Klim GT1 Expedition
I’ve been wearing Klim’s newest helmet all summer long. After a brief break-in period, it has become one of my favorite lids. The size, comfort, noise level, and ventilation are all contributing factors.
Looking good while riding is half the fun, so I scrutinize the size of a helmet. I don’t like a giant shell that looks disproportionate to the rest of my body. The GT1 Expedition has a very low profile, and the look won me over first. It’s a full carbon fiber shell, and even the chin bar matches the carbon fiber’s lines. Klim credits its manufacturing process for an ideal strength-to-weight ratio. My size M helmet weighs 3.6 pounds (1,661 grams), which is competitive for a feature-rich modular lid but not the lightest on the market. But we’re splitting hairs here. The Schuberth C5 Carbon is lighter by less than an ounce.
Most of my helmets are sized S. I chose a size M for the GT1 Expedition, and it took a week on the road to fully break in. The neck area is quite snug. This is by design to reduce wind noise, but it’s safe to say that these run a size small. If in doubt, visit your local dealer and get a proper fit. My long oval head shape fills out the inside of the helmet without any pressure points.
I installed my new Exocom communicator, and the ear pockets were plenty big and deep enough for the speakers. Running the cables was a breeze, and the result is one of my cleaner comm setups. It helps that this is also one of the quieter helmets in my rotation, partially thanks to the aforementioned neck snugness.
The GT1 Expedition’s most distinctive engineering feature is its chin bar hinge. Rather than rotating on a fixed axis like a conventional modular, Klim’s pivot mechanism shifts the chin bar outward before swinging it up, which allows the face shield to seal flush against the shell when closed. In practice, this eliminates the gap that makes most flip-ups notoriously noisy and draggy at speed. Manipulating this mechanism at my office desk, it’s subtle but clearly noticeable.
The Optical Class 1 visor gives me a wide field of view. There’s no internal sun visor, but the helmet comes with a photochromic lens for changing lighting conditions. I don’t recall ever testing a fancy shield like that, but it’s quite nice on a sunny day, even if it doesn’t tint as much as a sun visor would. I never had to squint in bright light.
On the protection front, Klim is the only modular touring helmet on the market employing Koroyd tech. There are two EPS liners with Koroyd welded cores between them that absorb impacts more uniformly. An additional benefit is heat management: more airflow between the EPS liners and the outer layers insulates better against heat coming through. Also on the inside, Brrro Triple Chill Effect cooling fabric manages moisture, cools skin, and resists odor.
Klim GT1 Expedition Helmet
$999.99
Sizes: XS-3XL
Colors: Matte black, five gloss variants