By Chad de Alva
For the last few years, KLIM’s Krios Pro helmet has been my go-to ADV helmet. The Krios Pro fits my head very well, has top shelf technologies that improve both safety (Koroyd) and quality of life (Fid-Lock closure) and with it’s pin-lock compatible face shield options, the helmet works well in any riding environment. I’ve used plenty of ADV helmets over the years, but the Krios Pro even with it’s faults, is the helmet I keep coming back to. For the past five plus years, KLIM has been hard at work on a ground-up project to build the most technologically advanced adventure helmet ever. Given that KLIM’s tagline is “Technical Riding Gear” its only appropriate to set expectations high – but what KLIM has come up is exactly that: The KLIM X1 Alpha helmet is what you get when you turn adventure helmet design and technology up to 11.
There is a lot to appreciate about the X1 Alpha, and that’s that good thing because this helmet isn’t cheap, but it’s also a textbook example of the old saying “you get what you pay for.” Our X1 came in Carbon Matte Black, and it made an impression the first time I pulled it out of the bag – this helmet is a work of art. Turning the helmet around in your hands you’ll start to notice the details that justify the “Alpha” part of the name.
On the sides of the shell is what KLIM calls an infinity edge, but what you need to know is that its the perfect spot to install the wireless communication system of your choice. There’s no rubber shell lip here, so major brands of communication systems install with ease and fit great. On the chin are two vents whose position can be determined by feel as to their open / closed status. The top vent feeds air to the face sheld for de-fogging, and the lower vent is the “cabin vent” that feeds air to the rider’s face. Under the peak are two additional vents whose status can also be determined by feel – There’s no need to remember “is forward open or closed” on this helmet. At the back of the helmet are 4 exhaust vents. KLIM has done some really impressive work with the EPS and Koroyd layers in this helmet with regards to airflow and cooling, but we’ll get to that in a minute.
The Peak of the X1 is also very clever: A push button on the top allows you to adjust the tilt of the peak in seconds, and removing the peak is as easy as pushing the same button and tilting the peak down. There are no screws, no hand levers, or other finiky fixators here – this system is brilliant.
Anchoring the peak and face shield to the sides of the helmet are KLIM’s self-calibrating side plates. The side plates provide a very positive detent that securely holds the face shield where you place it. There’s also a cracked face-shield setting that can make fully closing the shield somewhat tricky with one hand. Yet once you have it closed, it’s impressive how well it seals. After months of use, this system has shown no signs of wear or loosening. A weak point of the Krios Pro was the side-plate peak and face-shield detent system, but the X1 design has effectively resolved all of those issues. Removing the face shield on the X1 is easy—no tools required, and no small parts to worry about losing.
KLIM has placed a huge emphasis on rider safety with the X1, and all of the face shields are rated Optical Class One in all conditions, even with a Pinlock installed. If you’ve ever put on a budget helmet and felt like you were looking through beer goggles, you’ve experienced poor optical clarity—which increases eye strain (fatigue) and your likelihood of an accident.
The Photochromic and tinted face shields also have an IR coating which does an impressive job of protecting your face from the oven effect on a hot sunny day. It’s actually quite impressive how much cooler your face is behind an IR facesheld when exposed to full sun. After riding the X1 in Phoenix this summer, I’m here to tell you, once you try IR face shields, you won’t want to ride in the sun without one.
On the inside of the helmet, you’ll find fully removable cheek pads and a crown liner made with Brrr cooling fabric. Removing the cheek pads will reveal removable inserts for communication speakers. Take the crown liner out of the helmet and you’ll get to see the EPS and Koroyd impact protection layers. There’s a fancy sandwich of layers here with a lot going on, so just know that the protection layers in the X1 provide top shelf protection and cooling performance (there’s even a heat shield layer). In KLIMs testing, the X1 provides 42% percent more impact absorption than an EPS only helmet. But enough tech talk, lets get into how this thing rides.
