Smith Forefront all-mountain helmet

As with most dedicated trail helmets, the Smith Forefront has all the features and details you would expect to see in 2016. Good deep protection at the rear, an adjustable visor and a design that plays well with goggles. All this, wrapped up in a tough yet light construction with adequate ventilation from Smith, the eyewear specialists, who do matching goggles.
So what we have here is a very distinctive design. A lightweight trail lid that not only is superbly constructed but has had great thought put into every aspect of its design. It’s not a budget option, but if you ride frequently and are looking for a premium helmet with bang-up-to-date tech and a huge range of colours, then put the Smith Forefront on your list.Smith has all these boxes ticked but differ dramatically in the construction of their helmets. The usual full EPS shell helmet structure has been replaced with Smith’s Aerocore technology. Here we see Smith combining both a regular EPS shell with a distinctive honeycomb Koroyd structure. This recyclable polymer material is used in Smith’s snowsports helmets (and now in some snowboard and ski constructions…check out Nitro) and has some advantages over regular EPS. Impact absorption is reduced by up to 30% and when strategically placed with helmet vents results is very efficient cooling.

The Smith goggles which work superbly – and sit well with the Forefront helmet – are the the Squad. Read our review of them here.

• Vents: 21
• Weight: 300-350g (depending on size)Sizes: S (51-55cm), M (55-59cm), L (59-63cm)