The funny thing about Abus’ commuter helmet lineup is that some of them look like aggressive mountain bike helmets, making them perfect for (safely) taming the urban jungle and having a lid that’ll double on the singletrack en route home. We’ve seen some of them before, the news here is that they’ve finally obtained their CPSC approval and will be distributed through Highway Two in the U.S.
Coming in April, the Yadd-I (pronounced “Jedi” for some reason) started its concept life as an aero road helmet but ended up as a sleek commuter helmet. It gets their Soft Tune retention system that uses an adjustable elastic strap that can mount in various points to control fit. Internally, the Forced Air Cooling channels make room for lots of air to flow from the front vents to the rear, moving heat off the top of your noggin. It will eventually get a rear blinky light that will fit into the back, too.
Also coming in April, the Youn-I Ace is a little more of a full coverage helmet that looks like a mountain bike helmet but is actually designed with e-bikes in mind. As e-bikes get faster and more capable, riders have been asking for something with more coverage and good ventilation, so this is Abus’ answer. It also has a built in blinky tail light.
Above are the Scraper 2.0 and Hyban…
…and this is the Urban-I 2.0. These three are their best selling models globally, so that’s what they’re starting with in the U.S.
Something that’s been around for a couple years now but hasn’t gotten much attention is their home security products for your bikes. The WBA100 Floor Anchor bolts into a concrete floor and provides a massive steel loop to run a lock through. It’s a pretty much permanent installation as it comes with ball bearings to hammer into the allen bolt head so that you can’t unbolt the loop even if you cut through the plastic cover that hides the bolts. It’ll fold down flat so you can drive over it if it’s in a garage or driveway.
Retail is $129.99. The loop is a hardened steel that gets harder with heat, so an angle grinder isn’t going to work. And it’s too tough for bolt cutters, so as long as your lock is up to par, chances are pretty good no one’s getting away with your ride.
