The definitive flip-front helmet maker is returning to North America with its flagship helmet, the Schuberth C3 seen here. Considered the last word in flip-front safety, the made-in-Germany helmets are bizarrely styled, freakishly quiet and surprisingly lightweight.

The news comes straight from Germany, where this country’s respected (ie not us) motorcycle press is currently being wined (expect bad Reisling) and dined (fried meat products, oh Germany) and told what we’re telling you now. Instead of putting their faith in some half-assed American motorcycle accessories distributor, Schuberth’s learned their lesson and is going for an own-brand distributor called Schuberth North America. Expect decent helmet availability that should be at least moderately easier than ordering the helmets from Europe, which is what fans have been stuck doing for the past few years. The first helmet is going to be the bread-and-butter C3, but other models are expected to follow.

The big question in all this — one that we sadly can’t answer for you as we’ve never met anyone from the company, they won’t answer our emails and they’ve never reached out to us (hey Schuberth, email us, we’ve got a reader or two) — is which helmet standard their American helmets will adhere too. Will they stick with soft-and-light ECE 22.05 or opt for hard-and-heavy Snell M2010? That decision could swing this whole thing. Hint: go for ECE 22.05 and sell us the same light, safe, high-quality helmets you sell your fellow socialist yourapeens.

What’s all the fuss? After all, Shoei, Roof and a bunch of other companies already sell flip-front helmets here. The thing is, all other flip-front helmets ask you to pay a weight, noise and size penalty for the privilege of exposing your face. Schuberth, reportedly doesn’t. According to Schuberth, the C3 exposes its wearer’s ears to only 84dB at 62mph on a naked bike and weighs just 1,550 grams for a size medium. According to WebBikeWorld, that’s lighter than an Arai Corsair V.

The helmets are enormously popular in Europe, especially among bike cops, who appear to almost exclusively wear the brand. No matter where on the continent you go, there’ll be a big mustache made visible by one, usually hovering just above some sort of fried meat/pastry combination.

The C3 is said to be hitting a US website near you mid-September.

via Guido Ebert

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