The time had come and a new helmet was no longer a want but a need.  I popped by a local gear showroom and proceeded to try on the lot of them.  An Arai had the best fit but was double my budget.  The second best fit was an XL Sedici Strada II.  The salesman touted its nested flip down tinted visor.  Honestly, I thought the 2nd tinted visor a bit gimick-y and a little cheesy but it was the 2nd best fitting and about 1/2 the price of the Arai.  I plunked down the dough and bought the Sedici.


Despite having the tinted visor available, I rode off with my sunglasses (tinted safety glasses) on.  It wasn't until I was riding due west around 7 PM with the sun blaring, almost painfully bright even through the glasses, that I flipped down the tinted visor.  Immediately I regretted even a second of doubt about the visor.  While you still couldn't stare directly into the sun, the level of relief was significant.  The LCD's in the gauges were difficult to see with doubled up tint but situational awareness was not really affected.   In fact I'd say likely improved due to not having to squint to keep the sun from burning my retinas. 


Its been quite a while since I've bought a new helmet, and I was quite surprised with how light the current helmets are.  Additionally I'm really impressed with air control.  I had been using a scarf on cool morning to keep the air off of my neck.  This Sedici is better on its own than the old HJC was with the scarf. 


So with only a day or so of riding with it, I love this helmet.  It has a wide field of view, is comfy, light, and quieter than the old HJC.  There are a few nits to pick though.  The clear outer face shield has a very positive click on the closing detent.  It takes a deliberate action to close it fully.  The old HJC would flick all the way open or closed pretty easy.  I liked that. Maybe this one will wear in a bit. Second, the chin strap has a small button to secure the end from flapping in the wind.  The button prevents the strap from flowing freely though the D rings upon releasing requiring a fiddle to get it free.  I do like having the strap secured from flapping but the mating button's location also makes it VERY fiddly to get it snapped in place.  May just end up cutting the strap shorter to delete the button all together.  Not sure yet.