Review / Schuberth C5

Photo: Zac Kurylyk

About a decade back, I rode across the US on a Harley-Davidson; I wanted to see as much of the country as I could, and did a pretty good job of that, sending home a set of wide-eyed road reports to the mag I was writing for at that time. The Harley itself was probably the defining component of that trip, but another piece of gear became near and dear to my heart: My Schuberth C3 Pro helmet. After a month of the road with little planning ahead, sleeping behind gas stations and on Wal-Mart traffic islands, I had no personal space I could really call my own, except for the few cubic centimeters of space behind my helmet’s face shield. Along the way. the Schuberth gave me the only privacy I had from Toronto to Arizona and back—but it also connected me to the towns I rode through, as I tuned into local radio via the built-in communicator’s FM function. By the time I got home, I had really gained a lot of appreciation for that helmet, despite a few niggles.

So, this spring, when Schuberth wanted to know if they could send me a new C5 helmet to try out, I said yes. I was curious to see how much the company had improved its flagship flip-front offering. The end result? I was very pleased to see the latest C-series helmet is better in every way.

Safety first! Along with a safety rating for both open- and closed-face positions, the C5 also comes available in fluorescent yellow, if you want extra visibility. Photo: Schuberth

The C5 is a modular helmet made to meet Europe’s latest ECE-R 22.06 safety standard, including P/J double homologation, which means it’s safety-rated with the front flipped up or flipped down. The shell is constructed from fiberglass using special processes to keep weight down while maintaining strength; to provide extra strength, Schuberth adds carbon-fiber reinforcement.

You might wonder how much improvement Schuberth can build into this helmet, aside from meeting new safety standards. After all, the C-series has been around a long time. Schuberth says the C5 is the result of “20,000 engineering hours , of 2000 tested helmets in SCHUBERTH environmental and wind test lab, and more than 400 hours of real world test rides on German roads.” With another 200 hours in Schuberth’s in-house aerodynamic testing tunnel, Schuberth says it’s managed to get in-helmet noise down to 85 dB at 100 km/h on a naked bike, a very impressive claim!

There are other improvements. Schuberth uses a new internal padding design to allow more customization for individual riders. The ventilation is overhauled, with new dual-vent intake in the chinbar and a redesigned exhaust port under a spoiler at the back of the helmet. Schuberth also includes a new SC2 communication system with Mesh 2.0 connectability (this is actually based on Sena’s latest-generation comm systems). As with previous Schuberths, this SC2 system comes pre-wired into the helmet. The owner simply has to install the comm’s main module on the back of the helmet and the remote on the side of the helmet, clicking them into place.

The opening latch for the flip-front is at the middle of the chinbar, as always, and the micro-ratchet chin strap also returns. Photo: Zac Kurylyk

Other familiar features return, including the quick-detach chinstrap working in conjunction with the Anti-Roll-Off-System, which locks the helmet onto your head in case of a crash. There’s also a drop-down internal sun shield, like previous C-series helmets; under the new Euro helmet regulations, that sun shield is now tested for impact resistance and optical clarity.

This helmet may look a lot like previous-generation C-series helmets, and have similar features, but all the good things about those helmets are supposed to be incrementally improved on this latest iteration. Did it actually work out like that?

After several weeks of testing, including thousands of kilometers at everything from highway speeds to gravel roads to urban riding and everything in between, I can say the Schuberth C5 really is a great all-round helmet, but it’s especially good in the touring role.

Schuberth’s new, cool Globe paint scheme (also comes in a blue/white version of this graphic). This isn’t an ADV helmet, but this is a cool travel graphic! Photo: Schuberth

There are many things to like about the helmet, but the thing I liked most is: It’s quiet. Really, really quiet.

I always take manufacturers’ claims of in-helmet decibel ratings with a grain of salt, especially because no manufacturer can test every bike in the market in all wind conditions. However, I’ve just returned from a trip to Newfoundland aboard a KTM 690 Enduro, and before that, I had a ride around the Maritimes on the same bike. You can’t get a motorcycle much more naked than that. And, at the end of every day’s ride, I will say that I had none of the usual ringing in my ears I get from most helmets after an all-day ride, despite carefully wearing custom earplugs.

