First Look: Troy Lee Designs GP Helmet

As a company, TLD has been synonymous with style. From Troy’s custom helmets to their flashy moto gear, it might be easy to forget that TLD also has a long lineage of protective equipment. And when Troy Lee Designs launched the SE4 helmet, it had an impressive array of protection features that puts it firmly in the premier helmet category… With a premier price tag. 

Yet what we have here is the all-new Troy Lee Designs GP Helmet coming in at a very reasonable price of $185. TLD wants to make it clear that this is not your standard “price-point” helmet. And after seeing the R&D that went into the creation of the SE4 a few years ago, we can say for certain that Troy is personally passionate about helmet safety. All of the development and data and testing and design that went into the SE4 has trickled down to the GP helmet. Even the shell shape and design is almost indistinguishable. 

There are only a couple things that make the GP helmet different than the SE4, depending on which SE4 helmet you are comparing it to. The three tiers are Carbon, Composite, and Polyacrylite. The GP shell is also made of Polyacrylite and has 16 intake vents, which is the same as the Polyacrylite SE4, but fewer than the Carbon and Composite versions that have 20. Next, the GP Helmet does not have MIPS, which is a slip liner that allows for controlled head rotation inside the helmet during impact. Lastly the GP Helmet has different cheek pads that are a little smaller and they, along with the crown padding, are covered in a more basic material than the more luxurious liners in the SE4. 

But, other than that, the same protection philosophy is in all of the Troy Lee Designs’ helmets. One of the main features of the SE4 that is in the GP is the extra foam around the crown of the helmet. Basically, after a lot of research and testing, TLD found that most impacts happen around the crown of the head. So, the EPS foam is thicker than most helmets around the crown of the head. It is worked into the shell design well, but when you look under the visor at the forehead area, you can see how thick that part of the helmet is. 

At a claimed 1500 grams it is the same weight as the SE4 Polyacrylite helmet. The GP Helmet also has three shell sizes, which is the same as all the SE4 helmets. 

For more information check out the GP Helmet TroyLeeDesigns.com.