Weight
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While there's no legal requirement to wear a helmet, the majority of road cyclists do
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Some manufacturers use an internal cage to increase the strength of the helmet while reducing weight
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Fit is absolutely vital when buying a new helmet (Pic: Sirotti)
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Each brand has its own version of a retention system but they largely do the same job
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The POC Octal weighs just 200g, but it also costs £225
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Alberto Contador has been wearing Specialized's aero road helmet, the Evade, at the Giro d'Italia (Pic: Sirotti)
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Internal channels in the helmet can also help improve ventilation
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Padding should be removable and machine washable
Weight
Like all things in cycling, when it comes to getting the lightest possible helmet you have to spend more – often lots more.
In theory it should be easy to make a very lightweight cycling helmet, after all most are essentially just a large chunk of expanded polystyrene will holes cut through it. However, the problem is that while it is very good material for absorbing impacts it has a tendency to also split when hit hard. It is for this reason that modern helmets have an in-moulded, hard plastic shell, and straps that run through the helmet’s interior to hold it all together and this is where the weight starts to get added.
The Limar Ultralight+ is among the lightest road helmets on the market at a claimed 175g, while the POC Octal (review) is 200g to name another example. In reality, however, there’s not a great deal of difference in weight between mid-range and top-of-the-range helmets – and certainly not much you’ll notice.
The £59.99 Lazer Blade (review) is a good example of that. While it shares many of the features of Lazer’s top-end helmets, it’s carrying a little extra weight at 234g, so, in reality, the difference is less than the weight of the eggs. Of course, you don’t want to feel like your helmet is made of lead, but once you reach a certain weight and price, Unless you want bragging rights there are significantly more important aspects of helmet design to worry about than weight.