Please note: sale to France is prohibited.

A metallic that does not shine is a contradiction resolved by process rather than by pigment, and it is the most technically interesting finish in the GT-Air3 range. In flat light it reads as deep charcoal; in direct sun the flake wakes up and it becomes unmistakably blue.

Five stars from SHARP — and which GT-Air earned them

🔵 Worth stating clearly because the names are close. There are three generations of GT-Air, and SHARP has rated two of them: the original at three stars and the GT-Air3 at five. If you find a rating for this helmet online, check which generation it refers to before drawing a conclusion from it.

The five-star result is dated June 2024 and applies to this helmet.

About the Matt Blue Metallic finish

The reason matt metallics are rare is that the two effects fight each other. A metallic depends on light entering a clear layer, reflecting off suspended aluminium flake and returning to the eye; a matt surface exists to scatter light before it gets that far. Achieving both means controlling the matting agent so it diffuses the surface without killing the depth beneath — a narrow window that cheap paint processes miss, which is why budget matt metallics look chalky. Done properly, as here, the helmet changes character between weather conditions more than any gloss finish does. Practically it behaves like the other matt finishes, with one advantage: a mid-dark blue sits closer in tone to road film than black, so it shows a wet week less.

What ECE 22.06 actually tests

Worth a paragraph rather than a table row, because most shops leave it as one. Under ECE 22.06 the shell is struck at up to eighteen points at more than one speed, then dropped onto an anvil set at an angle and faced with abrasive paper while instruments record how fast the head rotates.

That figure is compared against the Brain Injury Criterion — a limit European regulation did not previously set.

AIM, three shells, and the EQRS release

Multi-density EPS deserves more than a bullet point. The impact liner is not one uniform block of polystyrene but several grades assembled together, each placed where its absorption characteristics do most good — which is how a single helmet copes with both a high-energy crash and a low-speed knock.

Around it, an AIM shell of fibreglass and organic fibres, in three sizes.

CNS-1C and QSV-2 — the two screens

The detent mechanism on the CNS-1C is self-adjusting and contoured, which matters more than it sounds. A visor latched to one side opens with a twisting motion that loads the mechanism unevenly; this one opens square, in stages, and holds each position rather than creeping shut at speed.

The first position is a stable gap-width opening — enough air to clear a misting screen without catching wind.

Air in, air out, and why it is quiet

Wind noise on a helmet comes from turbulence at the shell's edges and from air entering at the neck and the vents. The GT-Air3's answer is shape: integrated spoiler edges that manage the wake, a smoothed visor-to-shell transition that removes a step, and a slimmer chin area that presents less to the airstream.

Testers reliably rate it among the quietest touring helmets — and the ventilation still works.

Interior, glasses and talking to the helmet

An interior that comes out and goes into a washing machine matters more than it sounds. A liner absorbs sweat and hair oils, and those break down the foam chemically as well as making the helmet smell — a liner washed twice a season lasts markedly longer than one that never is.

Centre pad, cheek pads, ear pads and chin strap cover all detach on this helmet.

Where it sits in Shoei's range

Worth naming the trade against the Neotec 3 precisely, since it is the decision most people are making. The modular lets you eat, drink, talk and clear a border post without removing the helmet. The full-face is lighter, cheaper, and has one fewer mechanical joint running across the strongest part of the shell.

Both hold five SHARP stars, which is what makes the choice a matter of format rather than of safety.

Around 1700 grams, and the rest of the honest list

Price belongs on the honest list. This is an expensive helmet, and expense does not reliably track measured protection. What the money buys here is the combination rather than any single specification: rating, acoustics, sun visor, three shell tools, EQRS, and a parts programme that keeps the helmet serviceable for years.

The costs are around 1700 g and an SRL3 that does not come in the box.

When something wears out

Six CNS-1C tints are available: clear, mellow smoke, dark smoke, and Spectra mirrors in silver, blue and rainbow. Worth planning as a pair rather than one at a time — a clear screen for winter and night riding, something tinted or mirrored for summer, swapped in under a minute.

The Pinlock lens is pinned to a single screen and does not migrate between them.

In the box

• Shoei GT-Air3 helmet — Matt Blue Metallic
• Pinlock® EVO anti-fog lens
• Breath guard and chin curtain
• Helmet bag, manual and ECE approval documentation

Size guide

Specification

• Model — Shoei GT-Air3
• Part number — 11.20.029.2
• Colour — Matt Blue Metallic — Matt blue metallic
• Homologation — ECE 22.06
• Safety rating — SHARP 5 of 5 stars (tested June 2024) — the first-generation GT-Air scored 3
• Helmet type — Full-face, sport-touring
• Shell — AIM (Advanced Integrated Matrix) — fibreglass and organic fibres; three shell sizes (XS–M / L / XL–XXL)
• Weight — approx. 1700 g (Shoei figure; independent measurements vary with size and finish)
• Sizes — XS to XXL (six sizes)
• Visor — CNS-1C, tool-free quick-change, staged detent with gap-width first position, blocks over 99 % of UV; six tints available
• Anti-fog — Pinlock® EVO lens supplied
• Visor tints available — clear, mellow smoke, dark smoke, Spectra silver, Spectra blue, Spectra rainbow
• Sun visor — QSV-2, integrated, stepless, glove-friendly slider, EN 1836; optional yellow contrast version
• Impact liner — multi-density EPS assembled from elements of differing absorption
• Retention — micro-ratchet chin strap
• Emergency system — EQRS — Emergency Quick Release System for the cheek pads
• Ventilation — intakes into the airstream, high-placed exhausts, removable insect filter in the lower front vent
• Interior — contoured centre pads, 3D pre-shaped cheek pads, removable ear pads, chin strap cover — removable and washable, several thicknesses
• Head shape — intermediate oval
• Communication — SHOEI COMLINK with pre-routed cabling and recesses for the SENA SRL3 Mesh (sold separately)
• Serviceability — visor, sun visor, all pads and the Pinlock lens available as separate parts

• 1x helmet
• 1x clear CNS-1C visor (pre-fitted)
• 1x Pinlock EVO anti-fog lens
• 1x set of spare pins
• 1x maintenance tool
• 1x breath guard