Aero Helmet

[alanyu]

53 g is enough for my head noticing. I immediately noticed the heavier weight of Lazer Z1 mips (258g) when I put it on my head, after three months of using Kask Valegro (210g). It's a different story to the power legs generating.

Your head doesn’t notice several watts of additional drag acting against it? There’s an anecdote about Tom Boonen riding in the peloton with his head sitting in the wind because he’s so tall, and how much neck relief he finally got with an aero helmet.

I’d choose a non-aero helmet for additional ventilation, for looks, for supposed safety ratings differences, but weight is pretty far down that list of priorities.

I'm small so I don't feel that extra drag in the peleton. Also Z1 mips and Valegro are neither aero helmet. I indeed have a Furion 2.0 but I only use it for cold days = ride slow, or race days = stay in peleton. When I was leading in the race for a short time, I could tell the difference between fully-aero-body-equipped (helmet, shoe covers, arm & leg sleeves, aerosuit, etc) vs little-aero-body-equipped. Basically it's 1.5~2 kph faster at a similar power, but not sure how much of the speed difference could be attributed to the aero helmet itself.

[Robius]

HJC looks way better on the head than Evade anyway and as some others pointed it out, helmet drag is a personal thing when numbers are that close. Just get the one that's light and looks good.

[maxim809]

Wish the Evade fit me better. It doesn't, so I'm tossing the dice on either a Protone or HJC.

I just need something that doesn't have a tail fin. Need to keep that wind attached. I often think about shaving down the tail on my Mojito.

The Evade seems like it tests pretty well across various independent studies, but it's true that it comes down to how the helmet matches with the rider's shape coupled with the position the rider plans to assume for the duration of their ride or race.

It's similar to how it's incorrect to blanket statement that wider tires are more aero, without also looking at the matching rim width profile and fork. Aero gains can't simply be added up by its independent pieces but must be looked at holistically.

For real world proof, look at how A2 Wind Tunnel provides tons of different helmets and wheels to try. If there was indeed one "fastest" helmet, they could skip the lengthy trial & error process of finding the best helmet for the rider. They could say, "Hey just use lid XYZ, it's the fastest, really" and be done with it.

For aero, there is no one size fits all.

http://www.hincapieracing.com/a-trip-to ... nd-tunnel/

Talking with the guys at A2, I really wanted to soak up as much information as I could and make the most of it. One thing I took away from this was the fact that everyone is so different, which means what may work for me more or less won’t work for you. That new fancy aero helmet that just came out? It could be slower than your helmet from a few years back. You’ll notice this if you look at some of the bigger WorldTour teams in the time trials and sometimes not all riders will be wearing the same TT helmet. For example, the new helmet from company X may be good for rider A, but the helmet from last year from company X may be better for rider B. It’s all about which suits your position the best.

[wheelsONfire]

Shouldn't a helmet that is designed with integrated glasses win all aero test in real life?
The only helmet i actually feel a difference riding is Casco Speedaero. It feels sleek in the wind.
I've never felt that before with any helmet. You look like a space man though!

[Nickldn]

Shouldn't a helmet that is designed with integrated glasses win all aero test in real life?
The only helmet i actually feel a difference riding is Casco Speedaero. It feels sleek in the wind.
I've never felt that before with any helmet. You look like a space man though!

Seriously considering an Oakley AR07 for 2021, but yeah the looking like a space man thing applies big time.

Not sure if I'll be laughed at (especially if I get overtaken).

[Juhani1]

Tried Kask Utupio. Nice one but did not mange put my oakleys on "forehead" and into the vents.

[Nickldn]

Tried Kask Utupio. Nice one but did not mange put my oakleys on "forehead" and into the vents.

The Kask Utopio looks good and I also like the S-Works Evade II, which has MIPS.

But no, these are different products than the AR07, as they don't have a built in visor. I like at AR07 because it's different. Question is whether it's too different for normal road riding and will just make me look silly.

[TobinHatesYou]

I believe Giro claimed its Vanquish visor saves about 1W at 40km/h. It's measurable but ultimately not earth-shattering.

[FlatlandClimber]

And Visors have drawbags compared to glasses also. Eye protection on glasses is far superior to that with a visor.
Also Visors do not always test faster (with Victor Campenaerts being the most prominent example of that).

[Unniti]

And maybe the biggest drawbacks being that the helmets are a lot hotter with a visor vs glasses as the visors and that sweat pools on the visor vs dripping off.

[Nickldn]

And maybe the biggest drawbacks being that the helmets are a lot hotter with a visor vs glasses as the visors and that sweat pools on the visor vs dripping off.

Yeah, heat and sweat are a concern. The Oakley doesn't seem to have much head ventilation and covers the ears too, on top of all this the visor could make the helmet even hotter. Anyone with experience of this? Would this helmet be too warm for summer riding up to say 30 degrees Celsius?

For comparison I have a Giro Foray MIPS helmet. The ventilation on it is really good, even on hot days, thought that doesn't help with sweat dripping onto my glasses.

The S-Works and Kask aero helmets seem to have more ventilation than the Oakley and I expect are more comparable to the Foray, so not too concerned about those.

[aeroisnteverything]

FWIW, I've used the S-Works Evade II in Spain in August a number of times and ventilation is plenty good enough. Not quite as airy as, say, a Kask Protone, but still fine.

[wheelsONfire]

A question, isn't the cool factor a rather big thing with aero helmets?

What is a problem for me with bikes, shoes, cloths and helmets is attention.
I seriously have a problem riding with Casco Speedaero. People really look at you!
I think i would have a tremendous pressure on my shoulder if i rode a really fat bling aero bike, to eye cathing cloths and a helmet topping it off.
I kind of like passing people just floating by like a ghost.

[Nickldn]

A question, isn't the cool factor a rather big thing with aero helmets?

What is a problem for me with bikes, shoes, cloths and helmets is attention.
I seriously have a problem riding with Casco Speedaero. People really look at you!
I think i would have a tremendous pressure on my shoulder if i rode a really fat bling aero bike, to eye cathing cloths and a helmet topping it off.
I kind of like passing people just floating by like a ghost.

Ageed, most 'speed' kit, and such as deep wheels, chunky aero frames and tight jerseys/shorts are are fairly common, if not quite ubiquitous nowadays. They don't attract much attention anymore where I live. But aero helmets, especially with integrated visors are still rare, like a solid disk rear wheel and aero extensions.

I say be brave, take the aero helmet mainstream in 2021!

[AnkitS]

Any update on smuggling HJC helmets into the US?