At the World Cup level racers demand as close to perfection as they can get from their bikes and gear, so when Italian brand Bluegrass decided to create a new flagship DH helmet, they figured they’d take it on the tour for some extensive R+D.
The company has already been working closely with their Norco Factory Racing and Polygon UR team racers on the new helmet, which will be seen for the first time by the general public this weekend at the Fort William UCI World Cup Downhill race.
This yet-unnamed helmet will take its place as Bluegrass’s top-of-the-line, ‘ultimate’ DH full face. While not many details are available now, they say it will be a full-featured model. They’ve also hinted towards improving both safety and the rider experience, so I’d speculate some effort has gone into ensuring comfort and a solid fit. You’ll notice a MIPS logo in one of their promo images, so it’s probably a safe bet this will at least be an optional feature.
Looking at the photos it’s clear this new model is quite different from Bluegrass’ existing full face offerings. Right away we can see the chin bar is unique, the vents have been redesigned and the visor has been trimmed down. Will it incorporate D30 inserts like Bluegrass’ current range-topping Brave helmet? We’ll have to wait and see…
While the new helmets will be debuted at Fort William, testing isn’t over yet and they still could change before hitting store shelves. The pros will be racing in the prototype lids throughout this entire World Cup season, providing ongoing feedback to settle any final design tweaks before production begins.
The production-ready helmets are slated to be released during the 2018 World Championship DH race in Lenzerheide, Switzerland, which begins on September 5th. Keep an eye on Bluegrass’ website for future updates.
