TSG Substance 2.0 helmet review

Cheap but capable

Our rating

3.5

44.99

TSG Substance 2.0 helmet: xxx

Future Publishing

Tom Marvin

Published: December 2, 2013 at 12:00 pm

Our review

Relatively cheap and it does the job well

We were pleasantly surprised by the TSG Substance 2.0, which is a very capable lid despite being one of the cheaper mountain bike helmets out there.

The ventilation it offers is good, with 18 vents and some basic internal channelling, but we reckon it would be better without the bug nets on the front vents.

It's great to see an adjustable visor on a lid at this price, and while its range isn't huge, there is a noticeable difference between its settings. The cradle is padded, which may feel a little odd at first, but on the whole it's a comfortable helmet.

The only issue we had is with the retention dial, which is large enough, but lies right next to the helmet shell, making it fiddly to adjust. Costs will have been saved with the in-moulding too; it doesn't cover all of the EPS foam.

TSG substance 2.0 helmet: xxx: - Future Publishing

The TSG Substance 2.0 helmet boasts 18 vents to offer decent airflow

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Senior technical editor

Tom Marvin is a technical editor at BikeRadar.com and MBUK magazine. He has a particular focus on mountain bikes, but spends plenty of time on gravel bikes, too. Tom has written for BikeRadar, MBUK and Cycling Plus, and was previously technical editor of What Mountain Bike magazine. He is also a regular presenter on BikeRadar’s YouTube channel and the BikeRadar podcast. With more than twenty years of mountain biking experience, and nearly a decade of testing mountain and gravel bikes, Tom has ridden and tested thousands of bikes and products, from super-light XC race bikes through to the most powerful brakes on the market. Outside of testing bikes, Tom competes in a wide range of mountain bike races, from multi-day enduros through to 24-hour races in the depths of the Scottish winter – pushing bikes, components and his legs to their limits. He’s also worked out that shaving your legs saves 8 watts, while testing aerodynamics in a wind tunnel. When not riding he can be found at the climbing wall, in his garden or cooking up culinary delights.