Shuberth C4 Pro - One year later

It has been a full year now since I have owned a Schuberth C4 Pro. I’ve ridden all around the year and for some 15.000km. Doesn’t matter if it is 5 degrees or 45 degrees - C4 Pro was always on my head. I did test other helmets during this period of course but this one became my favorite one. I will be completely honest with you - I didn’t test Shoei Neotec II which is the next one that I will certainly test. I’m eager to see how it compares to Schuberth.

C3 Pro was a legendary helmet, quietest modular helmet ever built. So the C4 Pro had a lot of it on its shoulders. Since C4 wasn’t “that successful” Schuberth released C4 Pro which would correct all corners that were cut in the C4. And I must say - they did it. They came up with a great helmet worthy of its predecessor.

BUILD QUALITY:

This may be completely subjective, but my opinion is that Schubert really put their strongest foot down on this one. Helmet is made using a direct fiberglass process, it uses Pinlock 120 (staring at C4 with disappointment), has integrated sun visor, and uses premium materials for inner liner. I would say it ticked all the “premium” boxes. And of course, it is ECE 22.05 certified. The one thing that I didn’t like as much was - couldn’t say it was terrible but for me but would like to see some improvement is the chin mechanizm. It can creek from time to time when you operate chin, not that anything was wrong but with dust and debris from the road coming it could start to creek for some period of time. Nothing major - but just a nit picking detail.

FIT:

Depending on the shape of your head - this helmet may or may not fit you. This helmet will fit best if you actually have an oval head. But if you have more of an intermediate oval head, you can easily customize it using different pads for a snug fit. I personally found their sizing guide to be pretty accurate. So I would say that you can count on that one.

INTERIOR:

Interior is made of something that Schuberth calls “Jazzlight” lining and I will say - it feels premium for sure. One of the best things about it is that it is antibacterial (which is expected at this price range) and completely customizable. It has a larger neck cushion or curtain (however you want to call it) and it is one of the things that makes this helmet so quiet.

VENTILATION:

C4 Pro being a touring helmet has a great ventilation. At least from my experience when riding it when it is over 40 degrees celsius outside. Chin vent worked great (khm khm C4 I am looking at you) as well as the top vent. But I found one issue with the top vent. When it is in a closed position and when speed hits 80km/h it would start to whistle like crazy. I did try other bikes (naked, with small windscreens, with touring windscreens - trust me - all of them) and the noise wouldn’t go away. Solution is simple - just open it (not fully) and the noise would go away. I found this to be the case for a couple of other C4 Pros that I have tried on. As it is with any other helmet - the more vents you open - the louder it is. So it is not just my helmet. Other than that, it really has great ventilation. At the end of the day - this is a touring helmet. 

VISOR:

Schuberth C4 Pro comes with Optical class 1: visor (no distortion) with quick-change function. It also comes with a Pinlock 120 which is the best pinlock that you can put inside your helmet. It also has an integrated sun visor which works great. Visor has latches on the left and on the right side so that you can open it from both sides (I found this really helpful in some situations). There is a “slightly” open position which can be used when you need some fresh air. But once you hit 60km/h or over I think it would be best to fully close the visor. My visor held up great, some minor scratches from road debris but not much scratches from wiping. But I would still be careful and use a microfiber towel and visor spray. I recommend keeping one with you when you go on longer rides.

NOISE:

Wow! That is all I can say! This is the quietest helmet that I have ever worn. I am truly amazed. I know that fit plays a large part in it but this is really quiet. Just to clarify - I always wear earplugs and every helmet that I have tested I have tested with earplugs. I did find it quite loud when I drove a couple of motorcycles that had small windshields that threw wind just below my chin. But yet, I have tested other helmets like that as well and they were certainly much noisier. When it comes to noise - I am speechless. 

COMMUNICATION:

Ah, beloved Sena… If it wasn’t so perfectly integrated I would fit Packtalk with no second thoughts - personal preference, nothing against Sena. But… SC1/SC1A is so perfectly integrated that I couldn’t walk away from that. System basically plugins in and that is it. I needed 30 seconds to install everything. C4 Pro comes with headphones and mic pre-installed so all you need to do is to buy the rest of the com and plug it in. For me SC1A isn’t a bad com, but when it comes to speakers - I would rather go with Cardo’s JBL. Using the SC1A - not a big issue. You can easily talk using your phone, listen to music or navigation. Plus you can buy a remote controller if you really want to (I did) and it really helps sometimes. Battery lasts a lot to be honest. I did blast music at full volume for 17 hours. Which is quite a lot. After 17 hours you would probably come down from your motorcycle to sleep for a bit and then you could recharge your battery. Conclusion: not a bad com - perfectly integrated. Does the job pretty well. I’m happy with it.

CONCLUSION:

This is a great helmet. As of today when Schuberth C5 is out you can find the new C4 Pro for as low as 370 $ for solid colors and as low as 415 $ for ones that have cool graphics. When it was launched it was definitely in a higher price range - but today this can easily be considered to be a mid budget helmet. Best bang for a buck for sure! It is comfortable, easy to customize, and has integrated com, build quality is great and if you ask me - if you are looking for new helmet you should definitely at least give this one a shot!