The AGV on its own is an awesome, entry-level racing helmet. If you want to get a lot more out of an entry-level racing helmet for only $10-$30 more than the original, it is worth shelling out a little more to get the AGV K3 SV. Though the name of the helmet doesn’t exactly roll-off of the tongue, we suspect that is due to the fact that AGV added a lot of great features that many entry to mid-level riders can appreciate, and all for around the $200 price point.
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The AGV K3 SV is a lightweight, durable, and highly rated full-face helmet that is excellent for riders with rounder or more oval head shapes. We would not recommend this helmet for riders that have narrower heads unless you want to risk changing out the cheek pads and interior of the helmet to see if it will fit you better.
Overall, this is a safe, comfortable, durable helmet that provides excellent ventilation and protection. Let’s hop in and take a look at some of the great features that the K3 SV has to offer.
Ratings
Comfort:
Visibility:
Ventilation:
Quietness:
Specifications
Outer shell material : Polycarbonate
Shell size : XS,S,M,L,XL,XXL
Liner : shock-absorbing expanded polystyrene
Weight : 1.49Kg
Pinlock : Inc
Strap System : micrometric chin strap fastener
Safety Ratings
DOT : Yes
ECE : Yes
SNELL : No
SHARP : 4 Star
Shape and materials
The exterior of the helmet is made from a lightweight and durable thermoplastic, polycarbonate. The medium-large size of this helmet weighs in at about 1.49 kilograms, or about 3 pounds and 10 ounces. Just because it’s light doesn’t mean that it isn’t safe. This helmet ranks high on our list for both comfortability and not being a heavy burden on your head or neck, while providing ample amounts of protection while riding.
If you are a rider that has a narrower-shaped head and are better fir for riding with narrower helmets, this probably isn’t the right choice for you. This helmet is going to be better suited for neutral round, or oval-shaped heads. If you want to stay as comfortable as possible, we recommend sticking to those rules of thumb.
The inner material of the helmet is made out of sanitized lycra, which is soft and comfortable. It is also incredibly effective at wicking sweat from your face and head while riding.
Cheek pads are integrated with neck rolls for added comfort. The liner is really easy to pop right out of the helmet when you need to either hand wash it or replace it. The lycra is really easy to clean and dries quickly. You can change out the chin curtains for your desired level of comfort. The K3 SV is also set up with an OEM Bluetooth unit in the earpiece and a speaker pocket in the helmet.
Things I liked
Things I don’t like
Overall comfort
This helmet is going to get a lot of points from us in terms of comfort. With a lightweight outer shell, excellent ventilation, and high quality cushioning and padding on the inside, this helmet is well-endowed to keep your head comfortable and cool. The level of comfort that you are going to get with the K3 SV versus it’s K3 predecessor is a huge step up, and well worth the added cost to move up to the K3 SV. The external visor is both anti-scratch and anti-fog visor
Visibility
The level of visibility that you get with the K3 SV vs. the original K3 is another added bonus of moving up to this helmet. The external visor is both anti-scratch and anti-fog to keep your view clear while you are riding. The ventilation on this helmet is excellent for keeping the visor clear from any type of fog build up.
With that, the K3 SV also has an internal sun visor. This is really handy for riding during bright sunny days, and rides where you are riding either directly into the sunset and the sunrise. This is yet another nice bonus that you get with the K3, and something that you may see on helmets for more advanced riders, but is unique to helmets in its class.
Quietness
How loud or quiet is this helmet? Overall, there was nothing spectacular or over the top that wowed us about the level of noise cancellation you are going to get with this helmet. The shell has excellent ventilation which keeps it from blocking too much ambient riding noise, but the thick polycarbonate shell does a fairly good job at keeping the noise from the road to a minimum. There are other helmets in the same class that may do a better job at canceling noise, but you could also do far worse at this price point.
Ventilation
Ventilation is one of the highlights of this model. With multiple points of ventilation at the chin, front, and back of the helmet, you are not going to be left wanting when it comes to keeping you cool while you are riding.
Vents on the inside of the helmet are operable with the simple flip of a finger switch. There are vents built around the visor to keep your face cool while riding and to prevent fogging as well.
There are also large vents on brow and ram air vent on the centerline on top of the helmet. This helmet is great for creating airflow around your face and scalp for keeping your head cool. Passive vents along the back of the helmet that pulls warm air out the back vents, creating a nice airflow effect for keeping cool air in and warm air out when riding.
The K3 SV has interior ventilation beneath the padding, which vents air throughout the interior of the helmet for effective cooling beneath your padding. The cooling of the interior of the helmet both directly under and over the padding keep your helmet cooler than if you only had ventilation directly around your head and face, without the added ventilation above the padding as well.
Safety
The question that is probably at the time of your mind is “will this helmet keep me safe should the worst-case scenario transpire?”
The AGV K3 SV is both DOT and ECE rated with a 4-star safety rating from sharp as well. Being lightweight, comfortable, and breathable can make a rider skeptical if a helmet will be worth its weight or not when it comes to keeping them safe. There is little reason for skepticism when it comes to the safety ratings of the AGV K3 SV.
Conclusion
Now, you have just about everything that you need to make an educated purchasing choice for your next riding helmet. If you are looking for an aggressive, sport-oriented helmet, are a fairly new rider, and don’t want to break the bank, the AGV K3 SV may fit the bill for you. Keep in mind that this particular helmet is not made with narrow-headed or faced riders in mind. This helmet is made for round and oval-shaped heads, so make sure to take this one off of your shopping list if you are a narrow-headed rider.
The ventilation, level of comfortability, and the visor are some of our favorite highlights from this helmet. The internal UV visor is a nice touch for riding during bright days, and the switch on the various lets you adjust the visor to various degrees of either being opened or closed. The ventilation in this helmet is difficult to compete with. With tons of vents and chambers for keeping your head and face cool on the front, back, and interior of the helmet, this is a great choice for riding in hot weather in the heat of the summer. The breathable, soft lycra interior makes this helmet fit like a glove. It is built for wicking sweat and keeping your head and face comfortable while riding.
Safety is key. Passing the DOT and ECE are a top priority in keeping yourself safe when you ride. In this area, the K3 SV has you covered as well.
Where to buy this helmet :