I love my RF-1100, just got it about two weeks ago, haven't found any dealers with more than one in stock though. I tried a Large, and it was a squeeze getting it on, ear folding and all, but the cheek pads felt great once I managed to compress my melon into it. Only problem was too much forehead pressure. Five minutes walking around the shop made my head ache, but I tried an XL and it fit the upper part of my head perfectly, while leaving my chin feeling somewhat loose (more so than I typically like) Overall, it fit better than any of the dozen other helmets I tried, and felt better as well in terms of the fabric lining, so I took it home anyway. I understood that Shoei makes different sized padding for different parts of the helmet, which was one of the reasons I chose the helmet in the first place (my cranium is somewhat larger proportionately to my face, cheeks, chin, etc) and its always made helmet buying a pain. Thankfully, the shell for the Rf-1100 is the same for both the L and XL (they went and designed 5 shell sizes for a range of like 8 fit sizes, which is awesome). The only problem is that I haven't found anyone local who carries the replacement pads, and I want to try one on before I buy, making Internet shopping difficult. From what you're saying though, it might just be worth a trip to Denver to finally get what I need.