Iridium/mirrored shields scratch easy and don't last as long as smoke. My Shoei silver mirror is in between a light and dark smoke. Only bought it because it was a great deal. Don't use it all that often, and it has lots of small scratches that you wouldn't notice on a normal shield.

 

People say the mirrored lenses scratch easier but I don't buy that. I mean unless you sit there and throw your $400 arai around you won't have a problem with it. My last one scratched when I crashed, but that's about it as long as you pay attention and don't hit your helmet around when you carry it. However, fingerprints are very noticeable with them.

As for the tint level, mines about dark smoked. It's great for during the day, but at night it absolutely sucks. So I now change to my clear one when I close at work.

I just think the mirrored look cooler: (those are bugs on my first helmet)

 

The problem is cleaning bugs off, and the chips you get from bugs, leaves, road grime, etc. hitting the visor. You get tons of little nicks. I sure as hell don't throw around a $400+ helmet.

 

what is better for bright conditions? one that has protection from UVA and UVB..

 

Is dark smoked ever too dark (aside from night, of course)?

 

Yeah I used to have an iridium shield on my Shoei. Too dark for my taste even on a bright sunny day. I prefer light smoke since it provides enough tint to shield my eyes but allows enough light through to see when riding in the shade. I found the biggest downside to dark tint and iridium is they are too dark for tree-lined roads where there is constant transition between shade and bright light.

 

Yeah, that's what I'm worried about. A lot of the roads I ride have short areas of shade. I get uncomfortable when I can't clearly see the road condition. I'm just concerned that light smoke won't be enough for the amount of sun we get here.

 

I have an iridium multi-color visor. It's slightly lighter than light smoke. I have one on my 09 Hodgson Spec-1R Extreme. It cuts the glare very well. It is so light that you can wear it at night according to Suomy.It works very well though and I never felt the need to get anything darker.

 

I use an Iridium on my Arai, and it is fine on bright sunny days. I remove the shield and soak it in the sink after a ride then pat dry with a towel. Or take wet napkins and lay them on the shield, then rinse off. You have to be a bit more careful with the Iridiums as they scratch fairly easily. I buy about one a year, and they are worth it to me.

 

I had an iridium shield on my x-11. It wasn't that dark at all, I'd ride at night with it without any problems. If I had a long night ride I'd swith it out for clear but for just a commute after dark no biggie. I suppose I have above average night sight but not like I've got night vision or something. They do scratch easier than a regular smoke visor.

 

I use a light smoked visor and can hardly tell it is smoked at all. You can really only see the outline of my face from outside and it is great at night too. I would recommended it, but IMO opinion even a dark smoked one probably wouldnt be too dark for night time.

 

i have dark smoke shield on 2 of my 3 helmets and a mirrored on the other. i take really good care of my gear yet i still have a few scratches and the mirror finish peeling off a little bit around the bottom.

during the day i have never had an issue with the dark smoke being too dark and you get used to it really fast. i have ridden with them at night multiple times and its so tough that i normally ride with the visor up and keep my fingers crossed that i don't get hit with anything.

the mirrored shields do look cool and if you don't mind replacing it after a few years, get one. shields for my Shark helmets are ~$80 so i just went with the dark smoke

 

+1 on they scratch easily. I don't beat mine, but I got hit by some nasty big bugs and have 2 spots where it's been scratched decent. Havent decided if I'm gonna buy another iridium shield or get a smoke. It's not bad enough that I desperately need a new one now (and I'm not riding at the moment due to previous injury). Iridium definitely looks cooler, but I have some scratches in various places.

 

Iridium is simply a coating and changes the tint very little. It's all about how dark the actual visor is before tinting. You can put an iridium coating on any visor. I have a friend who works for a major sunglass company and he had my dark smoke visor coated in green iridium, and had one of his clear visors coated in a silver iridium in the coatings lab there. It's primarily a looks thing more than function.

FWIW the green coating ended up getting damaged and I took it back to the lab where they were able to completely remove the coating, so now it's just a dark smoke visor again.

 

i love dark smoked. i dont ride often at night. but next season im getting a tank bag so carrying 2 shields is not a big deal to me.

in the daylight its perfect. can see everything, like sunglasses.

 

Dark smoked it is.

Thank you ladies