I got this helmet as a kind of reward for complaining about money. Each month, Bike magazine chooses a reader letter/email to highlight in its “Write off” letters section and sends the author a product: tires, accessories, clothing, whatever. In 2022, the give-away prize was a Caberg Duke II flip-front helmet.
BUY THE CABERG DUKE II HELMET ON AMAZON
I achieved star letter status in the August 2022 issue, when I wrote:
“Recently I started a new job, earning an annual salary of £45,000 a year. This is the most money I’ve made in my career so far and I was feeling incredibly good about myself until I opened the pages of Bike… Who the hell is buying these bikes and what jobs do they do? I have clearly made bad choices in my career. Maybe I can retrain and start over. As things stand, the inaccessibility of modern machines makes me so tired that I find I’m losing interest in biking.“
(Spoiler alert: I got laid off from that job four months ago; I’ve been out of work ever since. It kind of sucks.)
Appropriately, then, Bike sent me a helmet for which affordability is one of the main selling points. The Duke II is an attractive, reasonably good touring helmet that costs considerably less than big-name competitors. It initially sat on my shelf ─ being passed over in favor of my heavily used Shoei Neotec II ─ but in the last few months, it has become my go-to lid. I’ve worn it over several hundreds of miles, in varying conditions. So, here are my thoughts on it.
SOME NUMBERS
Price: £140 – £170 on Amazon, depending on color
Weight: 1.55 kg
Sizes: XS – XL
SHARP rating: 5 stars
Made in: Italy (currently ranked 34 on the Democracy Index)
SOME BACKGROUND
Caberg is an Italian company based in Bergamo, not terribly far from the Italy-Switzerland border. Founded in 1974, its name is derived from the phrase “Caschi di Bergamo,” literally: “Helmets from Bergamo.” The company takes pride in the fact that it was the first Italian outfit to develop flip-front (aka, modular) helmets. That happened in 1992 with its 292 Unlimited model.
Six years later, Caberg also became the first company to deliver a helmet that could be “be easily converted into an open face,” according to its website. That is, the chin bar could be lifted with the push of a button and it stayed put well enough that you could ride around smoking cigarettes or drinking sodas or just getting the wind in your face.
Caberg’s official history doesn’t mention this, but I reckon that 1998 was the exact year in which the company’s helmets became a favorite of Italian motorcycle police. You have never seen a group of motorcyclists so dedicated to not bringing the chin bar down.
The Duke II was introduced in 2018 and is, I think, probably one of the best-looking flip-fronts you’ll find at the moment. Usually it’s the case that modular helmets are styled in such a way they somehow broadcast that the wearer is a white man over 40 who has a greying beard, an always-handy Leatherman, and at least one story about seeing Iron Maiden in concert (I tick three of those boxes; I don’t have a beard).
It’s perhaps not as sexy as a Simpson Darksome (which is probably about as sexy as a flip-front can get), but it certainly beats offerings from Shoei, Schuberth, and HJC. And it costs less than all of the above.
FEATURES
You get a lot for your money. The helmet’s anti-scratch visor comes with an anti-fog insert. A quick release set-up means the visor is pretty easy to remove for cleaning and such. You also get the drop-down sun visor that is a staple of modular helmets, this one operated by a switch that runs across the top of the helmet.
The cheek pads and liner are all removable and washable, and a real selling point for me is that the snaps to keep the liner in place are made of metal ─ more durable than the plastic you’ll find on other helmets. The strap uses a ratchet-type fastener, which I generally prefer over the classic D-ring system; it’s easier to operate with gloves on.
Theoretically, ventilation is provided by grated vents on the chin bar, and a closeable vent at the top of the helmet. Keep reading for my opinion on the effectiveness of this set-up.
A somewhat unique feature is the ability to lock the chin bar in the open position. So, if you’re the sort of person who really wants an open face helmet that has a lot of aerodynamic drag, there is a little switch on the left side of the helmet to ensure the chin bar will not accidentally come down.