I’m not saying you’d get the same results, depending on your bike and other factors, but I will say that if you plan to do long, hard miles, you should at least consider this helmet in order to protect your hearing. YMMV, but it’s a big deal to me. The soundproofing is much-improved from previous models.

The face shield is also improved in some ways, although I wasn’t 100 percent impressed. On my old C3 Pro, the helmet’s face shield would close automatically as wind speed increased. The C5 will do the same, but you can leave it open for a bit more airflow than the old C3 Pro system (Schuberth calls this the “city position”). However, I will say that the detents that allowed this system to function did feel a bit chintzy. They were the only part of the helmet that I thought felt weak. I had no trouble with them, to be clear, I just thought they could have been more robust.

There’s an air filter hiding behind that air vent on the chin guard. I don’t know that it makes a lot of difference in street riding, but if you live in a dusty area, I’m sure it helps. Photo: Schuberth

Some riders will be annoyed by this auto-closure system, and I could do without it, to be honest. But while it was annoying on the old C3 Pro, the C5’s improved ventilation made it much less of a frustration. Despite riding on the hottest days of the summer here on Canada’s east coast, I felt the helmet had much improved airflow over previous designs. Maybe I’d feel different in a scorcher in the American South, but the new design works for me.

All told, then, a very easy helmet to live with, and I’d recommend it to anyone who was looking for something in this price range (~$750 US at online retailers). But I’d also warn you—make sure it fits.

When I had the C3 Pro, I had a size XL helmet with an L liner, a common trick in those days for riders “in between” sizes. That got the fit pretty close, but the front-to-back shape was never quite right.

This is the quietest helmet I’ve ridden in yet. I expect to use it for long-distance touring for years to come. Photo: Schuberth

This time, I ordered the C5 in size L, and even though I was just on the edge of XL sizing, the L turned out to be a perfect fit—except, like my C3 Pro, the head shape was a little bit off. It wasn’t as noticeable as before, but I think I would have been disappointed, if I’d bought this without trying it on. This is an important lesson; learn your head shape, and buy helmets designed for that shape. While the side-fit is adjustable with Schuberth’s new system, the helmet is still overall made for a certain shape, and your head might not be that shape.

In the past, the C-series helmets were designed for round heads; in recent years, Schuberth stretched that shape out a bit, but it’s still not quite to the intermediate oval shape, I don’t think. But it’s better than before, and I only noticed it on the longest day I rode, when I was in the saddle from morning until well after dark.

Schuberth considers the SC2 comm an important part of the helmet system, and I was glad they shipped one with the helmet, as many customers will be adding this as well.

What to expect? Basically, it’s an easy-to-install Sena comm, but without the handy “jog dial” that Sena is so famous for. I’m not sure why Schuberth went with a button interface instead, but it’s not tricky to figure out, if you have any experience with these systems at all. My only beef with the interface was that sometimes the remote control seemed reluctant to sync up with the main communicator module. They’re connected wirelessly, and while they always connected after some button-mashing, sometimes it took longer than expected. Otherwise, when I pressed buttons, what I expected to happen would more-or-less happen, which wasn’t always true of other systems I’ve tested over the years.

I did not ride with anyone else to test the Mesh 2.0 system’s performance, but I’d expect the exact same results as you get with any Sena comm using Mesh 2.0.

For some reason, there’s a button interface, instead of Sena’s popular jog dial. Oh well, it worked, and it wasn’t complicated to figure out. Photo: Zac Kurylyk

One area where Sena currently lacks, I believe is speaker volume. All the helmet comms I’ve tested have been lacking in this department, or at least they were until Cardo’s latest-gen system was released this spring. This means the Schuberth SC2, like the Sena tech it’s derived from, actually sounds really, really good without earplugs in. The sound quality is excellent. But if you put earplugs in, like many touring riders do, then there isn’t always enough volume to hear what’s going on.

I know some people say “Well what do you expect, you’re wearing earplugs.” Sure. But Cardo has it figured out, and I think Schuberth should tell Sena to do the same for the next production run of these units.

The good news is, the helmet is so quiet that you can get away without earplugs on shorter rides, and then you can enjoy excellent sound.

The Schuberth C5 sells for $749.99 at familiar online retailers; see more paint schemes and specs here.