Matte black without a single line of graphic on it is the plainest way into the OXO, and the plainest way to see what the flip-back mechanism actually does: unlock two catches at the chin, and the whole lower bar rotates up and back over the crown, turning a closed helmet into an open one in a single motion, with nothing to unclip and stow. Shark builds this shell to be ridden both ways — not a jet helmet with a bolt-on chin piece, but one shell engineered for both states, and this decor puts none of that intent behind a graphic.

This colourway, up close

The matte texture is a proper satin, not the soft-touch rubber some matte helmets use, so it wipes clean rather than absorbing every fingerprint into its surface. It hides fine scratches and swirl marks far better than a gloss shell would, at the cost of being harder to polish out if something does mark it — a trade most matte-black buyers already understand and mostly welcome. Against Pearly White in the same Blank line, this is the version that shows less road film between washes and photographs flatter, without shouting for attention at a set of traffic lights.

Two configurations, one certified shell

Call it a modular or a flip-up and you're describing the same thing: a chin bar hinged directly into the shell, not a clip-on piece pretending to be one. Unlock it at two points and it swings up and locks against the crown, turning a closed, full-face helmet into an open one in a single motion, with nothing to unclip and carry. It's worth being precise about this, because the OXO is not an open-face or jet helmet with no chin bar at all — it always has one, and it's always the same shell in both positions.

What 22.06 checks, and the P/J stamp behind it

22.06 is stricter than the 22.05 standard it replaced across the EU from 2024: more impact points, more impact speeds, an oblique-anvil test for glancing hits, and a rotational-energy score that 22.05 never assessed. The OXO is tested with its visor, Pinlock and comms unit fitted, which is closer to how people actually ride than a bare shell. As a Flip-Back design it also carries P/J approval — certified in the closed, full-face position and again in the open, jet-style position — which is the detail that actually tells you whether it's legal to ride open, not just comfortable to.

Why the visor part number depends on your size

Because the OXO uses two moulded shell sizes rather than one stretched across the whole range, every visor tint in the VZ390 family exists as two distinct parts, small-shell and large-shell, each with its own article number in Shark's own catalogue. That matters at the point of buying a spare or a tinted replacement: the tint you want and the shell size you ride both have to match, or the visor simply won't seat correctly.

What the weight actually costs you over a ride

1,660 g is Shark's own figure, quoted for the smallest of the OXO's two shells. Independent numbers run higher: SHARP's own test weighed the helmet at close to 1.7 kg, and MotorcycleNews's test unit came in at 1,880 g. A helmet's weight matters less as an abstract number than as a load your neck carries for hours — and the roughly 220 g gap between Shark's smallest-shell figure and MCN's independent weighing is a real, feelable difference on a long day, not a rounding error.

The OXO against its actual neighbours

Rather than quoting a price in isolation, here is where this OXO decor lands next to genuine Shark 2027 neighbours at similar money — the two nearest full-face options either side of it:

Ventilation and noise, honestly reported

The chin and the brow each carry one vent, both a straightforward open/closed switch with no intermediate setting; Shark's own material doesn't state how many exhaust vents extract air at the back, so that detail is left open rather than assumed. For noise, independent reviewers report no problems around town in the open, jet configuration, and expect the OXO to run quiet generally — with a caveat that Shark's earlier modular helmets weren't always comfortable at motorway speed. No test publishes an actual dB figure, so none is claimed here.

What comes on the visor, and what you can add to it

The clear VZ390 visor fitted as standard is approved for all riders and carries a pre-installed Pinlock 70, adjustable central locking, and an anti-scratch treatment. Beyond clear, Shark offers a TE50 light tint for daytime road use and a five-colour Iridium range — blue, gold, silver, red, rainbow — every one of them marked racing use only, so not road-legal tints. Unlike Shark's other, shared visor family, VZ390 carries no stated optical class, a gap this description leaves open rather than filling in.

What makes the OXO liveable day to day

A drop-down internal sun visor, a shell shaped to take an intercom unit, tool-free visor changes, and a channel for glasses arms — all confirmed features on the OXO, listed by both SHARP and Shark directly. The liner comes out for cleaning; beyond that, no source confirms whether it's washable or what interior pad sizes are stocked, so this description stays silent on both rather than assuming. SHARP's four-star result, dated May 2025, backs the safety side of daily use.

Who this decor suits

Matte black keeps this Blank colourway in the same Touring and Street bracket as its gloss sibling — the flip-back hinge is the feature doing the real work here, and that's a convenience built for stop-and-go days rather than a circuit. A commuter who wants to talk to a fuel attendant without pulling the whole helmet off, or a tourer breaking up a long ride with coffee stops, gets more out of this than a rider purely chasing outright sport performance.

Two shells, and a fit that isn't uniform across them

The OXO's six sizes aren't one shape scaled up and down — they sit across two separate shells, so the internal geometry can genuinely change partway through the range. A reviewer who tried it described the fit as leaning oval internally, and found it too oval for their own head shape; that's a subjective, independent observation rather than a spec, but it's a reasonable flag to check against your own fit before buying sight unseen.

Ordering a replacement visor correctly

Sixteen visor options exist for the OXO in Shark's own parts range, from clear through a TE50 light tint to five Iridium colours, running roughly EUR 31 to EUR 85 — and each one splits into a small-shell and large-shell part, confirmed on Shark's own visor collection page. The Pinlock insert mirrors that split too, with its own pair of part numbers. The tint is only half of what you need to know to order the right part.

Being straightforward about the limits

This helmet doesn't have MIPS or EQRS emergency-release pads, and no source publishes a decibel figure for it, closed or open. SHARP's four stars are genuine and independently earned, but they're one test result from May 2025, not a permanent guarantee. Exhaust ventilation isn't documented, so this listing doesn't claim more than it knows. And at least one independent reviewer's head didn't suit the OXO's fit. Worth reading before ordering, not discovering afterwards.

What comes with it, and how long it's covered

Shark backs the OXO with a five-year warranty and keeps spare parts genuinely in production, not just listed once and discontinued. In the box: the clear VZ390 visor already mounted, a Pinlock 70 insert fitted, and the internal sun visor ready from the start.