Dark Shadow keeps the Blank's matte black base but adds Shark's low-contrast tonal treatment: a subtle raised-texture pattern across the shell, visible mainly at an angle or under direct light rather than a printed graphic competing for attention. Shark's own line describes it as raw power draped in dark elegance, and the effect is exactly that understated — closer to a finish than a decoration, for riders who want more presence than the plain Blank without a loud graphic. Worn next to the brighter decors later in this line, Dark Shadow reads as the quieter, more versatile option for a rider who wants the Spartan RS shape and spec without a graphic that dates or clashes with a future bike change.

The matte tonal finish

The base coat is the same matte black as the Blank decor, with a tone-on-tone pattern worked into the same colour rather than contrasted against it, so the graphic reads through texture and light rather than a second paint colour. It photographs differently by light source — flat under overcast sky, more visibly patterned under direct sun or a garage spotlight.

About the Dark Shadow name

Dark Shadow is not unique to this helmet: Shark runs it as a recurring family name across several models, with its own dedicated microsite (dark-shadow.shark-helmets.com) describing it as built for what the brand calls dark motorbikers. On the Spartan RS specifically it takes the form of a tonal, texture-based graphic rather than a printed pattern, distinguishing it from the brighter decors elsewhere in this line.

ECE 22.06, and why it matters here

Dark Shadow's matte shell is certified to ECE 22.06, mandatory across the EU since January 2024 for any newly homologated helmet. The jump from 22.05 is substantial: five impact points become eighteen, one test speed becomes several, and a new oblique-impact test against an abrasive anvil specifically loads the shell with a twisting force rather than a straight drop. A rotational Brain Injury Criterion is measured for the first time, and the certificate covers the complete helmet as worn, Pinlock fitted.

What the fibre shell buys you, and what it doesn't

Under the matte black-on-black graphic, Dark Shadow uses the same multiaxial composite fibre shell as the rest of this line — cross-laid glass fibre rather than a carbon weave. Compared to the carbon Spartan RS sold alongside it, the certification, closure, EPS liner and visor family are all identical; the carbon version trades roughly 45 to 75 grams at the first shell size and a different look under the coat for a higher price, not a safety upgrade this fibre shell is missing.

What 1500 g means over a riding day

The manufacturer figure for Dark Shadow at the first shell size is 1500 g; one independent test unit weighed a touch more, 1530 g. Either number is ordinary for a full-face fibre helmet, and what matters more than the exact gram count is that the weight is carried by the neck continuously through every lean, brake and head-check across a ride, not held statically like luggage.

How air moves through Dark Shadow

A chin-bar intake angled at the visor and a forehead intake supply air, exhausted through a permanently open vent in the rear spoiler. Reviewers rate the sliders as easy to operate with gloved hands, though without detent clicks fine adjustment is done by feel rather than a defined click-stop. Overall it is enough to keep the visor from fogging in normal use, without being singled out as exceptional.

Sun visor and outer visor, Dark Shadow

The internal drop-down sun visor covers most of the face and holds its own detente positions, praised in independent tests. Outside it, the VZ300 visor is optical class 1, tapering from 2.8 mm to 2.2 mm, anchored at four points with a central grip-and-lock, anti-scratch coated, and pre-fitted with a clear Pinlock 120 insert rather than requiring a separate purchase.

Handling the visor day to day

Tool-free removal applies to Dark Shadow's visor exactly as it does across the rest of the line, via the same four-point lock. Swapping to a spare or tinted visor is a couple of minutes' work rather than a workshop job, and the anti-scratch coating ships as standard rather than a paid extra.

Comms compatibility, Dark Shadow

As with the rest of the range, the shell recess at the cheek pad accepts Shark's Sharktooth intercom or a SENA For SHARK unit without an external bracket. It ships without a comms unit fitted — the compatibility is built in, the hardware is bought separately.

Sizing across the range, Dark Shadow

The size run spans XS to XXL on two shell sizes, split around the middle — fewer shells than some reviewers consider ideal, worth knowing before ordering at either extreme. What they praise instead is the rounder internal fit, singled out as suiting heads that find Shoei or Arai too oval, plus cheek pads that can be changed independently for a tighter or looser feel.

On wind noise, Dark Shadow

Shark does not publish a decibel rating for this decor. Independent accounts differ slightly: one calls the noise unremarkable and appropriate at legal speeds on sport and naked bikes alike; another notes, without measuring it, that the missing neck roll compared to the older Spartan GT could mean more wind noise at motorway speed. Both are left here as reported, not reconciled into a single figure.

Replacement parts, Dark Shadow

A scratched visor on this Dark Shadow decor is covered by Shark's standing spare-visor listing for the Spartan RS range. Because the VZ300 visor is shared with the Spartan RS Carbon and the Spartan GT Pro Carbon, replacement tints and clear visors stay in production for as long as any of those three lines are current.

Where this sits in Shark's own range

At 389.99 EUR, Dark Shadow sits at the top of the fibre range's own price band. For context against Shark's own current lineup rather than a rival brand:

Limitations, honestly

Because the pattern is tonal rather than high-contrast, it reads as close to plain from a distance and in flat lighting, which riders shopping specifically for a graphic decor may find underwhelming next to the brighter options later in this line. Wind noise has no manufacturer decibel figure and the shell comes in two sizes rather than three, unchanged from the rest of the range.