Please note: sale to France is prohibited.

Anthracite is what you choose when black is too absolute. It is a deep, dark grey with metallic content — close enough to black to be discreet, far enough from it that the shell keeps its shape in flat light instead of collapsing into a silhouette.

Five stars from SHARP — and the number behind them

The date on the rating matters as much as the rating. SHARP tested the Neotec 3 in February 2024, under ECE 22.06 — the current standard, with its eighteen impact points and its oblique rotation test. Plenty of five-star helmets on SHARP's site earned that result years ago under the old 22.05 regime, which tested less.

This one was measured against the current rules and still returned the maximum: five stars.

About the Anthracite finish

The specific problem anthracite solves is one that only shows up on overcast days. A pure black helmet under a grey sky has almost no tonal variation across its surface, so the eye reads it as a flat shape rather than a formed object — which is why black helmets photograph so poorly in dull weather. A dark metallic grey keeps just enough internal contrast that the crown, the temple and the chin bar remain distinguishable. On the road that is cosmetic. On a helmet you will look at every day for five years it is not nothing. Practically it behaves like a dark metallic should: road film is closer in tone than it would be on black, scratches scatter in the flake rather than forming a clean line, and it pairs with almost any motorcycle finish made in the last decade.

P and J, and what ECE 22.06 actually tests

Since January 2024 no helmet without ECE 22.06 may be sold new in the EU. The substantive changes over the old standard were more impact sites, more than one impact speed, an oblique rotational test, and accessories tested as fitted rather than removed for the exam.

That last point is why an integrated sun visor like the QSV-2 has to be part of the submission, and it is also why the P/J pair had to be earned twice over.

AIM, three shells, and the steel that holds the chin bar

AIM stands for Advanced Integrated Matrix and describes a laminate rather than a single material: fibreglass combined with organic fibres in a resin matrix. The organic fibre is the part that distinguishes it from plain glass — it adds tensile strength without the weight penalty of adding more glass, which is how a modular helmet with this much hardware arrives at 1750 g rather than considerably more.

Three shell sizes cover XS to XXL.

CNS-3C and QSV-2 — and the Neotec II trap

A stepless sun visor is a small distinction with a real consequence. Fixed-position shades give you a choice between too much tint and not enough at exactly the wrong moment — low sun through trees, or a road that alternates between shadow and glare. The QSV-2 moves continuously, so you set it where the light actually is.

The outer screen is the CNS-3C, quick-change and supplied with a Pinlock EVO lens.

Quiet by design, and what that costs in airflow

Intakes aimed directly into the airstream feed a deeply branched internal ventilation network, and a removable filter in the lower front vent keeps insects out — a detail almost nobody else fits. The raised vent controls can be worked with thick winter gloves.

🔵 None of that makes it an airy helmet. Shoei's priority here was acoustic, and the ventilation is sized to that decision rather than to a hot afternoon in Spain.

Noise Isolator, glasses, and talking to the helmet

The SHOEI COMLINK interface deserves more attention than it usually gets. Cabling is pre-routed inside the shell and the EPS carries moulded recesses for the SENA SRL3 Mesh unit — which means the system sits inside the helmet's profile rather than clamped to the outside of it, with no aerodynamic penalty and no external box to catch wind.

The interior around it is fully removable and washable.

Where it sits in Shoei's range

The Neotec 3 is not the most expensive Shoei we sell, and it is worth understanding why. The X-SPR PRO above it is a racing helmet — no sun visor, no communication interface, a shell tuned for a tucked position at speed. It is more expensive because of what it is for, not because it is more helmet.

For touring, this is the top of the range rather than the middle of it.

1750 grams, and the rest of the honest list

Three limitations worth reading before ordering rather than after. Mass: 1750 g, felt as a dull ache at the end of a long day rather than as effort at the start. Airflow: deliberately traded for quietness. Head shape: intermediate oval, which suits most European heads and genuinely does not suit all of them.

The first two are engineering trades. The third is the one to check in person.

When something wears out

The QSV-2 sun visor is replaceable, and worth replacing rather than tolerating if it has been scratched. It retracts into a slot at the top of the shell where it collects whatever comes off a glove, and a mark on an internal shade sits permanently in your line of sight — unlike an outer visor, you cannot simply flip it out of the way.

An optional yellow contrast-enhancing version fits the same mechanism, tool-free.

In the box

• Shoei Neotec 3 helmet — Anthracite
• Pinlock® EVO DKS301 anti-fog lens
• Helmet bag
• Instruction manual and ECE approval documentation

Size guide

Specification

• Model — Shoei Neotec 3
• Part number — 12.07.016.2
• Colour — Anthracite — Anthracite metallic
• Homologation — ECE 22.06, dual P/J (protective and jet)
• Safety rating — SHARP 5 of 5 stars (tested February 2024, ECE 22.06); chin bar fully locked in 93 % of impacts
• Helmet type — Flip-up / modular
• Shell — AIM (Advanced Integrated Matrix) — fibreglass and organic fibres in resin; three shell sizes (XS–M / L / XL–XXL)
• Weight — 1750 g (size M)
• Sizes — XS to XXL (six sizes)
• Visor — CNS-3C, tool-free quick-change, central lock, gap-width detent, angled upper edge
• Anti-fog — Pinlock® EVO DKS301 supplied
• Sun visor — QSV-2, integrated, stepless, covers below the eyeline; optional yellow contrast version
• Impact liner — multi-density EPS assembled from elements of differing absorption
• Retention — micro-ratchet chin strap; stainless steel chin bar locking mechanism
• Ventilation — intakes into the airstream, branched internal network, removable insect filter in the lower front vent
• Interior — 3D centre pad, Noise Isolator cheek pads, removable ear pads, chin strap cover — removable and washable, several thicknesses
• Head shape — intermediate oval
• Communication — SHOEI COMLINK with pre-routed cabling and EPS recesses for the SENA SRL3 Mesh system
• Serviceability — visor, sun visor, all pads and the Pinlock lens available as separate parts

• 1x helmet
• 1x clear CNS-3C visor (pre-fitted)
• 1x Pinlock EVO anti-fog lens
• 1x set of spare pins
• 1x maintenance tool
• 1x breath guard