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Hands On: Mavic’s Lightest Helmet yet, the Cosmic Ultimate

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Undoubtedly known more for their wheels than their clothing, Mavic has been making big strides lately in the world of hard and soft goods. Already offering a selection of helmets for both road and mountain biking, the new Cosmic Ultimate takes the title of the lightest helmet they have ever made. Geared towards road or cross country use, the helmet uses dual density EPS foam to offer excellent protection in the event of a crash while also remaining very light weight.

We got a chance to check out the new lid along with the other 125th Anniversary gear recently at Mavic’s La Maison Jaune.

Details next…

Mavic Cosmic Ultimate helmet (3)

Mavic Cosmic Ultimate helmet (4)

Designed with 26 “Clima Vents,” the Cosmic Ultimate looks well ventilated. Sold in three shell sizes, further fit adjustment is offered through the Ergo Hold SL retention system. In addition to changing the circumference, the Ergo Hold SL system has 3 different vertical positions similar to many other retention systems.

Mavic Cosmic Ultimate helmet (5)

Inside, Cosmic Fit pads include X-Static technology to keep out the funk, while creating a comfortable fit. As someone who prefers the fit of most Giro helmets over Bell, the fit of the medium Cosmic Ultimate was very good.

Mavic Cosmic Ultimate helmet (1)

With the hang tag included, the weight of 215g isn’t that far off from the claimed weight of 210g. Even after trimming a good bit of weight from the 285g Plasma SLR, the Cosmic Ultimate is still CE and CPSC approved. Helmets will be sold in Mavic Yellow, as well as black and white.

mavic.com

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Dave
Dave
10 years ago

Like to know the price of this helmet. It’s not incredibly light. You should check out the UVEX Boss Race. Same weight at 215g and a retail of $130.00.

And the fit is amazing and it is made in Germany not Asia. Nothing against Asia but the quality control on most helmets coming out of Asia is so so and I like to try and support brands that do not make most of their stuff in either the US or Europe.

Bob
Bob
10 years ago

DAVE – “And the fit is amazing and it is made in Germany not Asia. Nothing against Asia but the quality control on most helmets coming out of Asia is so so and I like to try and support brands that do not make most of their stuff in either the US or Europe.”

Did you not read that back carefully? I believe Germany is in Europe. Thinking you meant to say: and I like to try and support brands that make most of their stuff in either the US or Europe.

Please correct me if I’m wrong.

CJ
CJ
10 years ago

I saw one of these the other day in person and tried it on. I have to say it is a very nice helmet, a big step froward in looks and fit from their first generation helmets (which I did not like). I will be interested to see the price and would more than consider buying it.

James
James
10 years ago

@Dave What a heap of rubbish you speak. All helmets pass the same tests wherever they are made. The Uvex helmet you state is miles from the performance of any of these top level helmets and designed for a different user.

MaLóL
MaLóL
10 years ago

Problem with this helmet is that it’s Mavic. Mavic is supposed to do the best wheels, which they stopped doing since their first complete wheelset. Therefore, if they can’t make decent wheels anymore, why would I trust them and buy their helmets if I can buy a giro helmet, or a sidi/bont shoes or oakley glasses? After all, the price tag in this product is so high due to the brand, not the quality of the product itself. If it was at least more attractive than the most attractive helmet, let’s say the giro atmos, well… And also, this whole yellow thing.

Stop it, please. Dear mavic, you invest too much in marketing, too little in engineering, and even then, your marketing is a flaw… Please move on. Thank you.

Gillis
Gillis
10 years ago

No MIPS? My next helmet purchase will have MIPS. So this is a no-go for me.

Andrew
Andrew
10 years ago

Mavic are starting to lose their relevance.

Instead of celebrating 125 years (admittedly a decent record, but a slightly contrived anniversary let’s face it!), why not bring your product into the 21st century?

While everybody else is offering wider rims, you continue down the narrow path. Whilst other brands offer the repair ability of standard spokes, you continue to push wheelsets that need a factory repair. And whilst everybody else is going for safety and aero in helmets that are also light and ventilated but the way as a hygiene factor, you give us a pure climber’s helmet.

When was the last time Mavic changed the game when it comes to innovation? It has been a few years now. And their product ain’t exactly cheap either.

I used to be a huge Mavic fan. It is telling that the only product I now own is a set of Open Pro CD rims on my training wheels. A good old fashioned classic bit of kit. Other brands just seem to do innovation in a more relevant way these days.

Dave
Dave
10 years ago

BOB – you are correct. I typed a bit too fast. One thing is for sure. Too many brands are trying to do everything instead of doing what they are good at and doing it even better. Mavic has / had great wheels so they then start producing clothing, shoes, pedals (just rebranded TIME) etc. They they leverage all this with the dealer. So if you really like carrying our wheels then we need you to carry our shoes and helmets and and and………..

Bell Sports does this with helmets by having you buying to other categories that you do not want. BlackBurn? crap. Giro shoes. one or two good models, the rest crap. But if you want good prices on the helmets you need to by our other stuff.

Again too many companies do this. Dealers need to smarten up and buy what they want not what they are told. They are called IBD’s for a reason though you would think that they are just company stores for many of these brands.

