Gear Review: Ruroc Atlas 2.0

I bought into the hype and bought myself a “Limited Edition” Toxin Atlas 2.0 as soon as the pre-orders went live on February 27th 2020. I was in the market for a new helmet, and it was priced around my price point. Three months to the day later I had the helmet in my hands. A little more than 500 bucks for a nice carbon fiber helmet that looks great and has a killer paint job on it. Opening the well cushioned box reveals the helmet, along with a combination poster / instruction booklet, a healthy amount of stickers, a smoked shield, shield bag and helmet bag. Picking up the helmet for the first time I noticed how light it was, especially compared to my aging Shoei RF-1200.

Putting the helmet on you can feel just how light the helmet is, and your greeted with the chin strap mechanism, the fidlock. A magnetic latch instead of double D rings or the ratchet Nolan and Schuberth use. It takes some getting used to, but I quickly became accustomed to it, and prefer it to the other methods. It does make using the helmet as a shopping bad a bit harder since the strap is hard to get to stay together if there's no load on it, which brings me to my other point about the fidlock. The helmet meets DOT and ECE specs, but I still question how something that's as easy to secure as the fidlock can really stop the helmet from coming off in a crash.

I put the helmet on and just sat around the house watching TV to make sure it didn't develop hot spots and fit well. After about an hour I decided it was time to take it on the bike. Before I headed out I swapped the shield to the tinted one. The visor ratchet/attachment method is a bit weird, with pins you remove from the helmet that also act as a hinge, instead of the regular tabs with a release button commonly found on other brands. Out on the bike the view port is wide, I don't even notice the helmet in my peripheral vision. The chin guard does come up in front of your nose, so that's noticeable if your not in a full tuck or on a more upright style bike. The helmet is also heavily vented, with 4 vents, with only the chin vent being able to close. The helmet is also LOUD, a lot louder than any other helmet I've owned. A lot of people are chocking this up to it's carbon construction, but I believe its more due to the large opening on the bottom, a larger chin curtain is available, and the nonfunctional side scoops creating buffeting. After a bit of riding, the top of my head was getting hot, just the top. I found if I moved myself into more of a tuck I would get more airflow to the top of my head, perhaps Ruroc could redesign the air flow in the helmet itself for the people who don't ride sportbikes, I was on my Ducati ST4s which has a bit of a forward lean, but not as much as a full bore crotch rocket. I never had the top of the head hotness on the GSXR which confirms my assumption.

Making it look good

Image Credit: Timothy Di Lorenzo of Studio 546

Another complaint is the visor ratchet. While refined over the original Atlas, they added a visor lock, it not as nice or usable as other brands. The visor lock is simply a pin like Icon uses, better than the Arai fuckery but not as simple or usable as how Shoei or HJC do it. The ratchet also has two few stops, its either wicked open, mostly open or closed. Also a lot of people on the Facebook group noticed that the visors were shipped from Ruroc badly adjust and caused wear on the graphics, mine is included in this group, but not as bad as others have noticed, and it can only be noticed on mine when the visor is open or off. Another thing of note is that the visor is nice and dark, like a good pair of sunglasses, usually I find visors not dark enough and revert to a clear visor with sunglasses.

When I got home I decided to swap over my Sena 20S and make this my main helmet. While doing this I found the lining is not of the best quality, and it's attachment system isn't up to snuff. Every helmet I've owned to this point have used button like snaps to hold the liner in, Ruroc has used posts molded from very thin plastic to hold everything in and together. They tend to deform after being removed and often have to be bent back out using a pen, a minor inconvenience and Ruroc will send out more substantial 3d printed pins if yours simply break or become unusable. The liner also feels like its too big or not retained well, it moves easily and with following rides I noticed that after a bit Id push the helmet around some to readjust it on my head.

I did wear the helmet on a track day and I'm glad I did, it was a humid 95+ degree day and the venting did an excellent job, even with the visor down. It's also not the most aerodynamic helmet, and at speeds over 100mph I noticed severe buffeting, to the point my neck would be sore after a session, I got a lot of compliments on the helmet though, and I didn't feel unsafe wearing it. I also was involved in an accident while wearing the helmet, I don't remember coming off the bike or ending up on the ground (I do remember screaming “STOP, FUCKING STOP” in the helmet when the Kia rolled over my ankle) I know the helmet hit the ground since you know, I was on the ground, and there is some rash on the back of the helmet, but without a headache and other damage I'd say the helmet stood up well, but this was also a very minor accident.

In summery, the Ruroc Atlas 2.0 is a style helmet first and foremost, it looks cool as fuck; but is missing things other helmets in it's price bracket have as standard. The liner isn't up to snuff, neither are the non closing vents or the shield ratchet. Ruroc is making strides to make a better helmet, and look forward to what they do with a 3.0. Sure, it is a carbon fiber helmet, but when brands that cost a fifth of what your helmet does can make the liners snap in and not feel like they're shifting around and visor ratchets that are usable and have a cracked city position. Also their customer service should be addressed, when I reached out about info about shipping, I was simply told to join the Facebook group. Not everyone uses Facebook and if a customer reaches out through email, its a clear sign to use that contact medium and not a Facebook. Especially when your make a post in the group that's slightly critical of them and the random people who have nothing to do with the company chastise you for it. My final complaint is just how not transparent the company was. The way the pre-order was worded, it sounded like they were just banging out some final details and the products would be shipped out. It took 3 months from the pre-order to actually get the helmet, turns out the company was funding production using the pre-orders, luckily for them Covid came around and gave them an excuse for the delay. To apologize for the delay they created a gift bag for the people who per-ordered. The gifts? Plugs for the forehead vents (I'm sure those won't get lost), a go pro mount that ends up blocking the chin vent and kind of ruins the design of the helmet...and a Ruroc branded condom. If the QC the helmets received is the same for the condoms, I'm sure they'll be a lot of accidental children out there. And you have to pay $27usd for shipping. Thanks but no thanks, especially since at this point my helmet is now wall art thanks to the crash. They also introduced another variant of helmets called the Berserker, a visorless Atlas that comes with goggles, and it was introduced before everyone who pre-orderd the Atlas 2.0 had received their helmet.

Despite my criticisms I'm still watching Ruroc and their recently launched sister brand Engine Hawk who will be making jackets and other motorcycle gear. Shortly before posting this Ruroc has announced an Atlas 3.0, opening preorders later this month. I'll be reading the reviews and seeing if they've addressed any of my and other peoples criticisms. I'm glad there's another helmet company striving to get better and introducing more concepts to the market. I like the more aggressive designs compared to Shoei or HJC, Icon does a good graphic but their helmets aren't known to be great quality and are banned by some track organizations. I'd also have more faith in the brand if they gave gear to actual journalists and not just influencers. I've yet to see an Atlas reviewed by anyone besides Instagramers and Youtubers, that usually tells me there's something missing from the item if the professionals aren't getting their hands on it.