Italian helmet maker Limar originally planned to debut their new fully-vented, aero road helmet this summer racing Le Tour. But when they gave the helmets to Astana for testing, the pro team asked Limar to let them start racing with the new helmet at the Giro d’Italia this week.
Limar Air Pro aero, fully vented road race helmet
Limar already released a new fully aero helmet earlier this season called the Air Speed with Astana. But the new Air Pro is meant to be an all-around road racing helmet, offering full ventilation for riding in the heat of the summer. Limar says though that the tapered shape of the longitudinal ribs in the helmet minimize drag by reducing the pressure of air impacting the helmet, pairing with their slightly extended tailing tips to cut turbulence behind the head.
Astana worked with Limar through the development of the new Air Pro. And after wind tunnel testing, the pro team saw easy gains by being able to swap the new helmet in for their previous Ultralights on hot race days.
Saving a claimed 1 second per 10km at race speeds, the moment Astana saw the real world ventilation delivered as promised, they wanted to start racing with the new lid.
Tech Details
Limar says that what really allowed them to blend the benefits of full ventilation and aero optimization was the CarbonCoreTech. The Air Pro isn’t the first helmet to get carbon reinforcing to its shell, but Limar gave it a double purpose.
Instead of only providing structural reinforcement, Limar claims that by in-molding a larger, but thin carbon cage they could also greatly improve airflow. What Limar calls carbon wings in the new helmet, at once smooth airflow over the top & sides of the rider’s head, while still allowing enough frontal open area on the helmet & deep internal channels to maintain full ventilation.
The result is a 3-layered in-mold construction of EPS foam + a carbon cage + the three-piece outer polycarbonate shell.
Availability & Pricing
The Air Pro will be available from June 2018, and comes in two sizes M & L (53-61cm total range). While not as light as their 170g Ultralight+, the Air Pro isn’t too shabby at 230g (M) or 270g (L).
The helmet features the same lightweight dial retention of their other premium helmets, and will be available in 6 standard colors, plus pro team replicas for Astana, Canyon-Topeak & Direct Energie.
Retail pricing will be 250€ when they go on sale this summer.
Check out our coverage of the Astana Pro Cycling Team’s bikes from the first days of this year’s Giro here.
