Decided to replace my open face helmet and here in the UK there are a few options besides the standard Jap offerings. Both Davida and Hedon advertise themselves as British companies of high repute, though whilst Davida is a company of 3 decades plus, Hedon is a relative newcomer to the market. I whittled it down to two helmets that essentially compete directly with each other: the Davida Speedster V3 which is now UK, EC and DOT approved and the Hedon Hedonist which has likewise approval. I couldn't find a local distributor of the Davida products that had a few in stock to try but I did manage to find a Hedonista. I have to say that it wasn't as comfortable as I had expected it to be and didn't quite fit my head shape. It was close but just not quite there. What was surprising was that with a little digging I found out that the Hedon helmets are not manufactured in the UK, not even in the EU but instead are all manufactured in China. With all the "British company" advertising I found that somewhat disappointing. Of course, it doesn't mean it's a poor or substandard product by any means but with the Davida costing £289 for the standard V3 Speedster in matte black, I could better understand the overall cost knowing it was made here in the UK with all the associated costs that go with that. The Hedon was £299 and whilst it's undoubtedly a nice helmet, I couldn't help but feel that the price was rather excessive given it's manufacturing origins.
Needless to say, I've ordered a Davida and just have to hope that the comfort and fit is more in keeping with my oval head shape than the Hedon was. I'll find out tomorrow!

 

The Speedster V3 arrived today and the fit is absolutely spot on!! It grabs nicely without clamping the face and doesn't irritate the ears like the Hedon did. Quality-wise they're fairly similar but the leather is slightly more robust on the Davida and looks much easier to wipe clean than the mocca type leather used in the Hedon.
The other thing I like is there's no metal plaque or plate with the maker's name on it on the Davida. It has instead sticker transfers that were easy to remove making the final look a lot cleaner.
The Davida is a tad heavier than the Hedon and I'd say a few mill larger but it's marginal. All in all, I'm very happy with the decision not just to buy British but to buy proper British and not Chinese with a British sticker on the side.