The vents on the Maze are placed more or less above your eyes, and have two directions: one that sends air to the top of your goggles, the other to the top of your head. The idea is that air going to the top of your goggles helps prevent fogging by creating circulation. I can’t say for certain how much better this system is than that found on other helmets, but I can certainly say that I have yet to have any fogging issues.
The other vents worked great. Along with the ability to remove the ear pads, I rarely got too hot in the Maze. And yet, even though the vents have no moveable sliders to close them, I also never got too cold, even in the middle of January, when Taos had some of its coldest weather of the year.
The Maze has a few other nice features, too. The earpieces snap into place and are very easy to remove. They also have a zipper running the full length that opens to a space for headphones, should you wish to ride around listening to music.
The goggle clip on the back of the helmet can be removed if you’re not using it. I mostly wear goggles and have no need to remove it, but if you wear sunglasses, you can ditch the clip and have an even cleaner look.
However, if you do wear goggles, some additional snaps on the clip itself would be nice. I took one pretty good tomahawk coming out of the What Chutes off the top of Chair 7A at Taos. Helmets are usually pretty good at keeping your gear together during crashes, but in this case the clip wasn’t secure enough to hold the goggles, and I had to go do a bit of searching.
The clip is also all that kept my goggle strap in position. The Maze looks fantastic and is very sleek on the sides, but my strap would tend to move up and down and not seat very well.
All in all, though, the Maze felt very comfortable to wear and protected me from minor incidents. It has very few of the fancy features that other helmets have, but it looks sweet, it’s lightweight, it vents well, it’s multipurpose (ditch those ear pads for summer skating or biking) and it comes in at a good price point.
If you’re looking for more features, consider the outstanding Smith Vantage. But if sleek, minimalist, and functional is your thing, check out the Maze.