Light Sand is the desert colourway — bronze over beige, the palette of the terrain rather than of the bike. It is the most unusual finish in the X.RALLY range and the only one that is genuinely earth-toned.

Three modes in one shell

Dual-Sport is the mode the helmet ships in and the one that suits European riding: peak for low sun and spray, visor for weather and speed, winter chin vent for the cold months. Off-Road and On-Road are both a minute away from it.

🔵 Goggles are not supplied — Off-Road mode assumes you already have a pair.

About the YUMA Light Sand graphic

Sand and bronze do something no other finish here manages: they hide dust completely, because dust is what they are the colour of. On a long trip through dry country that is not a small advantage — the helmet looks the same on day nine as on day one, which no white or black shell does. The compromise is conspicuity in exactly the environment where earth tones stop helping, which is a wet European road in November. 🔵 If your riding is mostly northern and mostly tarmac, one of the brighter versions does more for you. If it is dry, dusty and remote, this is the one that will still look right at the end.

The X-Matrix2 shell and the X-Foam bumpers

Nexx builds this helmet in two constructions and this is the composite one: X-Matrix2, six layers of fibreglass, 1475 g claimed. It is 125 g heavier than the carbon version on paper and identical in every other respect.

🔵 Both share the X-Foam EPP bumper layer over the lower shell and chin, and both carry the same four homologations.

The Recoil visor, and the two shields in the box

Fogging is the adventure rider's real optical problem rather than glare, because so much of the riding happens at speeds too low to clear a visor by airflow. Nexx's answer is to fit the Pinlock 200 XLT MaxVision lens at the factory rather than sell it.

🔵 The lens is a consumable — the silicone seal loses grip and the surface clouds after a few seasons.

Nine intakes — and two tests that disagree about them

Cheek-pad ventilation is worth singling out because so few helmets have it. Air entering at the cheeks reaches the lower half of the head, which is the part a crown-only system never cools — and it is where an adventure rider working hard feels the heat first.

🔵 The system overall was measured at a 3 °C delta and scored 2/5 in one test, and praised in another. Both are documented.

How loud it actually is

🔵 A quiet adventure helmet would be a badly ventilated one. The openings that let this helmet breathe are the same openings that let noise in, and no design escapes that trade — it is why touring helmets have fewer vents and adventure helmets have more.

Measured: 103 dB, 3/5. Middle of the field for a peaked helmet.

Interior, hydration routing and fit

Comfort scored 3.5 out of 5 in the measured road test and was described as „remarkably comfortable, spacious inside" in a second hands-on review. Both point the same way: roomy rather than tight, which suits long days.

🔵 Roomy also means it is worth checking the fit properly — a helmet that can be rotated by hand is too big, whatever the tape says.

1475 grams, and the rest of the honest list

🔵 If weight is your deciding factor, buy the carbon. If it is not, this shell gives you the same approvals, the same three modes, the same Recoil visor, the same X-Foam bumpers and the same interior for considerably less money.

The difference on paper is 125 g — 1475 g against 1350 g, both as published by Nexx.

Where it sits — and who should buy something else

🔵 The honest comparison against Nexx's own touring helmets. The X.LIFETOUR and X.LIFECOUNTRY are flip-up helmets built for road distance; the X.TR is a sport-touring full-face. All three are quieter than this one and none of them takes goggles.

The X.RALLY is the one to buy if the surface changes during the ride.

Intercom, camera mounts and spare parts

The peak is the part most likely to need replacing on any adventure helmet, because it is the part that projects and the part that catches. It is separately available, and refitting it takes about a minute without tools.

Also stocked: visors, the photochromic shield, Pinlock 200 XLT MaxVision lenses, cheek pads, liners and chin-strap covers.

In the box

• Nexx X.RALLY helmet — YUMA Light Sand (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 — 01XRL56526386
• Colour — YUMA Light Sand — Graphic on X-Matrix2, bronze / beige
• 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