Sedici Strada 3
I am now 27 years old. I grew up riding dirt bikes until I was 16, I then got my first street bike. A 2001 Ninja EX500. I paid $2000 for the bike. It was louder than a v8 running open headers, come to find out the equiped Muzzy exhaust had about a sliver of packing inside of it before ejecting itself off my bike at 80mph, hurling toward my uncles head then spiralling off into the wilderness. His quick reflexes managed to save his own jugular form being sliced by the red hot piece of aluminum. It was covered in road rash, and missing all the lower cowlings. Nevertheless, it was reliable and got me through rides across the lands. With that bike, I purchased my first brand new piece of gear ever. A scorpion street bike helmet.
Fast forward over a decade, I still had the same helmet until last month. It still had the original padding, screen and all. It wasn’t until I pulled the “s” emblem off the forehead that I noticed just how worn this helmet was. I survived 10 years and a crash in this helmet. I took a good look at it and thought “yep I think it’s time I replace it”.
It wasn’t an easy decision. I am clearly the type to milk a piece of gear until it quite literally starts falling apart. Nevertheless, I made the decision to start my search for something new.
After days of researching various helmets I eventually landed inside the SEDICI Strada 3. SEDICI is one of Cycle Gears higher quality house brands which has mostly positive reviews. My budget was around $300, and I liked the look/feel of the Strada 3 so I ended up bringing it home.
The Strada 3 has a good shell construction. Layers consisting of fiber-glass, nylon, DuPont Kevlar, and military spec resin. The lower part of the shell is curved to help negate collarbone impact in case of an accident. The helmet is DOT approved of course, and weighs about 3.5 pounds. Not too heavy and not too light. It comes with ventilation on the mouthguard and two on the top of the head. There are colored and tinted visors available, but I settled for the clear visor as I am a notorious visor-open rider. This helmet comes with a built-in flip down sunshade which I have never been a fan of, as the quality is usually poor and obstructs your vision.
The helmet took about a week of riding here and there to break in. After that it has been extremely comfortable. It’s very dynamic and takes some strain off your neck, while staying quiet up after high speeds. I do notice that if you’re riding a cruiser and have a windscreen, the buffeting noise is mildly louder than some other helmets I have tried. This helmet prefers smooth air. It was exactly what I expected out of a mid-priced helmet. I am very happy with it so far.
Let’s talk about Cardo/GoPro compatibility. On the Strada 3 you will have to position your Cardo / Sena cradle back farther than usual on the helmet due to the position of the switch for the tinted flip down sunshade, but this has posed no issues for me. The GoPro mount however takes some getting used to. The chin of the helmet is angled toward your neck quite a bit and faces down, so if you planned on slapping a GoPro mount on and calling it good you will be sorely dissapointed. I ended up having to attach 3 mounting swivels and pins in between my Hero 9 and the adhesive mount on the helmet just to get the GoPro to capture more than my legs. It isn’t a huge problem as it took me 15 minutes of tinkering to get perfect. This helmet does provide excellent ear space for any kind of headphone or earplug you decide to use. It was a pleasant surprise to not feel suffocated.
Overall I would give this helmet an 7.5/10. Huge value for the price and comes in an array of crazy designs and colors. If I were to change one thing about the helmet it would be the chin slope for ease of access using a GoPro, but that’s purely cosmetic and not super important. But, If you’re looking for a helmet that has superb comfort post-break in period then consider the SEDICI Strada 3.
