The helmet padding is stiff around the lower cheeks, but if you get the right size for your head it fits snuggly when it's on. I'm hoping it breaks in a little bit. The helmet runs smaller than normal. My head size is between medium and large. I bought the large and it's still a snug fit. As many reviews have said, the helmet is very light which I like. As far as having a mushroom head helmet, it might be less of a mushroom head than many other helmets, but the slighter mushroom head is still there. I can't understand why all helmets are so bulbous. They catch the wind more than a lower profile helmet and strain your neck. I have a half helmet, this open face helmet, and a full face, so I don't have my head overheat on very hot days.So, the padding is stiff. but the helmet is light... So far, I have yet to see a helmet that combines the qualities I want. Mostly they all fail in the "low profile" measurement. This helmet might be less mushroom head than most helmets.After wearing it a few times, I'm liking it a lot. The light weight aspect is great, and it doesn't catch the wind.I decided to go with a smaller lighter helmet. My husband has this one so I decided to try it. I wanted a helmet with the shield stored and the sunvisor stored in the helmet which made it big and bulky. Buying this helmet, it was smaller it was lighter and it was comfortable except that I wear glasses. I bought a small helmet because that’s what I need, but it’s not glasses friendly because it does squeeze around your ears. After six or seven hours of wearing the helmet it begins to hurt where my glasses come around the back of my ear. I would not get a larger helmet because it would not fit correctly. other than the helmet squeezing around the ear area I would recommend it. I would also assume that after wearing it the padding inside will begin to form to wear the glasses no longer hurt.Nice and light, size up a bit, and you can’t use gogglesOK.... I just received this helmet thanks to Amazon's Sunday delivery. I was very much on the fence which size to get since a lot or reviews say it runs small. My head measures about 23 3/8" which is in the dead zone between L & XL on their size chart. I am not sure why there even is a dead zone but I guess it is what it is...... So I went with the large since that is what I get for everything else. My first impression was "WOW, this is light" my second impression was "WOW, this is tight". I am going to keep it though for 2 reasons. 1) I have long hair right now and once I go back to a close cut it will free up some room and I think if I had an XL it would end up being loose. 2) I think that after some time the L will mold to my head for a perfect fit. If I don't update this post it means the large worked out.***Update 29August2020***Glad I went with the large. I usually wear a full helmet or no helmet. This was my first in between. It has broken in quite nicely but is still a bit snug. THAT is a good thing. I think if it was much looser it would slip back on my head when I am riding. One thing to mention, being inexperienced with half helmets I am not sure if this is normal, it does get a bit bouncy around 65mph. I saw one reviewer said "it catches the wind" or something to that effect around the same speed. I wasn't sure what that meant but now I know that it means that your eyeballs rattle in your skull like marbles in a jar. All in all I am still 5 starring this lid.I drilled and installed 3 snaps to fit a standard visor… now the helmet looks great and the visor is large enough to do its job!The foam over the ear portion is very dense and doesn’t allow the use of ear phones… ear buds might work. I’m going to modify the foam (carefully remove some of the foam) so I can Velcro attach the ear phones.Nice helmet, they got it 90% right!Seems like a good quality helmet and very lightweight but, unfortunately it is way too small. I ordered based off the provided size chart but it is way too tight, can’t even get my ears under the sides. So I will have to return. Order at least one size up.This was supposed to have been a new helmet, it was obvious after opening the outer Amazon box and seeing the Bell box inside it had been returned as it had clearly been re-taped. After opening the inside manufacturer box, there was even more evidence the helmet had been returned. The helmet was not inside either of the inside packing slips/bags and was resting on top of the piece of cardboard meant to hold the helmet in place during shipping that should have been on top. Finally the helmet was covered in fingerprints. If I wanted a used helmet, I would have ordered one but considering I paid full price for a new one, I should have received a new one.Additionally the sizing clearly runs small. I recommend to anyone who orders one of these to round up as their sizing guide is inaccurate.Weight matters most. Very light and fits well. Always measure and go with the next size up. We learned the hard way. Only issue is the wind in the ears. Thought it would have more protection. We are hoping it will be an easy fix. Would definitely recommend to friends or family.