Inside, there is space to accommodate Caberg’s “Pro Speak Evo” Bluetooth communication, with grooves in the chin bar for a microphone and space to place speakers near the ears. I have no idea how well this system works, and will say that it looks like installing it isn’t as seamless/integrated as systems I’ve used on Schuberth and Shoei helmets.
FIT AND COMFORT
The first thing you notice about the Duke II is how light it is. Searching my notoriously poor memory, I don’t think it’s the lightest helmet I’ve ever owned, but it’s pretty close.
Despite its lightness, the helmet looks and feels well-constructed and durable. Perhaps some elements are a little too robust: the vent switch on the top of the head and the sun visor switch are tricky to operate one-handed and on the go. Similarly, the button to lift the chin bar requires a certain level of intent; it’s not the sort of thing you’ll ever do by accident.
All helmets take time to ‘break in,’ but the Duke II particularly so. It still hasn’t really adapted to my head, which means it requires a fair bit of wiggle-adjusting each time I put it on. The feeling is not uncomfortable, just awkward. And, in fairness, once I finally get things right it stays that way ─ light and allowing a full range of head movement.
I’ve had a few opportunities to use the Duke II through a full day of riding (occasionally taking it off to eat, for example, but largely keeping it on for several hours), finishing without headaches or a squished-head feeling. I’ve not had a chance to do any multi-day touring, but my gut tells me that probably wouldn’t be a bad idea. Maybe. See comments below about ventilation.
I have an oblong head and a narrow face. Based on how snug the fit is, I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t want my cheeks to be much chubbier.
SOME THINGS I LIKE
The Duke II is a surprisingly quiet helmet. I would have expected a little more echo/wind noise at this price point. But, in fact, it competes against a Schuberth in this department ─ both in the open air, on a naked bike, and behind a windscreen.
Related to that, buffering is minimal; the helmet doesn’t catch weird angles in the wind and push your head around. This is true even when doing shoulder checks.
For me, though, the best thing about this helmet is its aesthetic ─ especially in the matte blue color scheme. I can’t think of a lot of words to expand on that; I just really like the way it looks. I like its lines; I like its angles; I like the grated vents on the front. For someone who had spent the previous six years with a Shoei Neotec II as his go-to, it’s nice to have something that looks a little less “old man.”
SOME THINGS I DON’T LIKE
I’ve already mentioned that the chin bar requires a lot of effort to move, and that the sun visor and top vent are difficult to operate on the go. But the Duke II’s biggest drawback is that said vent doesn’t actually work.
In fact, none of the ventilation actually works. Open or closed, the effect of the top vent is exactly the same: you don’t feel any air on your head. This is because there are no holes in the EPS liner (ie, the bit that primarily absorbs impact). Air is presumably getting into the shell but not making its way to the rider.
The same thing is happening at the chin bar. Those cool-looking grates appear to be nothing more than ornamental. Look on the inside of the chin bar and you’ll not find any place for the air to go. The inside is lined with a solid rubber/plastic.
If the grates are not ornamental, the only place air could possibly go would be into the chin bar locking mechanism, which then, could, in theory, maybe, push some indeterminable amount of air into the space behind the EPS lining, creating the same effect as the top vent, ie, nothing.
All of this really kills the helmet in terms of usefulness. At speeds below 25 mph on a naked bike, or 45 mph on a bike with a good screen, you will need to crack the visor open slightly to keep things from steaming up inside the helmet.
SHOULD YOU BUY IT?
Given the option, I would choose a Shoei Neotec III or Schuberth C5 over the Duke II. Obviously. But those helmets cost hundreds more. Even an HJC RPHA 91 costs more than twice as much. I mean, you really can’t beat the Caberg when it comes to price.
Broadly speaking, the Duke II is an affordable lid that solidly ticks the “good enough” box in most categories. In styling and quietness, it scores above average. But the ventilation issue should give any potential buyer pause.
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This post contains some affiliate links. Apparently it’s important to disclose that. Although you probably could have guessed as much.
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