Here is your opportunity to as Giro R&D Director Rob Wesson about the new Synthe helmet, for a feature on the home page.
So give it your best shot.
I will then forward the best ones to Rob Wesson.
Here is a softball:
How much will is cost and when will it be in stores?
This fall and it will be $250
.
Can you explain in detail the yaw drag weighting, and how it was determined and applied?
In addition to the “weighted” drag value, can we see the raw data of drag vs. yaw for the Synthe and the competitors it was evaluated against?
Is it possible for you to give yaw sweeps of the helmets you tested? Also did you test any of the better ventilated aero helmets such as the LG Course?
Can we see the raw data of drag vs. PITCH for the Synthe and the competitors it was evaluated against? By pitch I mean the angle that changes when you look further up or further down.
Given that the Synthe is supposedly more aero and cooler than both the Aeon and Air Attack, where does Giro see the market heading in the next 2-3 years? Will we see all road helmets meld into this new generation of aero road helmets? If not, what will be the role of a high-end road helmet?
They now have 3 helmets targeting one price point (take or give)…do they see helmets like the Synthe eventually sitting at the top of two converging lines…one side giving up aerodynamics for better ventilation (road) and the other giving up ventilation for better aerodynamics (aero road) as you go down the price line?
Have you run the your wind tunnel mannequin with a wig? Would you expect the hair to change how the air flows through the helmet? Would the bald head of the mannequin affect the difference you see between a helmet like the synthe, which has more air flowing over the head, and a helmet like the air attack, which has less flow. I would imagine repeatability would be difficult with the wig.
Can we see the raw data of drag vs. PITCH for the Synthe and the competitors it was evaluated against? By pitch I mean the angle that changes when you look further up or further down.
Big +1
I would imagine pitch has a huge effect on all of the current aero helmets. I would be interested in hearing about this from not only Giro but also Specialized, Smith, etc. It is easy to shift the helmet forward or back, but what is ideal alignment for the vents and therefore aerodynamics?
Can Rob discuss the fundamentals of airflow around/through a helmet for aero vs non-aero helmets? It seems like there many ways to skin the cat with respect to closed designs (giro attack) vs open designs (LG Course).
Can we expect a Synthe Shield version eventually?
Are we going to see this family of helmets start moving down the pricing spectrum towards the mid-range, where the proletariat might actually realize them?
What international helmet safety standards will the the Synthe meet? For example in Australia, we still don’t have the Aeon or Air Attack legally allowed to be sold here as they don’t meet the AS/NZ standards years after release to market and as far as I am aware Giro haven’t bothered to submit them for testing, any plans on Giro bothering with the Aussie/NZ market or are we just too small fish to bother about as usual?
Rob, can you comment more in depth on the Aero Mesh panels, and how they’re being used to smooth out the air flow as opposed to traditional vents?
Why not cover the entire helmet in Aero Mesh, or is there a point at which the Aero Mesh is simply not channelling enough air and thereby causing drag?
Also, is there a particular science to the shape of the holes in the Aero Mesh, like the new dimples on the Zipp 404 Firestrike?
Thanks!
Not really a question. I love the new helmet, but I swear you guys are going to kill your other models. I see no reason to now own a road helmet and a road aero helmet, when this can serve all road racing/general riding requirements. In any case, I’ll be lining up to buy this as soon as it comes out.
Are there any more questions? Maybe after the first weekend of the Tour we will close this opportunity down and post the questions to Rob Wesson with some of ours.
H
just if they would recomend this over an air attack for the tt position vs road position? i am wondering if itd still faster than the air attack? or about thr same
I read an article on another site about the Synthe about how you used an instrumented aluminum head mannequin to help measure cooling rates. Did the head mannequin have a heater in it to simulate the roughly constant temperature of the interior of a human head? And how much do you think the test is affected by the significantly higher thermal conductivity of aluminum vs. a skull/skin/etc.?
How does the drag compare to the Evade at a 60-degree head angle?
Where does this leave the technology of ear covers and tails? Has it been proven to be as inconsequential as it is ugly? If the gains are only had in a position no human can hold for a reasonable amount of time and there are measured gains to be had by being in a more reasonable aero position with a less stupid obtrusive helmet, I’m all ears and no ear flaps.