Did anyone have one of those? I wonder how it would compare to today’s offering in aerodynamics. From what I remember it was kind of bulbous and heavy.
You mean a Bell/Reebok pump?
the one with the thick plastic over foam with the face shield?yes i had one it felt fast, but with the face shield down you could not breath
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Yeah, I think that’s the one. It had a face sheild that was murder in NJ humidity.
I don’t remember it have a pump. Mine was white with a dark face shield. Blue foam on the inside. I think Mark Allen may have ridden with one at one time.
pretty bad in florida but i swear it was aero
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I threw one away within the last 2 years or so. I think it would perform poorly in comparison to my LG Rocket because it was wider and not much of a tail on it. Any yeah, heavy and hot also. On the other hand, you would look so dorky that you’d be pumping 3 times harder trying to get off the course before anyone you know sees you, so the net may be a faster bike split.
Is that the one that had the tab you slid to open/close the vents in the front? I remember my old helmet that had the vents and that it had a huge face shield and was extremely heavy. I’m pretty sure it was the Bell, as it would have been circa 1989-1990
The original, older helmet you are talking about (thick shell) was (I believe) the bell stratos.
The other is the bell vortex. Cf shell - not faux - kevlar straps, best face shield I ever used, reebok pump fit system.
I still have mine, and the box. It was from project 94-6(?) Don’t remember which. Same year as the descente skin suit with air control ribs (got one of those too :)) and the year yamaguchi built the “performance” team bikes (oh, yeah, got one of them too!)
As to which is faster (modern or the vortex) I dunno. The vortex has VERY little frontal area, and would never pass crash spec today (although technically legal for racing as it passed the tests of it’s day and has a cert sticker). But it lacks the tail to keep the flow together.
Perhaps that is why the skinsuit has ribs between the shoulder blades to redirect the air after it leaves the helmet…
G
(Damn that was a long post from the bb)
I just ran across a picture of myself from about 1990 with that helmet on. I looked like the Great Kazoo from the Flintstones. The thing was huge. Seemed pretty cool at the time though. I also had a Shogun Kaze TT bike with a 24in front wheel. Over-hyped Triathlon marketing was in full effect even back then. I do remember being the only one in the transition area with the first generation Scott Clip-on aero bars at one race. I think I’m dating myself.
The Bell Monarch? I’ve got one. I’ll put a picture up later.
The original, older helmet you are talking about (thick shell) was (I believe) the bell stratos.
Yeah, that is the one I had.
baxnelly,
could you put the picture from my post up here please. Thanks!
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I think that’s it. White with blue straps and red trim. Pretty cool at the time. Mine had a big visor on it. It looked especially cool with Oakeley Eyeshades. I was an equipment junkie even as a youngster.
pretty cool back in the day, now the thing is a tank.
MIne has black straps and no visor and the foam is slowly deteriorating.
Nope, I mean descente. I have a pi suit too, but it is rubberized.
The rib suit (with the bat-like shape) is descente.
G
That’s not a bell…
That is an aerodyne. No protection, just a fairing (and from good sources, a vey fast one).
I have one of those too…
They had a aerodyne logo and a red stripe across the top - can post a pic if you wanna see…
G
I have a pump Bell Vortex, and used it before I got a LG Prologue in '05. It is the lightest helmet I own, however the lack of a tail maked me wonder how well it compared to the newer batch of aero helmets on the market today.
The second pic I posted was MLSimpson’s picture. I don’t know what kind of helmet it is. The first one I posted is the picture of the Bell I was thinking I had back in the late 80’s. Although I believe mine was a dark gray color.
I loved that helmet, although it was HEAVY and the tab to change the venting did nothing as far as I could remember. Somewhere I have a cool pic of me doing a TT with that helmet on, my full Greg Lemond Team LOOK kit, riding my Panasonic DX 5000 with a J-disc wheel and Scott DH handlebars.