Full-face helmet

Full-face helmet

A helmet with a chin bar that protects the face and jaw as well as the head. Standard for downhill, bike parks and big jumps, and more and more common in enduro.

Also known as: full face, fullface, DH helmet, downhill helmet

Key facts

Protection
Full
Safety standard
EN 1078; ASTM F1952 for downhill
Weight
900 g

Two types

  • Downhill full-face — a fixed chin bar, heavy-duty shell, often certified to ASTM F1952, the downhill standard that also tests the chin bar.
  • Convertible or enduro full-face — lighter and better ventilated, with a chin bar you can take off for the climbs.

When to wear one

Whenever a crash could put your face into the ground: downhill, the bike park, jump lines and fast, rocky enduro stages. A chin bar is the only thing between your teeth and a rock.

Fit

Snug cheek pads, no pressure points, and a view wide enough for goggles. Try it with your goggles on before you buy — not every pair fits every helmet's eye port.

Related articles

  • Freeride — Riding for the line rather than the clock: big drops, jumps and steep natural terrain, chosen and ridden with style. Judged on creativity and flow when it is raced at all.
  • Downhill (DH) — Racing one steep, rough track from top to bottom, against the clock, on bikes with around 200 mm of travel. A World Cup run lasts three to four minutes and is decided by fractions of a second.
  • Enduro — Racing the descents and riding the climbs: timed downhill stages linked by untimed transfers you pedal up yourself. Also the name of the long-travel bikes built for it.
  • Goggles — Sealed eyewear worn with a full-face helmet that keeps dust, mud, roost and branches out of your eyes at speed. The foam seal is what glasses do not have.
  • Mountain bike helmet — An open-face helmet made for trails: deeper at the back and sides than a road helmet, with a visor and plenty of vents. The one piece of gear no ride goes without.
  • Knee pads — Pads that take the hit when you fall on a knee — the most common crash injury on a mountain bike. Modern pads are soft enough to pedal in all day and harden only on impact.
  • Jumping — Leaving the ground off a take-off and landing smoothly on the far side. Good jumping is less about launching yourself than about letting the lip do the work and staying relaxed in the air.
  • Bike park — A resort of graded trails served by a lift or shuttle, so the whole day goes into riding down. Usually a mountain ski resort in summer, with flow, jump and downhill lines.
  • Jump line — A trail made of jumps in a row, built so that one landing sets you up for the next take-off. Ridden at a steady speed, it feels like one long flight.
  • Drop — A vertical step down on the trail — a ledge, a rock or a built platform — where the ground falls away under the wheels. Small drops can be rolled; bigger ones need speed and a clean take-off.