Over the years we’ve gotten to know Bollé for their sunglasses, but it wasn’t eyewear that attracted us to their booth in Vegas. Instead, perhaps taking a page out of Smith’s playbook, the company is venturing into the world of bike helmets after sticking to snow sports for a number of years. Already a pretty crowded marketplace, you have to have something unique in order to get noticed which is exactly the case with ‘The One.’
True to its name, The One hopes to be the only helmet that you will need regardless of the conditions or the season. For Bollé’s first attempt at a road or mountain helmet, The One is a surprisingly polished offering that includes nearly every accessory you can think of…
The fact that Bollé is an eyewear company first, means it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that The One includes an impressive sunglass dock. Called the sunglass garage, the two ports on either side of the helmet fit with any pair of sunglasses, not just Bollé. Once installed, they won’t come out until you really want them to. The design is also meant to still allow for ventilation, though without the glasses the front of the helmet’s 31 vents are fully exposed.
With 31 vents, the helmet has quite a bit of open air space which you’ll want to cover up when the weather gets cooler or for improved aerodynamics. To Make that possible, the helmet includes a two piece Adjustable Aero system that can be clipped into the vents for partial or full coverage.
Out back, The One includes an integrated rear light with a solid or blinking mode. The light is also completely removable and includes a plastic cover for the slot when it is not in use. Running on a coin cell battery, the light offers a 40 hour burn time. An additional safety feature is provided with a safety QR code on the helmet that allows you to record a sixty second voice message that will play for first responders when they scan the code.
For true winter use, The One also includes a full winter liner that replaces the summer pads for an exact fit. The washable fleece liner should make it unnecessary to use an additional winter hat depending on the outside temperature.
While Bollé will offer The One in “mountain bike” specific color ways, all of the helmets Will include a removable visor for on or off road use. Even with the visor installed, the sunglass garage still works.
The mountain helmets above also highlight Bollé’s newest sunglass, the MTB specific B-Rock. Made with Trivex lenses which are lighter and more impact resistant than polycarbonate, the lenses are also coated with a hydrophobic and oleophobic outer and anti-fog inner coatings. Other mountain bike specific details include thermogrip brow and cheek pads which are meant to help keep the glasses in place along with the b-shaped temples. B-Rocks will sell for $179 to $199 this January.
Inside The One, you’ll find an EPS liner under the polycarbonate shell as well as a one piece front pad. The helmet uses a Dial Click 2 fit system with two vertical adjustments. Available in either the standard or premium, the only difference is that the premium includes the two-piece aero shell for $169. The $129 Standard helmet includes all of the other accessories and you can purchase the aero shell for an additional $40. Claimed weight is 280g without the aero shell, with the summer liner, and with the rear light.
Bollé is also introducing the Messenger helmet which doesn’t include the Adjustable Aero feature since the shell is already mostly solid. However the helmet does include a winter liner for the premium model and an integrated rear light. The Messenger will sell for $99 dollars for the standard and $119 for the premium.
Both helmets will be available in January with multiple color options.
