Some early test samples of this new and highly promising aero helmet have been spotted at various big pro events over the last few months, and more details were revealed today about this futuristic looking Giro Aerohead MIPS helmet - just ahead of the TT stage of the 2016 Tour of California.
“The Aerohead MIPS is our fastest helmet ever and represents the culmination of everything we have learned over the past 30 years. In addition, we have been able to integrate MIPS to provide more protection in certain impacts, as well as including the RocLocAir® fit system and hydrophilic padding to improve ventilation and cooling. With its combination of reduced drag, MIPS, and increased comfort, the Aerohead MIPS simply wouldn’t have been possible only a few years ago,” said Rob Wesson, the Giro director of R&D. “By utilizing a TeXtreme® carbon fiber shell for the Aerohead Ultimate MIPS, we were able to further reduce frontal area, making our fastest shape ever even faster.”
According to Giro they used the popular Wind Averaged Drag standard testing method (and time in the Faster wind tunnel), and found that the Aerohead Ultimate MIPS is 3 seconds faster over 40km than their Giro Selector, and the Aerohead MIPS, which is meant for longer courses and features additional ventilation, is 14 seconds faster over 180km, while thermodynamic testing also apparently showed it to be nearly 10 % cooler than the Aerohead Ultimate MIPS.
“While I haven't conducted all the aero testing, I do know our results and the results of the tunnel tests, and will say the most remarkable thing about the helmet is it has tested as the fastest helmet for every athlete that I know of except one, and even for that athlete it was a wash against the LG P09. I don't know the total number of those who've tested with it, but I do know it's more than just a handful. We have never seen a helmet work so well for everyone who's tried it. It really becomes the new helmet for, if you can't test, its the safest bet,” said Jim Manton of ERO Sports in a thread on slowtwitch. He praised the helmet even more in this Aerohead thread.
Linsey Corbin was among the first pro triathletes to have one of these Aerohead helmets, and rumor has it that Michael and Andreas Raelert will also be spotted this summer wearing one of these.
The slowtwitch.com tech editor Tony Vinneau had the Giro Aerohead MIPS already in his hands and here are his first impressions.
“I must admit, my first impression of the wrap around visor on the Giro Aerohead MIPS was that the helmet look a little like something from Star Wars, but Giro certainly hit the mark with performance and feel. The extended visor brilliantly eliminated the need to deal with earflaps when putting on a helmet. It slid on nicely without any manipulation of the helmet or visor. Giro also improved on a common complaint with magnetic visors as the Aerohead uses 6 strong magnets that worked great during the test ride keeping the visor snug. The other side of the coin is that some mind find it difficult to remove the visor while riding. Finally, the helmet had sufficient ventilation in the helmet and visor that I didn’t detect any fog build up after a tough ride at a temperature of 80 F,” said Vienneau.
These new aero helmets however will not be available until the fall. The Aerohead MIPS is scheduled to arrive in August and the fancier Aerohead Ultimate MIPS is coming in September. So patience is required. For those folks who buy the Aerohead MIPS, a travel pod is available for that one separately, while the Ultimate comes standard with one.
What exactly do you get with each helmet? Below are the key feature of each model.
Giro Aerohead MIPS key features:
• Polycarbonate shell
• MIPS® technology
• 4 Wind Tunnel Vents®
• Vented eye shield made by ZEISS® Optics
• Magnetic lens anchor attachment
• Hydrophilic padding with X-Static anti-microbial fabric
• Roc Loc Air®
• Over-brow ventilation with internal channeling
• 455 g
• $250/ €299 / £229
• Colors: black, black with red, white, white with turquoise
Giro Aerohead Ultimate MIPS key features:
• TeXtreme® carbon fiber shell
• MIPS® technology
• Vented eye shield made by ZEISS® Optics
• Magnetic lens anchor attachment
• Hydrophilic padding with X-Static anti-microbial fabric
• RocLoc Air®
• Over-brow ventilation with internal channeling
• Helmet pod for traveling
• 455g
• $550/ €599 / £499
• Colors: black, raw carbon, and white
More details can be found on the Giro Aerohead site
We edited the UK pricing as there was an error in the press release.
