Spotted on the first road stage of the Tour de France over the weekend, riders from both BMC & Katusha were racing in a new aerodynamic road helmet that looks slated to overtake the current Air Attack and maybe even Synthe for all around road racing. We caught up with Belgian BMC rider and Olympic road champ Greg van Avermaet for a close look at his custom gold-accented helmet before the start in Dusseldorf. Unofficially rumored to be called Vanquish, the new helmet aims to improve on the ventilation & usability of the Air Attack so that cyclists can benefit from the slippery aero gains over a wide range of conditions. That means bigger vents, sunglasses compatibility, plus MIPS and a new construction method inside for improved safety. Get a closer look after the break…
From the front the new helmet is much more open than the Air Attack with four large vents that look to extend almost to the edge of the helmet along what are sure to be deep ventilation channels.
From the side we can see that each of those four front facing vents connect directly to a matching exhaust vent placed just behind the middle of the helmet – making for short direct airflow through the helmet, which could mean a good balance of removing heat while keeping air disturbance to a minimum.
Out back there are two more large exhaust vents, here surrounded in Olympic champ gold. We also can see a few more interesting details here. Especially we see that those rear vents which looked rather large in the profile view above are relatively long and thin, likely to maximize aerodynamics. Of course the little yellow circle means the new helmet gets MIPS inside. We can also see the thin dark gray Roc Loc Air Fit retention peeking through from the rear vent, and enough space above the dial that may mean the new helmet is ponytail friendly.
While the front, sides, and rear of the new helmet include a lot of vent openings, the tope is almost completely smooth. Helmet makers have seemed to settle on the idea that the top is where most of the drag happens, so opening up forward/rear facing vents can bring a lot more all-weather usability to a helmet, while that smooth top keeps it fast in the wind.
The construction of this new helmet is also pretty unique. At first it looks to be a fairly conventional in-mold solution, with an EPS liner molded into a polycarbonate shell. But looking more closely, we would count 5 individual pieces of shell and two layer of individual EPS liner, making it about the most complex road helmet we’ve seen. The multi-part shell allows Giro to make some complicated shaping while still protecting the EPS foam from being exposed to daily wear-and-tear. But that two layer sandwich of EPS is likely building in better crash protection.
Like we saw in the Progressive Layering foam of sibling helmet brand Bell last fall, this new layered construction will likely allow Giro the ability to offer improved impact/energy dissipation before it makes it to your head in an overall lighter and thinner construction.
A lot of riders of the Air Attack had been asking for sunglasses compatibility, and that clearly has been solved. But as the trend has gone to using an aero helmet for a wider range of racing, this new lid looks to add a lot more ventilation making it suitable for all but the hottest race days.
We’ll keep you updated when we get more solid details from Giro on expected pricing, availability, and further tech details.
