Greg Minnaar's Kabuto IXA Helmet
Check out the Kabuto helmet as worn by La Bresse World Cup winner Greg Minnaar.
KABUTO IXA
If you’ve been wondering what helmet Santa Cruz Syndicate rider Greg Minnaar has been running this year and kind of fancied one yourself then we can tell you it’s a Kabuto IXA.
OGK, who have been making motorbike helmets for years, are the company behind Kabuto and the lids are now available through www.globalracingimports.com (which is the company set up by Greg Minnaar and Martin Whiteley)
The helmet has plenty of vents and the chin guard has been designed to allow maximum airflow to keep you cool. The level of protection seems high too and the only point that we can pick up on is that the sizing is a bit on the small side.
Photos: Ben Winder
Price: Carbon €425.00 (approx £369), Composite €325.00 (approx £282)
Weight: 956g (Carbon)
Sizes: XS/S, M/L, XL/XXL
www.globalracingimports.com
Looks like a Trek! I mean, looks like a D3.
Horrible!
i like it, if it comes in other colours/designs, and i have the cash, id be tempted.
Blah, Blah, Blah… Im going to write a bullsh*t comment cause I ain’t got nothing to do with my life!
Get out more guys. As if any of you hold a lid like this, or ever will, ever!
Thumb down clicks welcome!
They have got thomas vanderham on their team as well, not a bad pair of riders! Helmet looks good actually.
looks very moto, and graphics are a bit generic. The price is stupid tho, “THE one” (<- awful marketing) is no worse for a third of the price…
All the RSP guys wear these as well I think. I reckon they look better than the D3, mainly because they’re just for fashion whores…
wow that gif is giving me a headache
Nice helmet though
expensive
Too expensive! Not the only ones eighther that are taking th piss with the price.
I quite like it.
From the look of it I would still prefer the D3, I think it looks a bit more exciting from the back, but I know that this subjective.
The price is expensive, but so are all the other comparably helmets (D3, Marushin, new Specialized carbon, etc), this doesn’t make it better, but it means you either pay that much money, or get a sponsorship.
Hmm I think the composite is too expensive!
I don’t think they will sell much of the composites because the carbon is only a 100 quid more and people would be more tempted by that! Even though it is still quite expensive ..
Overall though I like the look of them.
you have got to think.
how can a company like 661 have a composite for sub £100 and a carbon for sub £200 and there is TLD which its composite helmets are all over £250. why such a difference. i think helmets should be cheeper if you have a bad crash a smash you head, you are gonna have to buy a new helmet, i can understand the pros who get them for free, or if you are mega rich i dont think you will care but just an average joe, cant afford it.
i will say that they all look really good tho.
Nige, I wouldn’t take some things that seriously. Isn’t everybody allowed to say “looks like a Trek” on this particular website? And isn’t the D3 kind of the “Trek” of modern DH helmets? Seriously speaking, I always thought the older generation OGK was pretty similar to the D2 and this new one is close to the D3. I can imagine there must be some connection. OGK/Qranc helmets have been around in the late nineties and if I’m not mistaking Kovarik, Rennie and Kircaldie were on GT Lobos sponsored by Qranc.
The point is OGK have quite a history in terms of helmets. I’d really like to know if there is some sort of agreement between TLD and OGK, because two generations of their helmets are striking similar. I don’t doubt the quality of either one of them. It’s a new era for fullface helmets and it’s goo it’s like that. Oh, and Specialized? That one looks similar to these two also. I can’t imagine TLD letting somebody like Sam go so easily, so in my head there must be a connection as well.
Main line: 3 helmets with a very similar shape, but that are styled and priced for different tastes and different pockets. There is nothing wrong with that, I am just interested in what is behind the curtains. I am glad that protective equipment is moving forward. Now please make neck braces more affordable!
Cheers,
Mx
many can copy, but they can’t compare to TLD.
there can’t be too many overseas factories that make these.
kinda wish TLD squashed this type of thing.
now the specialed helmet?
TLD… ride the best,f*ck the rest.
BTW, does anyone know what helmet is Aaron Gwin running? Looks like a moto one from BELL.
