Troy Lee Designs Stage Stealth Helmet: Rider Review

In the past when it came to a good mountain bike full-face helmet you had to choose either protection or good ventilation. Since Troy Lee Designs announced their new Stage helmet, you can have the best of both worlds. A friend of the shop Wheeler Morley gives us his take on his fresh lid. Check it out!

I picked up the Troy Lee Designs Stage helmet from Worldwide Cyclery before racing a local enduro at Spider Mountain Bike Park in Burnet, TX (soon to be lift access). This would be my first full-face and after some research and speaking with multiple people that have owned or used many mtb full faces, I decided to give the TLD Stage a shot.

The first thing you notice is how extremely light it is for being a DH certified helmet even though its marketed for enduro. Troy Lee Designs gives you three sets of differently sized cheek pads, two neck roll pads, and two liners so you can dial in a good fit. The fact that it is MIPS equipped also helped my decision, as I think its helped out in a previous wreck where I had a trail helmet on. Also worth noting is that the Fidlock magnetic buckle is easy and quick to secure while wearing gloves, no matter the weather conditions.

The day before the race I pre-rode the stages while it was really hot and humid, my buddy I was riding with was pretty jealous as his full face is a tank. This helmet was comfortable and secure while climbing to the top of the stages and also while charging down the trail. Once I got to the bottom of the run I wasn't even in a hurry to take it off because it breathed so well. Halfway through race day, it started pouring rain which made it tough to stay in control on the slick trail. I definitely had more confidence to push it with a full face on that was comfortable, secure, not heavy, and waterlogged. The fit with my goggles was seamless, thankfully.

In conclusion, this helmet fits great due to the pad options, is extremely light, easy to buckle, breaths really well, and feels secure at speed. The M/LG that I got was true to size as well. In my limited experience with full-faces, I would say this helmet is legit. Since I haven't had a significant crash in it I can't speak on that portion, hopefully I won't have to but for the other factors that would contribute to a nice full face. I would say this checks all the boxes and more.