How to select an Aero helmet

Amulya Parthasarathy

Team,

Not sure if this is the correct form forum but I'm looking at getting an Areo helmet. Any tips on what I should be looking for ? Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

 Thanks,

Amulya

Scott Alexander

All I can say is don't choose online without having worn it first. My fat head only seems to fit in a Giro L (Advantage II), even though sites say it'll fit other brands.

I tried the Rudy Wing57 this weekend, and it also seemed to fit, but I'll try again when I'm not rushed.

Paul Hough

It's a total crap shoot on whether you will pick one that actually reduces drag for your noggin. Wait for Tim Cronk to come on this thread and talk about his Aero Camp experience.

GMAN 19030

Posted By Paul Hough on 19 Mar 2015 05:21 PM


It's a total crap shoot on whether you will pick one that actually reduces drag for your noggin. Wait for Tim Cronk to come on this thread and talk about his Aero Camp experience.

Helmets are very, very individual as far as what tests best.  Without actual testing and data it's a guessing game as to what would work best for each person.  The best one can do without testing is to see what has tested the best on most people and hope it works for you.

Peter Noyes

According to Jim at Ero Sports, the P-09 Helmet is what most people test the best on. However, Tim Cronk just went for testing and didn't test well with that helmet.

I am in the same boat. I want a better helmet for St. George, but I will most likely not do testing until after the race. Not sure I want to plunk down 300$ on that helmet before I know it will work well for me. What do I do!??

Dave Tallo

Peter's point is a good one - there are a few helmets that work well for most people. I think Jim (or Heath and Brian, the guys who have run the aero camp with ERO) note its something like 80% of the gen pop. However, confirming if you're part of that 80%, or what's best for the individual rider can really only be verified with testing.

Of course, testing need not be prohibitive, nor require shelling out for track time and alphamantis gear. Very, very good result are obtainable with a PM, aerolab in Golden Cheetah, patience and careful measurement. Take awhile to read the "platypus thread" on slowtwitch to do a deep dive into this.

To make things worse, there's lots of stuff that goes on beyond helmet itself that varies across an invdividual rider. In my session with ERO, we discovered that there is a specific combination of speedsuit and helmet that work best for me. But only in this combination. AND, we also saw some of the effects of a helmet changed when the rider speed changed: at >37kph, the helmet was better with the air vent plug out. But at <37kph, the helmet was better when the air vent plug was in. <br />
Lots of moving parts. Short answer is "it depends." But the p09 is very good.

Dave Tallo

Posted By <a href='http://members.endurancenation.us/ActivityFeed/tabid/61/userid/3949/Default.aspx' class='af-profile-link'>Peter Noyes</a> on 19 Mar 2015 06:23 PM
According to Jim at Ero Sports, the P-09 Helmet is what most people test the best on. However, Tim Cronk just went for testing and didn't test well with that helmet.

I am in the same boat. I want a better helmet for St. George, but I will most likely not do testing until after the race. Not sure I want to plunk down 300$ on that helmet before I know it will work well for me. What do I do!??

Also, Tim and I are planning a data comparison/ debrief of our respective EROS sessions ... But I have a very strong suspicion that his data obtained with the p09 might be a bit off due to this "37kph plug-in" threshold mentioned above.

Amulya Parthasarathy

Thanks for the feed back guys. I will look up the article on slowtwitch. I'm not sure if there are any areolab/testing centers around here (NorCal) that I'm aware of. I will have to look around. In the mean time if you do find any valuable information, I would really appreciate it if you could update this thread.

MattAaronson

Honestly 99% of people will not do aero testing to figure out the optimal helmet for the individual and their fit and posture. So for the vast majority, you ought to pick a helmet that fits and is comfortable, and you need to make an assessment of the marketing claims of the various helmet sellers. The Rudy Wingspan has proven to be very popular, and one reason is the marketing claims that it is fast for a variety of different riding postures / fits (e.g. rounded-back, flat-back, etc, etc.).

Know that whatever you pick it is virtually assured to be materially faster than a standard non-aero helmet.

Dave Tallo

After this thread, I went back to remind myself of the Aero camp generalizations. My takeaway: absent testing, the Giro a2, Specialized Maclaren and Garneau p-09 are probably all good choices.

tim cronk

X-whatever..... Until you can test , pick the helmet that fits, is comfortable, looks good, and you can afford....


I originally bought an el cheapo online somewhere but it didnt hold up (cracked), moved to the Rudy Wingspan , then I tried one of the early LG's (felt hot to me) went back to the Rudy Wingspan, crashed and ruined it a couple years ago since it saved my noggin I replaced it with another... Recently at Aerocamp I tested the P09 and I absolutely loved the helmet and wanted one but alas it tested slower for me, I also tested the Giro Selector and thank god it didnt test better because I hated that one.... My Rudy just so happened to test the best out of the 3 I tried...

One thing I don't think was mentioned in this thread...Is Glasses vs. Shields... You can probably find a thread on ST about it... Pretty sure the take away from "most" of the testing last year is that "most" of the helmets tested better with glasses on and shields removed... They also feel cooler and less restrictive..

Amulya Parthasarathy

Thanks for the feedback Tim. This is helpful.