Mekarium is the OXO's most graphic decor, and this version runs it in black with a diagonal red panel and brushed-metal-effect chrome lines cutting across the shell. It is still, underneath the artwork, the same Flip-Up helmet as the plain Blank shell: undo the chin catches and the whole lower bar rotates up and locks flat to the crown, moving the helmet between a certified closed configuration and a certified open one without removing anything.

A closer look at this decor

Shark's price list calls this colourway Black Chrom Red, and the photography backs both halves of that up: the red diagonal is a genuine bold red, not a muted maroon, and the chrome lines carry a real brushed-metal shimmer rather than reading as flat grey — enough to justify Silver rather than Grey as the accent colour here. Gloss black underneath keeps the two accent colours legible instead of competing with a busy base shade.

Not a jet helmet with extra steps

It's worth being direct about this: the OXO is not an open-face or jet helmet dressed up with a chin piece. The chin bar is a structural, hinged part of the same shell, held down by two locking catches and released to rotate up and back over the crown when you want an open configuration. The helmet that leaves the factory closed is the same helmet, mechanically, when it's open — nothing is removed, stowed, or left behind at a fuel stop.

Why P/J is the number that matters

On a full-face helmet, ECE 22.06 tells the whole story. On a flip-up, it's the P/J suffix that tells you whether the open configuration is actually approved for road use, or just physically possible. Shark states the OXO carries that dual approval. 22.06 itself replaced the older 22.05 standard across the EU in 2024, moving from five impact points to eighteen, adding multiple impact speeds, an oblique-anvil test, and a rotational Brain Injury Criterion that wasn't measured before.

The shell-size split, and what it means for the visor

Six helmet sizes, two shells: Shark doesn't scale one mould across the whole OXO range, it swaps to a larger shell partway through. The VZ390 visor family is built the same way — every tint comes as a small-shell part and a separate large-shell part, both listed individually rather than as one universal fit. Buying the right tint is only half the job; the shell size has to match too.

The gap between the lightest figure and the real one

Every weight Shark publishes for the OXO — 1,660 g — is for the smallest shell it comes in. Independent weighings tell a fuller story: SHARP's own test recorded close to 1.7 kg, and MotorcycleNews's review unit weighed in at 1,880 g. That's a spread of more than 200 g between the manufacturer's headline figure and the heaviest independently measured one, a difference worth knowing before assuming your own helmet will feel like the number on the box.

Neighbours on the price ladder

Two genuine Shark 2027 helmets sit immediately either side of this OXO on price. Both are full-face, which is worth noting on its own — a flip-up costing roughly the same as a full-face is buying mechanism, not giving anything up:

Vents you can feel, noise you can't quantify yet

The OXO's ventilation, as far as Shark documents it, is a chin vent and a brow vent, each a simple on/off switch — no published exhaust count, so none is stated here. On noise, riding open through town produced no complaints in one independent test; a second review expects overall quiet performance while noting that Shark's earlier modular helmets sometimes weren't, at motorway speeds. Neither source measures an actual decibel figure, closed or open.

The visor range at a glance

Standard on every OXO: a clear, all-user VZ390 visor with a Pinlock 70 insert already fitted, adjustable tension, and an anti-scratch surface. The wider VZ390 catalogue adds a TE50 light tint approved for daytime road use, and a five-shade Iridium range for racing use only — not something to fit for a road ride. No optical class is published for this visor family, a gap worth noting rather than papering over.

The everyday list, and where it stops

Drop-down sun visor, intercom-ready shell, tool-free visor swaps, a glasses groove in the liner — four confirmed everyday features, matched between SHARP's listing and Shark's own page. The interior removes for cleaning, but no source states it's washable, and no pad-size range is published, so this description ends where the evidence does rather than filling in the rest. SHARP's four-star rating dates from May 2025.

Who this decor suits

Mekarium in black and red leans Sport and Street rather than Touring: the bolder graphic and the chrome-effect panelling read as a more aggressive, road-and-B-road-oriented choice, even though the mechanism underneath is identical to the plainest Blank colourway. It suits a rider who wants the flip-back convenience without the visual restraint of the Dark Shadow or Blank lines — still not a track helmet, but a livelier one for spirited road riding.

Why the shell split matters for fit, not just weight

The same two-shell construction that changes the visor part number can change how the OXO actually sits on your head, since a larger shell isn't simply a scaled-up small one. One independent tester described the internal shape as oval-leaning, and too oval for their own head specifically — a personal, subjective finding, but a real one, and worth weighing if your own head shape tends toward round rather than oval.

Sixteen visors, two versions of each

Clear, TE50 light tint, and five Iridium finishes make up Shark's sixteen-strong official visor range for the OXO, priced from around EUR 31 to EUR 85 — and every tint exists twice, once for the small shell and once for the large. The same applies to the Pinlock 70 insert, confirmed with two separate part numbers on an independent range-book page. Get the shell size wrong and the tint choice doesn't matter.

Four things this helmet doesn't have or hasn't proven

No MIPS. No EQRS emergency-release cheek pads. No published decibel figure, open or closed. And a fit that at least one independent reviewer found too oval for their own head. SHARP's four-star rating is real and worth taking seriously, but it's a single May 2025 test result, not a lifetime guarantee. None of this disqualifies the OXO — it just belongs in the description, not left for the rider to discover later.

In the box, and covered for five years

Shark covers the OXO for five years and keeps spares actually available across that period, not just on paper. It ships with its clear VZ390 visor mounted, a Pinlock 70 insert already fitted, and the internal drop-down sun visor ready to use immediately.