I see lots of posts about how important it is to have the right aero helmet, and other posts by people comparing various helmets, and even posts suggesting how much time can be saved over 40k using this or that helmet. But how does one actually go about figuring out the best helmet for you?? Surely you don’t buy one of each and return all the losers??? Do you borrow from friends? (ew, gross! and what…they all have the same size head?). And let’s say you manage to gather up 8 or 10 different aero helmets that fit (or close enough), then what? 4 roll down tests for each helmet in 2 or 3 different positions? Let’s see…that works out to, uh…about 100 hill repeats. Even as a pretty decent (read “small guy”) climber, that ain’t gonna happen.
Just something I’ve always wondered. Personally, I made my selection based 80% on price and 20% on fashion (the LG Rocket). But I sure would love to somehow know whether a different helmet could chop a significant chunk of time off my 40k with no additional watts needed. Suggestions???
Is it really gross to put someone else’s helmet on? never occurred to me.
I selected my Giro Advantage 2 by comparing my position to pictures of those wearing all manners of aero helmets, from there I was able to narrow it down to affordable-ish helmets that meshed with my position and that people seemed to like. I assume that many people without access to a wind tunnel have done the same.
Get as many different ones as you can, and do roll-down tests. Empiric data virtually always beats the eyeball-windtunnel, esp. Considering every body and position is different.
Pesonally, I bought my first helmet and and in the months following borrowed whatever I could get my hands on and pitched it against mine.
Maybe I’m just lucky, but on several occasions I was able to get helmets from my LBS on loan, with roll-down tests is not that you sweat all that heavily.
YMMV, but I’d never go with just pics if you’re really looking for speed.
That is the big question. Unless you go to a wind tunnel, you really don’t know. That is what makes the whole aero thing a joke. People spend thousands on getting a more aero by buying a mix and match of aero stuff without even looking at how their position fits into the equasion. You can’t really say that x wheels on Y frame are the fastest. It all depends on the interface with the tires to the wheels, wheels to bike, bike to bars,suit to rider, rider to all the sit points. Look at the huge difference in Dave Z and Lance As positions. Both have spentplenty of time in the tunnel and are sure their position is a good as it gets for them at this time. Can anyone or everyone on the Twitch say about themselves that their position is the fastest one for them? Based on ?