Weight Weenies

I bought my Parlee Z5 from my LBS complete with SRAM Red and Edge Tubulars, supplied my own saddle and pedals. The total price was only marginally more than if I had sourced parts off the Internet.
The advantage was having my bike built by the best bike mechanic / wheelbuilder in the city, and having the assurance of full warranty on Groupset, frame, wheels etc.

I generally buy tyres, Ti parts, tuning bits off the Internet as not many bike shops stock much in this line. I have also bought my Specialized Prevail and S works shoes from a UK shop which also does Internet sales as I can't get these in my size in Australia.

Cippo, I wish your shop was a lot closer, as I think you are going to have an incredible setup. Keep the pictures and reviews coming.

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Ozrider wrote:I have also bought my Specialized Prevail and S works shoes from a UK shop which also does Internet sales as I can't get these in my size in Australia.

You cant get the Prevail helmet in Aus because they are still arguing with Aus standards to get it approved for use here (first it was the anchor point for the straps, now its something else... ). I hope you arent planning on racing with it

laters
B

bjay:

You’re right - the Prevail isn’t available for compliant sale in Aus as yet - but it looks to only be a couple of weeks away!

And it’s an AMAZING helmet: incredibly light, so comfortable that you forget it’s on your head, and not silly expensive.

New helmet laws came into effect late last year, but there’s a general amnesty on all helmets produced prior - I guess it gives LBSs the chance to sell them out. New law takes effect June this year.

Of course, all helmets made since late last year must meet the new standard [which appears to be pretty much limited to labelling].

For those who are interested, here’s the link to the relevant infromation from the Aus Government:

http://www.productsafety.gov.au/content/index.phtml/tag/bicyclehelmets

Cheers.

I’ve an update on the Australian release of the Prevail helmet from Specialized - now looks like April...

I’m a huge fan of the Lazer Genisis RD with the Rollsys retention system, so any manufacturer would be hard pressed to better that in my eyes. Having said that, the Specialized is lighter, the strap system [at least the one on the pre-release models] is far more comfortable and the micro-adjust is better. Overall, the Prevail is a better feeling helmet than the Lazer. Prevail has better ventilation - keeping your head noticeably cooler on hot days and not too cold on night rides [though I always wear a cap when riding at night in the cold], as mentioned it is lighter - noticeably so - so much so that you really do forget you’re wearing it after about 15 minutes riding.

The one thing that the Prevail doesn’t do as well is sit as ‘snug’ to the head as the Lazer. Most, if not all, helmets look like they’re sitting ON your head rather than encompassing or sitting AROUND your head - the Lazer is the king of slimline design, sitting snug to the head and keeping an exceptionally low profile. The Prevail is not as good at this.

That minor aesthetic point aside, the Prevail is a better all-round helmet than the Lazer.

And that’s saying a lot!

Cheers and stay safe.

Thanks for that. Sounds like something I should try. I'll be in the city on Friday, so I'll try to test out a Prevail.

Further update on the Prevail - it’s held up in approvals still - there seems to be some actual physical design aspects that the Australian Compliance people have taken issue with [note: only the Australian Compliance people and not any other countries compliance bodies].

Looks like this will postpone the release for some time.

I love my "illegal" Prevail. Fit, comfort, lightweight and excellent ventilation.
It's time the cycling public in Australia stood up for their rights. Next thing they will be telling us what shoes, pedals, bike frames, threaded we can buy and use.
If a product meets several established international standards I can't understand why Cycling Australia insists on "Australian standards helmets"
How about a rule - meets UCI Standards.
We are being deprived of the Prevail, new Giro Ionos etc.

Sadly, but fortunately I still have my SWorks 2D for registered events.
The Prevail comes out for Sunday rides and my long midweek hills ride.

Let's hope they are available in store soon

Why?

Because that would be one less revenue stream not unlike speed cameras.

And given how everything around the BT bikes has gone to the dogs, they could really use the cash right about now...

OzRider,

It’s not held up in anything as simple as the Australian Cycling governing body, it’s being held up by Australian Compliance and that’s a very different thing - far more serious. Basically, Australian Standards dictates what meets or doesn’t meet certain required levels for various aspects [performance, safety, fit-for-purpose etc] of a product.

If the product tested doesn’t meet Australian Compliance then it’s not legally allowed to be sold or used in the country. Full stop.

The issue holding up the Prevail is not a simple thing. It’s not something that’s going to be an easy fix.

It’ll be very interesting to see what happens.

Oh, and just because other countries accept a product does not mean that Australia will or even should. We have in this country some of the strictest compliance requirements of any country on Earth. That’s basically led to [in this case] sporting products available for sale that are ‘best of breed’ in terms of safety, fit-for-purpose etc.

I for one would much rather wait for a product to comply with our harsh regulatory requirements than settle for what could possibly be an inferior product or inferior design.

That’s NOT to say that the Prevail is an inferior product in any way - it’s not.

I tried a Prevail @Mike's Bikes in San Francisco. It fit me like a glove. A woman in the shop with me didn't like the Prevail, however, much preferring the Giro which doesn't fit me well. So YFMV.

It was listed 215 grams size medium. My old 2D is listed 199 g size medium, but I got it from UK to avoid the restrictive Snell certification. Curiously, they had one of the Euro 2Ds in the shop, packaged in a Snell-certified S-Works box. I double checked and no such sticker on the helmet. The Snell certification added around 25 grams to the 2D. Obviously it was some sort of error since it's not legal to sell it in the US with only Euro certification and call it a "bicycle helmet", although it's still accepted in all cycling events.

So if I buy a Prevail, which I feel had notable improvements relative to the 2D, I will likely order from the UK again. I hate trying stuff on in a shop and then ordering, but in this case, the motivation is too compelling. It's certainly the most comfortable helmet I've ever tried.

What's the difference between the Snell version and the UK version? Is the Snell version "safer"? If it weights more, you'd hope so.

Hi K
I realize compliance and Cycling Australia are separate entities.
I also understand that all standards are not the same, however we are a small market compared to Europe and the USA, and could land up missing out on some awesome cycling helmets in the future, as I'm sure that meeting compliance for a small market will be put into the "too hard" category by manufacturers when considering "special production runs" to meet Australian compliance for a small market share.

Personally I just find the delays, additional cost or non availabilty to be a pain.
Would be nice if it was acceptable to use a helmet that met a recognized standard, or if various countries standards were "standardized"

HammerTime2 wrote:What's the difference between the Snell version and the UK version? Is the Snell version "safer"? If it weights more, you'd hope so.

The buckle standards are stricter in the U.S. I'm not sure it's correlated with safety. If safety was my primary concern, I'd wear a downhill helmet, anyway.

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Agreed.

I for one would love to see the day where there is a global standard for these types of things. After all, we all have heads and they are all built the same way!

You may or may not be correct about the ‘too hard’ basket. I actually think that Specialized will still produce this helmet for the Australian market. We may be small, but they still do business here and tend to offer complete ranges in all of their markets.