be just shy of 30 dollars american, but I haven't looked at the credit card statement yet. The ordering and shipping were uneventful, and timely, the item arriving about a week later, sent by royal mail and delivered by US mail.
As for the Windjammer itself, I would give it a positive review. It is a pretty simple idea, just a neoprene ring shaped to fit at the base of a helmet in a one size fits all (or most anyway) manner. There is some form of sticky substance around the inside of it. This is not the kind of stuff that will leave residue on the helmet, and Proline claims it to be possible to remove and replace it many times. I have not tested this claim. I personally found that the fit was quite tight for my XL sized helmet, and I'm not too sure that it would fit right on any larger of a size. However, once it is in place, it holds tight and hasn't budged a bit.
I guess that in hindsight it makes perfect sense given it's purpose, but I was rather suprized the first time I put the helmet on with the Winjammer in place. It was extremely tight going over my face/head. Once on, it does indeed fit quite snugly around my neck with the lone exception of the very front of my neck in the adam's apple region, there is a small gap. Having this new toy, I of course had a perfect excuse for a nice long ride, and I took the opportunity to vary my speed quite a bit to get a feel for it from zero to umm, faster than I should be going. All I can say is wow! This thing makes a tremendous difference in the noise level of my helmet. I also wear the cheap disposable earplugs on longer rides, and with both in place, I can hardly hear any wind noise, and can actually hear the bike and the outside world better.
I have since been riding with it for a couple of weeks, and still think it is excellent. For around town short trips, it is mildly inconvenient to have it be so tight for the on and off, but it's ok. Also, the stop and go in the warmer weather does cause some venting issues, so the visor stays up at stops more than before. All in all, I give it a big thumbs up, and if your helmet is noisy due to wind drafting, I recomend the Proline Windjammer II.
The first big thing to consider about this product is that to the best of my knowledge, the only place to buy one is directly from the company in England. While I would prefer a local source, this is not too much of a problem in today's global economy. So, I ordered one online for 10 pounds plus 4 pounds for shipping. I think this works out to be just shy of 30 dollars american, but I haven't looked at the credit card statement yet. The ordering and shipping were uneventful, and timely, the item arriving about a week later, sent by royal mail and delivered by US mail.
As for the Windjammer itself, I would give it a positive review. It is a pretty simple idea, just a neoprene ring shaped to fit at the base of a helmet in a one size fits all (or most anyway) manner. There is some form of sticky substance around the inside of it. This is not the kind of stuff that will leave residue on the helmet, and Proline claims it to be possible to remove and replace it many times. I have not tested this claim. I personally found that the fit was quite tight for my XL sized helmet, and I'm not too sure that it would fit right on any larger of a size. However, once it is in place, it holds tight and hasn't budged a bit.
I guess that in hindsight it makes perfect sense given it's purpose, but I was rather suprized the first time I put the helmet on with the Winjammer in place. It was extremely tight going over my face/head. Once on, it does indeed fit quite snugly around my neck with the lone exception of the very front of my neck in the adam's apple region, there is a small gap. Having this new toy, I of course had a perfect excuse for a nice long ride, and I took the opportunity to vary my speed quite a bit to get a feel for it from zero to umm, faster than I should be going. All I can say is wow! This thing makes a tremendous difference in the noise level of my helmet. I also wear the cheap disposable earplugs on longer rides, and with both in place, I can hardly hear any wind noise, and can actually hear the bike and the outside world better.
I have since been riding with it for a couple of weeks, and still think it is excellent. For around town short trips, it is mildly inconvenient to have it be so tight for the on and off, but it's ok. Also, the stop and go in the warmer weather does cause some venting issues, so the visor stays up at stops more than before. All in all, I give it a big thumbs up, and if your helmet is noisy due to wind drafting, I recomend the Proline Windjammer II.