There are plenty of brands that do what these mega brands try to do. Examples below.

Sidi – just shoes and great shoes!!!!!
Uvex – just helmets and sunglasses. And they are fantastic.
Nightrider – just lights.
Light and Motion – just lights
CatEye – just computers and lights
Zipp – just wheels
Reynolds – just wheels

These are just a few examples but they give IBD’s freedom to buy what they want and not what they are told.

Sorry for the rant.

large d
large d
10 years ago

Zipp offers bats, stems, and seatposts not to mention they are owned by SRAM.

large d
large d
10 years ago

Bars

Devin
10 years ago

I, for one, am holding out until I see the 2016 Zipp Carbo-Bat. New dimple pattern to increase swing speed by 1.5% (when swung by a professional player at a minimum of 40 kph.)

Chad Moore - Mavic
10 years ago

Greetings everyone. Chad from Mavic here to answer a few questions and give some insight on Mavic.

First of all, pricing. MSRP on the Cosmic Ultimate helmet is $199. We are very proud of this helmet for many reasons. It stands for what, we believe, is a very well engineered evolution of our very young helmet line. Without question, it is one of (if not the) lightest helmets on the market and still meets all test standards. As someone who has enjoyed the fit of Giro in the past I can say, from personal experience, that the fit of the Cosmic Ultimate (for me) is perfect. I’ve been riding it for a few weeks now and have been pleasantly surprised at how comfortable and unnoticeable it is on even the hottest of days.

Safety – of course there have been considerations for including MIPS and ICEdot in our helmet line. This technology is still new and we are doing our own research (along with consumer focus groups) on what, how and if we should include this in our product development. The design of the Cosmic Ultimate helmet was already very well progressed and adding new technology just isn’t something easily done when the development cycle is in the advanced stages. That said, there is always the chance we will offer an integrated solution for the highest level of protection and safety in the future.

Yellow – yes, we push it a lot. It’s our blood and makes us one of the most recognizable brands in cycling. Our heritage in Neutral Race Support is something we are very proud of and for our products that represent the highest level of engineering, design and performance we award them with this iconic color. If that isn’t your bag we always offer an alternative. Hopefully the black or white in the Cosmic Ultimate will satisfy those looking to be a little more understated. We understand the yellow isn’t for everyone!

Finally, a brief note on wheels. Any time a Mavic product review/feature is open for comment we expect to hear some common feedback on our wheel systems. I am certainly not here to argue those points. That said, we have technologies which are quite advanced and technologies which have very tangible benefits. I’ll mention Exalith2, TgMax, and FORE drilling just to name a few. While we may not be consistent with other wheel brands on some technical details of our products, we have consistently pushed the envelope and developed technologies to offer wheels that represent our passion for the balance of weight, durability and performance. Are there issues? For sure! We don’t ignore any of the comments and feedback we receive. Quite the contrary. Many of the changes we’ve made, and will make, are in direct response to the feedback we hear on BikeRumor.com – not to mention the discussions with our dealers, sales reps and industry peers. Just know that we’re listening, we hear what you want and that we’re working to meet those expectations.

Thanks to all of you for your time and for offering insight. I am always available if you’d like to have an offline chat – chad.moore@mavic.com

jon
jon
10 years ago

Interested in knowing more about Foam Density…
Its stated that this helmet has dual density foam.
We should know more about the benefits of high and low density foam.

Chad - Mavic
10 years ago

Jon, thanks for the note. While I am not an engineer I do have a marginal understanding of the properties and purposes for different foam densities in helmet manufacturing. That said, I’ll offer an excerpt from the Bicycle Helmet Safety Institute – they are much more eloquent in their explanation.

“One of the major design parameters of every helmet is the specification of foam density. That is what “tunes” the helmet for a specific range of impacts. High density for harder impacts, lower density for a softer landing but with the possibility of bottoming out in a hard blow.”

So, the job of the engineer creating what is hoped to be a very lightweight helmet is to find the balance. Determine through testing the hardest impact areas of the helmet design and utilize high-density foam in those areas to be in compliance with the global testing parameters. The cost of utilizing multiple foam densities is higher than just using a single foam density – thus the higher price tag for the high-end helmets.

Hope this helps. For more information I’ll steer you to http://www.helmets.org/liners – if you would like to contact me directly I can be reached at chad.moore@mavic.com

Aaron
Aaron
10 years ago

Look good, but my Giro ProLight is 20g lighter.

Mario
Mario
10 years ago

So mips?

Jon
Jon
10 years ago

@ mario . Not all companies are buying into MIPS. I have never seen 2nd party testing that shows any benefit to it.

Johnny
Johnny
9 years ago

Chad, thanks for coming in to clear the air about the new helmet. I work at a local bike shop in Atlanta (part time / as hobby). We hear about Scott’s MIPS all of the time, and we do have them available for sale (since we carry Scott products). But if any of us are being honest when you are buying a helmet, none of the experts at our shop will tell you that the MIPS helmets are going to do a better job of saving your head than one without it. It’s a gimmick that may or may not work, except you pay an addition $25-50 for otherwise the same helmet without it.

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