Bandanas, scarfs, masks, and more, are used by snowboarders and skiers each season to shelter their faces from the elements.  Each comes with their own caveats though.  Bandanas usually freeze up on me, making them stiff and pretty much useless.  Scarfs, well not for me, and the various face masks I’ve tried, I haven’t really liked to this point.   Shay over at Shayboarder.com pointed me towards the fellas over at Ride Qi, and their new facemasks they’re putting out.

Red Mask (image courtesy of RideQi WebSite)

You may be saying, “what the heck makes this face mask so awesome?  Other than you look like a ninja?”   There were many things I loved about the mask only one  thing I found partially irritating.  I told the fellas over at Ride Qi that I’d provide some feedback, and let’s dig into that shall we?

First let’s talk aesthetics.  The masks look great, and are well made.   They are 100% polyester, and highly breathable.  As you can see there is a bit of a mesh build to certain parts of the facemask, definitely a nice touch on warmer days.  The mask is designed  to fit just about anybody’s head, regardless of how big, or small your head is.  It’s pretty much universal, based on the velcro straps on the back of the mask.

Ride Qi Fask Mask (Red Colorway)

The velcro is somewhat of an annoyance at times, as you spend the day riding, pulling the mask up and down, the velcro can rub on your neck. This can feel scratchy or rough as velcro can tend be feel.   Perhaps by adjusting or reducing the size of the velcro pad just slightly would help with the scratchy feeling, but then again, perhaps this only affects those of us with bigger heads?   The picture below shows the velcro patch, and it’s size, which again is nice because it’s pretty much universal.

Back of the Ride Qi Mask

One thing I’m not sure how I feel about really are the built in ear straps.  I think they are an interesting idea, but I’m not sure if I’m sold on the functionality of them as of yet.  I think their use really depends on the size of a persons head, and comfort.  I did ride with the ear straps on for a bit, and found that I noticed they were there, but not in an obnoxious way,  just more of a slight pressure.  Again, I think it’s a interesting idea, because the rider can then pull the mask down to uncover his or her face as needed without compromising the fit, but it does take some getting used to.  The ear strap is an elastic material, so it does stretch and move. I’m curious to hear other peoples response to this feature.

Elastic Ear Strap

As far as keeping my face warm, the Ride Qi mask did a pretty good job, although on really cold and blowing days, I still got a bit cold.  Since the material is breathable, it doesn’t tend to freeze nearly as  bad as a  bandana does on me when I’m breathing out warm air, even on colder days.  I did notice it isn’t the best at keeping moisture off the skin (moisture wicking) but it wasn’t the worst mask either. I also have a beard, so your mileage may vary in this arena, as I’m sure having a beard helped in this area.  The front of the mask is also long enough to cover the face and lower part of the neck as well, which is a nice.   Ride Qi has three colors available for their masks, Red, Blue, and Yellow.   Each color comes with a slightly different design on the color strip of the mask.

Blue, Red, Yellow Color Ways

I chose the red colorway just randomly, but definitely think I’d prefer the blue on my next mask.   Overall, I think Ride Qi has  a great product here.  It’s affordable at around $20 USD, breathable, with a universal fit, and looks good. Don’t expect it to keep you uber warm on super cold days, but it’s definitely a great mask for those mild winter days, and even in sunny spring days if you wanna avoid the sun.   The build quality is solid, not only did I put over 20 days of riding on this mask with no issue, but also pulled, twisted, and soaked it without it tearing or failing.  While I don’t wear a mask every time I ride, I’m sure it will be my go to mask for next seasons riding.

For more information on these masks and Ride Qi, check out their website at  Ride QI

Disclosure: I purchase this mask directly from Ride Qi