New Rider Needs New Gear!

Okay so after I finished the MSF course I had NO gear.  First thing to get:  HELMET!!  A common theme you'll see in my blog is that I don't f*** around with my safety, so I was in the market to get a helmet that was super safe but also affordable.

I started my online research and became so overwhelmed!  I had a ton of questions like:  is more expensive mean safer?  Are certain brands better than others?  What features are important and which are just "extra" but unnecessary?  Etc.  After reading a trillion articles (many which contradicted each other grrr!), I found this awesome site.  I recently searched for it, but gave up after an hour of googling with no success =(  Pretty much, it took a bunch of helmets and answered my question of "is more expensive mean better?"  Anywho, the conclusion was that the Scorpion 400 exo was an excellent buy.  DOT and Snell approved and under $200.  Did I mention that it was damn cute?  Fits the style I'm looking for in my gear:  cool and not overly feminine.  I can be badass in flowers and butterflies right???

The flowers are a pretty iridescent purple-y green in the sun.

Even the inside is cool!

TIP TIME!!
When buying a helmet, try it on in the store first.  I tried on medium and it was squishing the hell out of my head!!!  The manager said it's supposed to fit really snug at first, but your helmet will contour to your head eventually.  If didn't consult anyone, I would've gotten a large and it would've gotten too loose, and therefore useless.  If you go to Cycle Gear in San Jose, ask for the manager Mike.  He was so helpful and went out of his way to make sure I was happy with my purchase  =)

I'll post about gear as soon as I get them.  Next on my list:  jacket!!

posted 2/12/11