Italian helmet maker MET has a new premium road lid that looks like it goes a bit against the grain of the current trend for more aero focused road racing helmets, heading back towards lightweight & more ventilation. MET already has a fairly well-vented, but dedicated aero helmet called the Manta which we saw their sponsored riders from Dimension Data and UAE using at the first road stage of the Tour this week, but the new Trenta 3K Carbon uses new material to allow them to shed weight while maintaining protection and specially designed vents that claim to draw heat away from the head while maintaining low drag numbers. That means it promises a lighter, more airy feel for when the racing hits the long hot climbs, while still delivering on aerodynamics…
MET says they’ve been making cycling helmets for three decades and this is their most technologically advanced one yet. So that’s where it gets its name – Trenta, Italian for thirty.
MET developed the Trenta 3K Carbon to take advantage of a new light, co-molded structural carbon shell that allowed them to use a lower density EPS foam inside. That let them shave 20% of the weight off of their previous top road helmet at the same time separating the EPS into more widely spaced ribs for better ventilation while maintaining energy absorption & safety in a crash.
The Trenta gets an open, well-vented construction with 19 vents in total, only slightly closed off on its top where more aero drag is created. MET says that also results in the helmet only contacting 30% of the top of your head, leaving the rest of the open space to allow air movement & heat escape.
It then gets a tapered, but squared-off tail that again aims to create controlled negative pressure behind the head to pull heat out of the helmet and improve aerodynamics in a range of head positions.
Like their Manta, the Trenta uses the same NACA-inspired air inlet located on the top of the helmet that draws fresh air in and sucks hot air out of the back of the helmet by way of the Venturi effect creating lower air pressure inside the helmet, while minimizing drag impacts even when a rider ducks their head under hard efforts.
The Trenta uses MET’s top 360° Safe-T Orbital retention system with 4-position vertical & 2-position occipital adjustment (plus ponytail compatibility.)
It comes in three sizes S-L (for heads from 52-62cm around) and three colors – white/carbon, black carbon & the 30th anniversary Italian tricolore. A medium MET Trenta claims a weight of just 215g, with availability slated for December 2017.
