Veldt's Design Your Own Motorcycle Helmet

Would you be interested in buying a $400-to-$1,700 carbon fiber helmet that you get to choose the size, shape, style and paint scheme then have it shipped directly to your front door? If so, read on.

The Veldt Helmet Company has come up with an interesting solution to creating customized brain buckets with the help of its nifty online “Helmet Configurator.” The concept is solid, but the first of many questions we have to ask is, are you interested in such a thing?

While the majority of motorcycle gear out there is available in the typical predetermined sizes and colors right off the rack, it leaves consumers to find a compromise between price, availability and fit when they’re shopping for new kit. Veldt lets us decide how we want our stuff to fit, feel and look – for a price.

This isn’t a brand new concept, as there are a few companies offering custom attire for those fortunate enough to be blessed with the appropriate coin, but never before (to my knowledge, anyway) has there been anyone in the motorcycle industry to offer a completely customizable helmet.

That’s all set to change thanks to Veldt (www.veldt.xyz) – a name I wouldn’t be surprised if you hadn’t heard of before – and its Mark I helmet: this is a lid that can be totally tailored to suit your needs, allowing you to not only choose the type of helmet you want to wear, but how you want it to look, and even – get this – the level of safety certification you require for your adventures.

There are four shell configurations available, starting with a simple open face lid for city slicking types wanting an open air feel. It’s constructed from super lightweight carbon fiber, weighing a frankly astonishing 900g (1.9 lbs for those of you using the old math). From here you simply bolt on two more accessories to create the other variants.

A visor will give you some added protection for your face, or you can opt for a chin bar to give you protection to your lower face, whilst flowing air to your head. Lastly, combine both the visor and chin bar and you get a full face helmet, topping the scales at just 1300g (or 2.86 lbs).

By our understanding of the process, a basic open face helmet will set you back a steep $430. Add a visor and it bumps up to $500. Slap on a chin guard instead and it's $570. Put it all together and you’re looking at $660. So, not cheap, then, and when you open up the Configurator on the website – where you can really go to town on the options, adding the all-important lick of paint – things get even pricier.

Veldt Lets You Design Your Own Helmet

But just look at what you can do here, and your mind will surely boggle. Choose the paint style you want - whether it’s plain, a band down the middle, or stripes along the side. Once you’ve settled on this crucial part of the puzzle, you can choose your main color, with no less than 68 shades available in four paint types (glossy, matte, metallic, glitter and foil). Then choose your secondary color to suit, the paint type and color of the chin bar (if you’re having one), your interior type (blue suede or black leather)... And breathe.

You can add shell or chin grooves for extra ventilation, get a personalized engraving on the back, and you can choose whether you want ECE or DOT certification. I’m not sure why you can’t choose a third option: having both standards for increased peace of mind, as many helmets these days are being shipped that way.

If you do as I did - like a kid in a candy store - and run wild, a Veldt Mark I with all the options added will run you in the region of $1,700, so this is one hell of an investment, and probably only for those swanky cafe racers with seriously deep pockets.

And it doesn’t end there - Veldt also offers a Special Order version of the Mark I, which you can customize exactly to your particular tastes. Want your favorite beer stamped on the side of your lid? Or a picture of your other half? Then why not go give it a try, you might just want to buy one.

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