The same grinning imp as the white version, on an entirely different helmet: a matt grey shell with the character in black line work and the splatter behind it in red and pale blue instead of pink. Identical drawing, a completely different object.

Matt or gloss: the choice that is actually being made

These two helmets are the clearest illustration of a decision every buyer makes without thinking about it, so it is worth setting out properly.

Gloss can be corrected. A light swirl or a scuff polishes out of a gloss clearcoat with a mild compound, which means a helmet kept for five years can be brought back. It shows fingerprints and dust more, and it throws a highlight into every photograph.

Matt cannot be corrected at all. There is no polishing step for a matt clearcoat — a mark is permanent from the moment it happens. In exchange it hides the fine handling marks a helmet collects from being carried by the strap, set down on tables and hung off mirrors, and it never produces a hotspot in a photograph. Matt is easier for the first two years and worse for the last three.

About the IMP C5 finish

The base is a mid grey, matt throughout. The imp is drawn in exactly the same heavy black line as the white version, its mouth wrapping forward onto the chin bar; behind it the splatter and tags are red and a pale desaturated blue. Vent trims and the visor mechanism cover are black.

The grey ground changes the character entirely. On white the drawing reads as loud; here the black line dominates and the red reads as an accent, which makes the same graphic considerably more wearable on a helmet you are going to commute in.

No sun visor — and what to do about it

The Stinger 2 has no drop-down shade. Nothing lives behind the brow, and the only route to a tint is a second screen.

The workable answer is a smoked MT-V-28B kept in the top box. It costs a fraction of the price step to a helmet with an internal shade, and a tinted screen is darker and optically better than any drop-down visor — an internal shade sits a centimetre from your eye and has to stay light enough for a tunnel, so it is always a compromise. What you give up is spontaneity: the screen has to be with you, and swapping is a stop rather than a thumb movement.

MT-QVSS

Two buttons, no tools, gloves on. On a model with no internal shade, this is the mechanism that makes the two-screen approach realistic rather than theoretical — a swap that takes a minute in a lay-by is one that actually happens when the light goes.

ECE 22.06 · no DOT

The current European standard, mandatory since January 2024: 18 impact points rather than the 22.05's five, several impact speeds, an oblique impact against an abrasive anvil measuring rotational loading, and a Brain Injury Criterion ceiling. MT publishes no DOT marking for the Stinger 2.

Cleaning a matt helmet

One rule, and it is absolute: never dry. Road dust is mineral and therefore abrasive, and dragging it across a matt clearcoat leaves marks with no correction path.

Rinse with plain water first and let the grit float off, then a soft wet cloth with no pressure. Never use anything solvent-based — petrol, brake cleaner and some insect removers haze a matt surface visibly and permanently.

Anti-fog

The screen is prepared for Pinlock DKS435. The insert is not supplied, and it is the accessory to buy first if you ride outside summer: it seals a layer of air against the visor and keeps the inner surface above dew point, which is the only thing that beats fogging while you are stationary.

Noise on an entry-level full-face

We will not claim this is a quiet helmet. At this price the shell is not shaped in a wind tunnel and the seals are simple ones, and above about 100 km/h you will know it.

What is worth knowing is that the helmet is usually not the main variable. A screen on the bike that throws turbulent air at the base of your helmet makes any lid loud — a naked machine with clean flow is often quieter than a badly faired one. If noise is your problem, change the screen height before you change the helmet. And wear earplugs above 100 km/h regardless of what you are wearing: wind-induced hearing loss is cumulative, painless, and permanent.

Retention and interior

The closure is MT-MDTC — a micrometric ratchet with a double set of teeth engaging rather than one. The lining is hypoallergenic, removable and washable, and there is a slot in the shell for the speakers of a universal UCS intercom.

The shell

HIRP thermoplastic at around 1,600 g. It is heavier than a composite of the same strength and far more consistent between units — injection moulding is repeatable in a way hand lay-up is not — and at this price that consistency is the more valuable property.

It is worth being clear about what that means, because "plastic shell" gets used as a criticism. A thermoplastic helmet and a carbon one are held to the identical ECE 22.06 limits; the carbon one simply reaches them with less mass. You are buying grams when you spend up, not safety — and on a commuting helmet the grams are the thing you are least likely to notice.

What it does not have

• No sun visor.
• No DOT marking published.
• No safety rating. Not tested by SHARP; no ADAC or Snell result.
• Matt cannot be polished. Every mark is permanent.

In the box

• MT Stinger 2 helmet — IMP C5, matt grey with a red and blue character graphic
• Protective bag, user manual and MT Helmets stickers
• Clear MT-V-28B fitted; no sun visor on this model.

Size guide

Specification

• Model — MT-Helmets Stinger 2 · Part number — 1334E12C52 (XXS–XL: …02 to …07)
• Colour / finish — IMP C5 — matt grey with a red and blue character graphic
• Homologation — ECE 22.06 · no DOT published
• Safety rating — none; not in the SHARP database
• Category — road full-face, entry level
• Shell material — HIRP high-impact polymer, roughly 1,600 grams
• Available sizes — XXS, XS, S, M, L, XL (51 to 62 cm)
• Screen — MT-V-28B, changed without tools via MT-QVSS
• Anti-fog — Pinlock DKS435 ready · not supplied
• Sun visor — none on this model
• Retention — MT-MDTC micrometric double-teeth closure
• Interior — hypoallergenic, removable and washable
• Communication — universal UCS intercom slot; no system supplied
• Manufacturer — MT Helmets, Spain
• Fitting — between two sizes take the smaller; new pads settle a few millimetres
• Care — never dry-wipe matt paint and never use solvents on it
• Replacement — after any impact, and after roughly five years regardless

• 1x MT Stinger 2 helmet — IMP C5 — matt grey with a red and blue character graphic
• 1x protective bag
• 1x user manual
• 1x sheet of MT Helmets stickers
• No sun visor on this model · no Pinlock insert included