Helmet Visors

BMX helmet visors: the wear part of a full-face lid

A full-face helmet rarely lands on its shell. It lands on its visor, which bends, splits or tears its screws out. The good news is that this is a spare part, not a reason to replace the helmet. This category covers replacement peaks and their fixings, ordered against the exact model of your helmet.

What a visor actually does

It is first of all a regulatory part: UCI rule 6.1.081 requires a peak at least 10 cm long on a full-face helmet, exactly as it requires a fixed chin bar. A broken or shortened peak is therefore not a cosmetic detail, it puts the rider outside the rules at kit inspection. Beyond that, it has three jobs on a BMX track. It cuts the low late-afternoon sun at the precise moment you are looking up the start hill. It intercepts the grit and mud thrown up by the rear wheel ahead of you before any of it reaches your goggle lens. And it is designed to give way on impact: a visor that breaks is a visor that has done its job, absorbing part of the energy instead of passing it into your neck.

Finding the visor that fits your helmet

There is no universal visor. Every manufacturer designs its own mounting points, hole spacing and profile, and the models change from one model year to the next. Before ordering, note down:

• The brand and the exact model name of the helmet
• The year or generation, usually printed on the inner label
• The number of fixing points: two at the sides and one central on the great majority of full-face lids
• The fixing type: through-bolt, threaded insert or tool-free quick clip

Screws, inserts and washers

In most cases it is not the visor that failed but a screw torn out or a plastic insert whose thread has stripped. Screw kits are sold separately and rescue plenty of helmets. Tighten by hand without forcing: a nylon insert will not take the torque of an Allen key leant on.

Setting the angle

On most helmets the visor adjusts for height. A low position suits a rider with their head up on a very sunny circuit, a high position opens up the field of view in the sprint position with the chest forward. Set it with the helmet on your head, in your real riding position, not standing in front of a mirror.

Colours and matching your kit

Replacing a visor is also the cheapest way to freshen up a helmet: pick a shade that matches the race jersey and the number plate and a two-season-old lid looks new again.

Broken visor, or time for a new helmet?

The question is worth asking after a serious crash. If the visor has broken but the shell shows no crack, no dent and no deformation of the inner liner, a straight visor swap is enough. A heavy impact on the shell itself, however, means replacing the full-face helmet even if it looks intact: the internal polystyrene crushes once and once only.

The BMX RACING view

Send us a photo of your helmet and its mounting, and we will identify the matching visor and screw kit, or tell you plainly when the part has been dropped from the manufacturer's catalogue. Dispatched within 24 to 72 hours. Browse all of our BMX protective gear to complete your setup.