The first time I popped an X1 onto my head, I was floored by just how well the helmet fit. KLIM helmets have always fit me well, especially after I go up one step on cheek pad thickness, but the Large X1 fits me like someone 3D scanned my face and made the helmet to my exact geometry. The X1 has three shell sizes, five EPS sizes, seven crown liner sizes, and seven cheek pad sizes, where the cheek pads are completely interchangeable, so you’ve got a really good chance of getting a dialed in fit.
The next thing you’ll notice is the outstanding field of view of the X1, and swapping back and forth between other brands of helmets on the shelf makes the X1’s superior field of view very obvious. The X1 is chock full of these little details that deliver that step up in tech and performance. The only exception to this is the chin strap which is a double D-ring type. It’s really puzzling to see an old school closure on KLIM’s flagship helmet, especially when the Krios Pro and F5 helmets have Fid-Lock, which is a system I absolutely love and fully trust. Here’s hoping the X1 gets a Fid-Lock closure in the future, because while double D rings absolutely work, they are not Alpha-status.
We started testing the X1 with high speed freeway riding. KLIM has made a big deal about the amount of aero-development work they put into this helmet, and as a KTM 890 R owner, helmet aeros really matter, so I was keen to see how the X1 works at speed. Long story short, the X1 is great in an airstream. The new peak allows air to pass through very well so shoulder checks or looking up at the sky are much easier on your neck. The new face shield system seals up tight, and even after months of use, we’ve noticed no rattling or loosening of the face shield system. The detents will hold the shield where you want it and cracked face shield mode works even when approaching triple digit speed. We did ride a bit with the peak off, but honestly, the peak works so well it’s not a significant handicap to leave on – track use notwithstanding.
Whether or not a helmet is loud or not is a very subjective question, with variables like head geometry, type of bike, riding speeds and other factors making a quantifiable comparison hard to come by. My setup may be really loud, but the same helmet in your setup my be much quieter. The short answer is that you should wear ear pro while riding no matter what helmet you’re using.
In the dirt the X1 has proven to work quite well. The helmets seals very well, so riding in the dust isn’t like riding inside a vacuum cleaner. If running goggles or sunglasses is your thing, they can be run with the face shield up, or with the face shield removed, which again is very easy to do. Offroad is where riders work hardest, and the X1 delivers superior comfort and airflow to other ADV helmets when you start to work up a sweat. No it’s not going to flow air like a good moto helmet, but for an ADV helmet, it’s quite impressive, and doing the same loop back to back with other helmets made this performance difference quite obvious.
We also appreciated the thermal comfort of the X1 when riding in Phoenix in the middle of summer. The combination of the IR coating on the face shield, and all of the fancy airflow make what is essentially riding inside a hair dryer about as good as it can be. On the other side of the coin when it gets cold and/or wet out, the X1 seals up well. The pin lock keeps things fog free, and monsoon rain wasn’t able to make it inside the helmet.
Adventure helmets get used in very diverse riding situations. From below freezing temps in the wet, to triple digit temps (not recommended, but I did it for science!) in full sun, there are riders out there getting after it, and their gear needs to be able to keep up. KLIM has what I would argue is a very good helmet in the Krios Pro, but they’ve absolutely upped the ante with the X1 Alpha. The X1 has addressed all of the shortcomings of the Krios Pro, and delivered improvements in so many other areas. With the exception of the D ring closure, the X1 is the most advanced helmet on the market. Swapping to other helmets so that another rider could use the X1 for photos made me miss the X1, and after months of use I can confidently say I’ve found a new go-to helmet: The KLIM X1 Alpha. For more information on the X1, visit KLIM.com
Author’s note: A helmet is arguably the most important piece of safety gear a rider has, and I would strongly encourage every rider to protect themselves with the best kit on the market. A couple hundred bucks saved with a cheaper helmet isn’t worth it if that cheap helmet makes your head hot, so your get tired more quickly and make a mistake, or the face shield isn’t the clearest, so you cant see that rock in the trail that leads to a crash. A couple hundred dollars saved on a cheap helmet won’t cover your insurance deductible, or let you buy back the brain damage sustained from a TBI as a result of a crash. You’ve got one body - protect it with the best kit possible.
