Shark Evo GT helmet in matt blue

The Shark Evo GT is a new-for-2021 helmet, designed to sit alongside the current Evo ES model. The Evo series of helmets have formed part of the Shark collection for many years. The helmets are, and always have been, fairly unique. They are flip-lid helmets, but with a difference. With these helmets, the chin bar rotates through 180º, meaning that when the chin bar is raised you have a proper open-face helmet in the way that you don’t with a Schuberth C3 Pro or a Shoei Neotec 2.

The Evo helmet has gradually evolved over the years. As the ‘Evoline’ model, there were four different iterations. Then, a few years ago, there was a major upgrade with a helmet called the Evo One. The USP for the Evo One was the chin bar mechanism that automatically raised the visor when you pulled the chin bar from its rearward position to its forward one. This was considered to be a technical master stroke, but the problem was that the helmet didn’t work as it was supposed to. The mechanism got stuck, and the engineering tolerances were so fine that the Pinlock insert rubbed on the edge of the shell, leaving scratches in the rider’s line of sight.

Shark brought out a revised version called the Evo One 2. It did not totally fix the problems. And so they brought out a new model called the ES. This used an anti-fogging visor instead of a Pinlock. We liked this helmet; it worked, and we never had complaints about fogging.

But stung by criticisms, perhaps, Shark decided to bring out a new model called the Evo GT. This model comes with a top-of-the-range Pinlock 120 insert. And this time the visor does not get scratched.  It has an improved closure mechanism that doesn’t stick. And it comes with a second set of thinner cheekpads. In most other respects, the GT is the same as the ES. The same mechanics. The same venting. The same drop-down sun visor. The same strap closure system and so on.

So why would you want the Evo GT? Well, for most people, the ES model works fine. It has no Pinlock visor, but sometimes less is more, and certainly the ES has been more reliable than its predecessors. But if you commute in the coldest and wettest of weather, and you are concerned about misting and fogging, the GT may be worth the premium you will have to pay to buy it.