I hear ya! They say it's supposed to improve the air flow...
On another note, what I don't get though about the Icon, and also Shoei, and the rest, is why not jump on the bandwagon with the sun visor built-in? I have a Scorpion, and having that flip-down built-in visor is such a convenience.
Never had an Icon though. How are they with road noise, comfort, etc?
The road noise isn't to bad I have headphones on most of the time though. My old helmet was an x-large and my icon is a large it fits snug but nothing that is uncomfortable. I agree about the sun visor inside. I hate having to pull over to take my sunglasses off when it starts getting dark.