While seemingly superficial, anyone who has ridden with an aero lid will know the challenge of trying to stow sunglasses when they’re not on your face. They’re meant to be best compatible with POC’s own brand sunnies, but we teamed the helmet with a whole host of brands and found them to hold tight to every single pair. The semi-aero lid did suffer a little with breathability however, and while the ventilation was very good, on the hottest of riding days it could have done with the ability to suck even more cool air in. That said, on the sweatiest of days in the saddle, we found that the Protone’s water irrigation design is top-notch, managing to avoid channelling sweat down onto sunglasses or into eyes. Our test model in a small weighed in at just 170g (the claimed weight for the medium is 200g). We certainly found that this translated to a featherweight feel on the head, with the ventilation adding to the general comfort.
Its large air ports mean that it also doesn’t take the usual guise of an aero helmet, which tend to have a more solid appearance. The aero lid uses POC’s own SPIN (Shearing Pad INside) safety feature, which combines silicone bladders and pads to help dissipate rotation impacts. Weighing just an incredibly 220g/ 7.7oz for a size medium, the Kask Protone helmet offers, according to the brand, one of the lowest drag and fastest heat dissipation options on the market. On test we called it a game-changer of a road bike helmet due to its unrivalled all-around performance. Likewise, having tested hundreds of helmets over the years, we’d always recommend trying a few options on to see which suits your head shape and size.
As we touched on before, a top priority is to bring in a lower mountain, beginner shuttle experience similar to Dirt Surfer at Maydena, which offers 200m of elevation and a green flow trail. French tells Flow this would ideally be serviced by ATV uplift though further investigation is needed to see if that last part is feasible. “Ultimately, we’re trying to provide the best riding experience, and that’s not a cheap thing to do.
A long-term favourite with excellent all-round performance, Giro’s Aether definitely deserves consideration. It is light, airy and includes MIPS along with extra reinforcement in its construction. There are loads of colour options to choose from and it’s very comfortable to wear. However, recent technological advancements mean that many helmets offer extra systems that provide even greater protection. MIPS (Multi-directional Impact Protection System), for example, is designed to prevent damage caused by oblique or glancing blows that rotate the skull around the brain.
Depending on the type of riding you’re doing, the frame material can either be a large help or a huge detriment. The benefit of rigid bikes is that they can be more efficient over smooth terrain since there is no suspension movement interfering with pedal efficiency. However, today many hardtail mountain bikes, including some Trail models, have a lockout on the suspension fork meaning you can genesis bicycles have the benefit of suspension when you need it and the ability to lock it out when you don’t. Where we’ve been able to link to a review, it means that we’ve put the head protection through its paces. All of the members of the Cycling Weekly Tech Team have years of experience in riding bikes in all disciplines and have a huge wealth of knowledge and wear helmets almost every time we ride.
The Ventral is one of the lightest helmets available, making it ideal for those who measure rides in vertical metres rather than horizontal kilometres. Excellent ventilation helps in the heat but the adjustment mechanism is a bit basic and there is no MIPS to save weight. Specialized Soil Searching is a movement to recognise, celebrate, and support the trail builders who help shape our sport and our stoke. That tender closed in mid-February, and Elevation Parks, Dirt Art’s bike park management and development arm, had won.
It should be possible to loosen the retention system on a helmet to allow for a thermal skull cap or cycling cap to be worn underneath. This is done for added warmth, and the bill of a cycling cap can be useful for deflecting rain from the eyes. Because of this, caps are a common sight in the spring classics, such as Paris-Roubaix. genesis bicycles If when you try on a helmet the retention system is at either end of limit, it is probably the wrong size for you. All helmet manufacturers will have a size guide on their websites, and we highly recommend following each brand’s recommendations of how to measure for its helmets before investing in a purchase.
Top tube length is the difference between the head tube and the seat tube, functionally the distance the rider is from the bars when seated. Reach is the distance between the center of the bottom bracket and the head tube, how far the rider is from the bars when standing on the bike. 26 inches used to be the standard size for mountain bike wheels, but now 27.5- genesis bicycles and 29-inch sizes have taken over the market. It has a substantial amount of resistance to corrosion and the highest strength-to-weight ratio of all metals. And like chromoly steel frames, titanium frames are primarily available from custom frame builders. As mentioned in the previous section, different suspensions accompany different types of mountain biking.