Product review: Suomy Trek Dog helmet

The Suomy Trek Dog, gets its name from the graphic of an aggressive looking bulldog plastered across its side. Extreme graphics aside, paint quality is excellent and I've had no chips or defects arise in the past two years. Design and build quality then, is very good for a helmet in this price range.

The Suomy Trek Dog helmet

The Trek's first flaw lies is in its ventilation – there's just one adjustable vent in the jaw and the while integrated roof vent has a couple of air intakes, it doesn't do much in the way of keeping your head cool in Mumbai's sweltering heat and the helmet could have done with more venting. Wind noise at speeds above 120kmph is quite high but then helmets without visor side pods and roof vents generally tend to be more acoustically efficient. The visor itself is excellent and has accumulated hardly any scratches in two years of daily use. However, visor removal requires you to crack off the delicate feeling side pods. This doesn't inspire much confidence thanks to the brittle sounding retention plastic and its best to avoid trying this too many times.

The inners are removable and washable but I've never had to wash them, so I can't tell you how well the material handles a washing. However, the cheek pads and crown have not collapsed or lost their shape in all this time, which is excellent. Fit is fair with a good feel on the top of the head but it does intrude on the tips of the ears and there are other, similarly priced or cheaper helmets that offer a better fit. The Suomy uses a ratchet type retention system but a double D-ring system would have been nice. Although they take some time to get used to, double D-rings ensure that the chin strap is always tightly fastened and hence safer overall. When I bought the helmet it was at an introductory price of Rs 8,500 which made it quite good value but the price today hovers between Rs 13,000 and Rs 16,000 depending on where you buy it. This is a genuinely good looking helmet, but at this price it doesn't offer the same kind of value for money that you get from brands like Airoh or HJC.

Price: Rs 13,500 Ultimate Auto Impex, Mumbai