Scott Venturi Face Guard
SCOTT VENTURI FACE GUARD
CYCLE WORLD EVALUATION
MOTOCROSS FACE FASHION
Hollywood fashion has nothing on motocross. So what if skinny ties have come, gone and come back again in 20 years; just look at how fast fashion changes in the field of MX face-protection. In 10 years, the Jofastyle mouthguard came and went two or three times, along with Face Fenders, several styles of full-face helmets and various types of goggle-attached face protectors.
Now one of the latter is back: the Scott facemask, which is called the Venturi Faceguard this time around. But the Scott is more than just another fickle phase of fashion; it offers something the old faceguard didn’t. It has two air ducts designed to draw air out from behind the goggles so that fresh air can enter from the top. Scott claims this allows the rider’s face to remain cooler and also keeps the goggles from fogging. And Scott is right. The Venturi Faceguard does offer slightly more air circulation through the goggles than with just goggles and no facemask. Of course, your goggles still can fog up when you stop, but the new Scott mask allows the lens to clear up a little faster after you start moving again.
There are other advantages to the facemask, too. In case it’s been a while since you’ve worn a goggle-attached mask, you might have forgotten how well they protect against roost. Absolutely no rocks or dirt clods find their way around the Venturi Faceguard. Full-face helmets and strap-on mouthguards don’t even come close to offering as much protection from Hying debris. Conversely, a faceguard like the Scott can’t come close to offering the protection of a full-face helmet in a facefirst crash. Your jaw will assuredly hit the inside of the mask with the same impact that the mask hits the ground.
Another negative aspect of the Scott Faceguard is its rather flimsy construction. The plastic is much more malleable than that used in the Scott masks of old; so if you throw the mask into your gearbag, chances are that it will have a slightly different shape when you pull it out. And even in its original shape, the mask doesn’t prefectly fit the Scott 83, 89, 90 or 99 models it was designed to fit. That can make installation rather frustrating.
Once in place, though, the mask does everything it was designed to do, and does it all quite well. Fashion does move fast in the motocross world, but products like the Scott Venturi Faceguard prove that at least it’s moving in the right direction.
The Venturi is available in red, yellow, blue, white or black at a suggested retail price of $9.95 at motorcycle dealers. S3
