If you want to know what changed between the AGV Pista GP RR and this Pista GP RR S, look at the back of the helmet. The new EVO Spoiler is the headline of the model, and on the Intrepido Matt Carbon in black and silver there is nothing bright to distract from it: a graphite chevron graphic runs from the crown down over the cheeks, the spoiler is black, and the whole thing is finished in matt.

The EVO Spoiler is the reason the model changed its name

AGV has redrawn the rear aerofoil. The EVO Spoiler replaces the PRO Spoiler of the outgoing helmet, it is listed as a part in its own right, and it attaches with plastic screws rather than being bonded into the shell.

A spoiler on a race helmet does two jobs at once. It manages the low-pressure wake behind the shell, which is where buffeting comes from when you move your head behind a screen, and it applies a small downward and rearward load that counteracts the lift a helmet generates at speed. Riders describe the result as the helmet sitting still rather than as the helmet feeling fast, and that is the correct description: the gain is stability, not speed.

The plastic screws are as important as the shape. In a slide, a fixed aerofoil is a hook that can catch on a kerb, a rumble strip or the edge of the run-off and rotate the head violently. Fasteners designed to shear let the spoiler leave the helmet instead. AGV supplies replacements in clear, smoke, white, black and matt black, so losing one is a parts order and not a new helmet.

Race suit fitment and the collarbone profile

Two other lines in the aerodynamics section of AGV's specification are easy to skim past. The helmet is cut for race suit fitment, meaning the lower shell is shaped to clear the raised collar and the aerodynamic hump of a one-piece leather suit rather than to sit on a jacket collar.

The second is the collarbone safe profile: the rear lower edge of the shell is drawn in so that when the head is forced backwards and down, the shell rides past the collarbone rather than into it. Both of these explain why the helmet feels slightly unusual on a textile jacket, and why it feels exactly right when you are in leathers and tucked in.

Metal vents, and why they are metal

Five intakes at the front, two extractors at the rear, all of them in metal alloy rather than moulded plastic. On the leading edge of a helmet at track speed a plastic scoop can flex, and a flexing scoop both loses airflow and generates noise. Metal holds its shape.

The intakes feed channels cut through the EPS liner, which is the difference between a helmet that ventilates and a helmet that simply has holes in the shell. What you do not get is a glove-operated slider on any of them. They run open. Vent covers are supplied in the box to blank the intakes off for cold or wet sessions, fitted in the garage rather than on the move.

The Intrepido graphic in black and silver

Intrepido is the understated end of the Pista GP RR S range. The chevron pattern is laid down in graphite and silver over matt carbon, with no contrast colour anywhere on the helmet, so the design reads as texture from a few metres away and only resolves into a pattern up close.

Matt finishes need a lighter touch than gloss. Oil from fingers and sun cream sit on the surface rather than beading off, and scrubbing at a satin clear coat burnishes it into a permanent shiny patch. Warm water, mild soap, no pressure and no polish will keep it looking as it does in these photographs for years.

What the helmet weighs and what that costs you

AGV quotes 1,500 grams in the first shell size, which is the smallest of the four shells. It is a mid-field figure for a full-face race helmet, not a class-leading one, and it is worth being clear about that at this price.

Where the aerodynamic work earns the weight back is in how that mass behaves. A helmet that lifts and yaws in a slipstream loads the neck far harder than a heavier helmet that sits still, which is why the spoiler and the shell profile matter more on a long session than the number on the box does.

What E2206 DOT MPLK on the label means

AGV's own designation for this helmet is E2206 DOT MPLK. E2206 is the European ECE 22.06 homologation, DOT is the American federal standard, and MPLK identifies the visor as prepared for the MaxPinlock system, which is why a Pinlock 120XLT MaxVision insert is included rather than sold separately.

ECE 22.06 has applied to all new helmets in the EU since January 2024. Compared with the standard it replaced it raises the number of impact points from five to as many as eighteen, tests at more than one speed, and adds an angled impact against an abrasive anvil that measures rotational acceleration instead of only linear deceleration.

Where it sits against the rest of our race shelf

Read that table as a question about what you are buying. Four shell sizes, a shell in carbon alone, a 5 mm optical class 1 visor, a titanium double-D ring and an accessory pack in the box are on the AGV side. A lighter helmet with an FIM certificate for half the money is on the other.

The limits, stated plainly

This helmet is not FIM homologated. ECE 22.06 and DOT cover road use and every track day, but they are not the FIM FRHPhe certificate that licensed racing increasingly demands. That is the single most important thing to check before ordering if you hold a competition licence.

There is no drop-down sun visor. There are no speaker recesses or cable channels for an intercom. There is no groove for spectacle arms in the cheek pads. And the helmet is loud: no measured decibel figure exists for this model, we are not going to invent one, and the construction alone tells you that permanently open metal intakes and a wide aperture make noise. Earplugs are not optional on a helmet like this.

Parts, now and later

The wear parts carry over from the Pista GP RR and the Corsa R: visor mechanism kit, visor hook repair kit, breath deflector, wind protector, crown pads, cheek pads, fit customisation kit, hydration system. The Race 3 MPLK visor range fits as well, which is why clear, smoke, 50 per cent, rainbow and five iridium mirrors are already on the shelf for a helmet this new.

Sizing

Measure the widest circumference of your head about a centimetre above the eyebrows and read the size off the chart linked on this page. Expect a close race fit at the cheeks on the first wear. If the answer falls between two sizes, riders using the helmet mainly on circuit generally take the smaller one; the customisation kit in the box lets you adjust either way afterwards.

In the box

• AGV Pista GP RR S helmet, Intrepido Matt Carbon/Black/Silver
• Race 3 MPLK clear visor, fitted
• Pinlock 120XLT MaxVision insert
• Interiors customisation kit: top crown pad, rear crown pad, cheek pads
• Tear-off kit
• Vent covers
• Removable nose guard and wind protector
• Helmet bag and documentation

Specification

• Model — AGV Pista GP RR S
• Part number — 21183D9017004
• Colour and finish — Intrepido Matt Carbon/Black/Silver
• Homologation — ECE 22.06 and DOT (AGV designation E2206 DOT MPLK)
• Helmet type — Full-face racing helmet, road legal
• Shell — 100% carbon fibre, four shell sizes
• Liner — Five-density EPS in four sizes, collarbone safe profile
• Weight — 1,500 g in the first shell size
• Sizes — XS to XXL
• Visor — Race 3 MPLK, 5 mm, optical class 1, 190 degrees horizontal, 85 degrees vertical, metal mechanism, visor lock, micro-opening, Extra Quick Release System
• Anti-fog — Pinlock 120XLT MaxVision included
• Aerodynamics — Detachable EVO Spoiler, race suit fitment
• Retention — Titanium double-D ring

• 1x AGV Pista GP RR S helmet
• 1x Race 3 MPLK clear visor, fitted
• 1x Pinlock 120XLT MaxVision insert
• 1x Interiors customisation kit: top crown pad, rear crown pad, cheek pads
• 1x Tear-off kit
• 1x Set of vent covers