Karoliusz – Gwin uses a Bell moto helmet. He said about it last week in la bresse. He prefers the feel of them. Look a bit big and heavy to me.
I like it, I’ll agree, yes it does have similar design features as the D3. it will be interesting to see the rest of the designs/graphics! in these current climax it’s good to see a new product rage come out, get behind it I say! it’s the only way this sport will continue to develop and grow. there no room for haters in this sport!
Has anyone seen the O’Neil Airtech full face’s. They look sweet and aren’t too heavy really niceley made etc. But they are only £110ish check them out http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110709420016
@neil that sounds like the type of bullshit that a jealous poor man would come out with. A d3 is practically like a moto lid
@ Chris 661 can make cheap helmets like that cause they are shot quality! Why do you think gee and dan atherton are both using d3′s now instead of 661s
Hm, that O’Neal helmet doesn’t look bad at all! But the price makes me think… I guess it’s all a question of marketing. When you have a brand you have to choose between being “premium” or being for the masses. There are brands which wouldn’t sell at all if they weren’t expensive. Think POC, think Red Bull. It’s not about profits, but about a strategy and about positioning. Those who don’t like TLD or POC or Red Bull (as an example from a different domain) can always choose something cheaper if it satisfies them more. That’s why there is room for pretty much anybody on a market. Customer satisfaction always means more than just the product phisically does and if it’s okay from a performance point of view. Satisfaction has a lot to do with image and brand association and it’s normal to be that way. It’s identity. Otherwise we’d all wear blank t-shirts and ride Horst linked DH frames made by Astro in Taiwan, “developed” by the engineers within the factory.
So, in terms of styling everybody wants to be TLD really bad. BTW, did you notice the new series of Oakleys (Mayhem/Proven) have more edges and match a D3 better than a Crowbar/O-Frame?
Nobody forces you to buy TLD. I am sure OGK/Kabuto, Specialized or THE are just as good, but it comes down to details, budget and personal preferences.
Stay safe!
Mx
Helmet shape looks nice. Graphics, bit moto go faster stripe. Price too much. As someone’s said already, 661 do awesome helmets for the money. Stacy, are TLD not made in far east, in fact the very same factory as THE etc!?
@ Barry Bumole, Gee & Dan… because they are paid to?
@ Tim – correct. People forget that these riders are professional sportspeople – ie someone pays them money. They do what they’re told…
Tim, the Athertons are sponsored by 661 who make their own helmets. When somebody chooses not to ride his sponsors’ products, but of the competition’s with no logos, it’s kind of a big statement. Positively speaking, 661 must have something better than the Evo in the works. Otherwise, people were fussing around about the new D3′s looks and now you look at the WC Circus and everybody has them, sponsored or not. To me this is another statement, because those people can and will use pretty much whatever they want if there is no sponsorship agreement involved. So this is what we are talking about. When some of the world’s highest profile athletes use yur product while not being sponsored by you, I guess it’s safe to say you do a pretty good job.
i saw this helmet in Japan, and from the front it is very different from D3, from the side, because of the flat rubber in the bottom it looks different but more similar to the Shoei MX helmet. but the biggest difference is that this Kabuto helmet has EN & Snell certificate. I haven’t seen a helmet with Snell certificate so that’s a big difference. in the motorbike business Snell is considered probably the most difficult safety standard.
@tim and magnum, your both wrong they are 661 athletes. they aint getting a penny of troy lee!
I had a 661 helmet and I once wore a 661 carbon helmet and some month ago I got myself a D3. It is just so much better, you can’t compare it. It’s like sitting in a Fiat Punto or a Maybach. Maybe not that extreme, but it still is quite a difference.
I don’t know if the D3 is 200-300EUR better than the 661 helmet, but it just is somehow better. I’m not saying, that the 661 helmets are bad, they’re still nice Helmets with a nice price, but the D3 is even nicer. And if the Kabuto helmet is as good, as advertisments say, it’s going to be very very nice, too
Nicer than a D3
I see Neko Mullally (spelling!) uses the same helmet. Think it stuck around from Greg’s Honda days…sick. Too pricy tho, gotta stick with the 661′s. good value for money.