Plain White is the cheapest X.RALLY and, for a helmet ridden in hot places, arguably the most rational. A pale shell reflects the solar load a dark one converts into interior heat — and this helmet's measured ventilation makes that matter more, not less.

Three modes in one shell

Three modes in one shell is the whole argument for this helmet, and the transitions are the part that matters: the peak and the visor mount independently, so you can remove either without disturbing the other.

🔵 Off-Road mode means goggles rather than the visor. The aperture is sized for them; the visor is not required for the helmet to be legal or complete.

About the Plain White finish

Adventure riding involves long stretches at speeds too low for airflow to do much: picking a line through gravel, waiting at a border, crawling through a village in August. In those conditions the shell's own absorption dominates, and white is measurably cooler than black. It is also the easiest version here for another road user to resolve at head height in flat light. The cost is dirt, and this is a helmet that gets genuinely dirty rather than merely dusty — trail spray, insects and road film all show. 🔵 It cleans up completely; it just will not stay clean on a trip.

The X-Matrix2 shell and the X-Foam bumpers

X-Matrix2 is a six-layer fibreglass composite, and it is worth understanding what that buys against carbon: comparable strength, more weight, considerably less cost, and a shell that is easier to repair cosmetically because it is painted rather than exposed.

The X-Foam EPP bumper layer over the lower shell and chin is identical to the carbon versions — that is not where Nexx economised.

The Recoil visor, and the two shields in the box

🔵 Two visors in the box is unusual and worth pricing into the comparison: a clear one with the Pinlock 200 XLT MaxVision lens already fitted, and a photochromic shield that darkens with UV and clears again at dusk.

On a helmet with no drop-down sun shield, that photochromic visor is the sun protection — and it is included rather than sold separately.

Nine intakes — and two tests that disagree about them

🔵 The most contested specification on this helmet. Nexx fits 9 intakes and 6 exhausts plus an Air Cumbs chamber; a measured road test scored the cooling 2 out of 5 on a 3 °C delta; a second hands-on review described the airflow as comparable to an open-face helmet.

Our reading: it moves plenty of air at speed and less than the vent count suggests when you are slow and working hard. Judge it on your own riding.

How loud it actually is

🔵 A peak is an aerofoil, and at motorway speed it generates both noise and lift. No adventure helmet escapes that. What this one offers is a properly designed peakless mode rather than a helmet with a part missing.

Measured: 103 dB, scored 3/5 for noise in an independent road test.

Interior, hydration routing and fit

🔵 The hydration routing on the X-HIDRO cheek pads is the detail that marks this out as a helmet designed by people who ride long days off-road. The tube is held where it can be reached without letting go of the bars, rather than flapping loose or being tucked into a collar.

The liner around it is a dust- and sand-shielding 3D mesh, fully removable and washable.

1475 grams, and the rest of the honest list

🔵 A note on published weights. Nexx quotes 1475 g for this shell and 1350 g for the carbon one. An independent scale weighing of the carbon X.RALLY in size M returned 1553 g — some 200 g over.

We have not seen the composite version weighed. Expect it to be heavier than 1475 g rather than lighter, and judge the two shells by the 125 g gap between them rather than by the absolute numbers.

Where it sits — and who should buy something else

Two Nexx helmets cover adventure riding and they are not interchangeable. The X.RALLY was developed for hard enduro and adapted for the road; the X.WED3 was developed as an adventure tourer. The peak, the aperture and the ventilation all follow from that difference.

🔵 Choose by the surface you actually ride, not by the bike you own.

Intercom, camera mounts and spare parts

🔵 „Universal ready" is the right approach on an adventure helmet, because riders arrive with the intercom they already own. Ear recesses take standard speakers without pressing, and a mount slot holds the unit — no brand lock-in.

The POV camera kit is a separate accessory: top, side and a four-position chin mount.

In the box

• Nexx X.RALLY helmet — Plain White (X-Matrix2 shell)
• Clear visor with Pinlock® 200 XLT MaxVision anti-fog lens fitted
• Photochromic shield
• Peak, fitted
• Removable chin-strap covers
• 🔵 No goggles — Off-Road mode assumes you already have a pair
• 🔵 No intercom and no camera mount kit — the helmet is prepared for both; both are separate purchases

Size guide

Specification

• Model — Nexx X.RALLY
• Part number — 01XRL00527018
• Colour — Plain White — Gloss white, X-Matrix2 shell
• Homologation — ECE 22-06 (UN) · DOT FMVSS 218 · CCC GB811:2022 · NBR7471:2015
• Safety rating — 🔴 none — SHARP has not tested the X.RALLY; no ADAC or Snell result either
• Helmet type — Adventure / hard enduro — converts between Dual-Sport, Off-Road and On-Road
• Shell — X-Matrix2 — six-layer fibreglass composite; three outer shell sizes (XXS–S / M–L / XL–XXXL)
• Weight — 1475 g claimed by Nexx — 🔴 not independently weighed; the carbon version measured 200 g over its own claim
• Sizes — XXS to XXXL (eight sizes)
• Impact protection — EPS liner plus X-Foam EPP bumpers across the entire lower shell including the chin
• Visor — Recoil Visor System — spring-loaded base plates tensioning against dual-lip beads; works independently of the peak mount; tool-free
• Supplied optics — clear visor with Pinlock® 200 XLT MaxVision lens fitted, plus a photochromic shield
• Sun visor — none — the supplied photochromic shield takes its place
• Ventilation — 9 intakes / 6 exhausts, cheek-pad ventilation, mid air chamber, Air Cumbs cooling chamber, dedicated winter chin vent
• 🔴 Ventilation, measured — contested — one road test measured a 3 °C delta and scored it 2/5; another described the airflow as „like an open-face helmet"
• Noise, measured — 103 dB, scored 3/5 in an independent road test (peak fitted)
• Comfort, measured — 3.5/5; fit found true to size, intermediate-to-long oval; a second review called the interior „spacious"
• Interior — 3D-mesh liner shielding against dust and sand; X-HIDRO cheek pads with hydration-tube routing; removable chin-strap covers
• Retention — Pearaluman aluminium-magnesium double-D ring with X-LOCK magnetic strap catch
• Communication — universal-intercom ready — ear recesses and a mount slot; no system supplied
• Camera — optional POV kit with top, side and four-position chin mounts — sold separately
• Other — moulded night-vision reflectors

• 1x helmet (X-Matrix2, three shell sizes)
• 1x Pinlock 120 XLT MaxVision anti-fog lens (fitted)
• 1x clear visor + 1x photochromic shield
• 1x peak + peak extensor + extra screws
• POV camera mounts (top / side / chin)
• Wind deflector, road covers, visor-mechanism covers, visor bag, winter filter