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Arai Condor Stellar - Kevin Turner trusts his head to this helmet, though he doesn't seem totally sure about it somehow…

Arai Condor Stellar - taken before use on a track day we assume. Of course Mr Turner uses a clear visor on the road, officer... I must have tried on every permutation of Shoei, Suomy and Arai before finally choosing the Condor (Stellar black/red). But ultimately, I think I made the right choice. Here's why:

Fit: Score 9/10 Of all the lids I tried on, the Arai had the snuggest, most reassuring fit. I was quite surprised because I thought I had a Shoei head, but having worn a Shoei Raid for over three years, it turns out it's nowhere near as good a fit as the Arai. Admittedly, the Condor did seem very tight at first, but within a week or so of riding it had loosened up in all the right places and now it fits like a glove.

Style: Score 7/10 (9/10 with tinted visor) I like the Condor, but I have to say, Arai isn't a patch on Shoei or Suomy when it comes to race replica lids at affordable prices. Both of its rivals offer great graphics at cheaper cost, and the only way you can get a similar looking Arai is to fork out for a top of the range RX7 Corsair which I just can't afford (especially because sod's law would see me drop it the next day and that'd be £500 down the drain).

The mid-price Arai's look good, but nothing special; although that said, a dark tinted visor has made a world of difference and the Stellar Condor now looks pretty cool.

As a final note, I imagine Arai would argue they'd rather put their money into developing a safe lid than a flashy one which is fair enough!

Features: Score 6/10 Enough has been written about Arai's ridiculous visor release system for me to simply say it's dreadful. Mr Arai, take a tip from Mr Shoei please! Ventilation comes in the form of a chin opener, two top of the head vents and the pernickety 'eyebrow' vents that seem designed to dry your eyes out if you're wearing contact lenses. That said, the ventilation system works as well as any I've tried, which is to say, not very. I guess there's only so much you can do to create good ventilation and not damage the structural integrity of the shell. At the end of the day, it seems the best way to cool off is to open the visor and hope you don't get hit in the face by a bug.

The Stellar isn't exactly feature packed, the padding isn't adjustable or removable so I imagine it's gonna honk in there after a trip down to Spain. Still, that's what deodorant's for!

Value for money: Score 9/10 Nine out of ten might seem quite high given what I've said so far (crappy visor release, average ventilation, slightly above average graphics) but when all's said and done, I put complete faith in this lid to protect me should I need it to. Arai has earned its reputation as the best lid out there and for £250 I think that's pretty good value for money. Ultimately, this is a good looking lid that fits perfectly and comes with an unprecedented reputation for safety. I hope I don't, but if I have to put a lid to the ultimate test, I'd rather it was an Arai.

FOUR MONTH UPDATE

It's like being in a bloody wind tunnel on the motorway AND the lining has already come apart after only 4 months!

For the money I'd expect it to last much, much longer and it should fare better in motorway conditions. So that VFM rating has to take a real downturn.

TWELVE MONTH UPDATE

I've commented before on how poor I think the visor release mechanism is on an Arai - but things have taken a turn for the worse even I had not expected. The other day, while re-inserting my visor the plastic clips that hold the side pod in place snapped leaving me without a lid for my upcoming trip to the Nurburgring.

The side pod simply snaps into place like an Airfix model. This means that every time you take the visor out and re-insert it you stress the little plastic grips that hold it in place. It‘s a cheap design and not what you‘d expect from a £250 helmet.

I’ve owned my Condor for just over a year and in that time the lining has come out and had to be replaced back at the factory, the paint has chipped and now the side pod has snapped off. I had my Shoei Raid for three years and it was faultless despite putting well over 10,000 miles on it. I'll be going back to Shoei from now on.

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