I have no doubt that aero helmets are aerodynamically better than the traditional helmet, but they don’t appeal to me at all aesthetically.
Obviously, I’m in the minority because Triathlete has a cover boy wearing an aero helmet and they wouldn’t put something on the cover that would turn most readers off.
I don’t care anymore about being as aero as possible on the bike, so I don’t plan to buy an aero helmet until I stand out in the crowd like someone still wearing one of the early Bell helmets. Will that happen and when?
Won’t happen for a long time. Most helmets worn by the masses at tri’s are well under $100 a pop. Aero helmets are quite expensive as a purchase for most people. Look at most people at the races. The bikes are not $5000, with $1500 worth of wheels.
I can’t see myself buying one of the expensive models for the same reasons as you. Just a tad dorky and a tad expensive to use ONLY on race day. That said I own a Rudy Syton without the ear pieces. Its much smaller then the rest of the “aero helmets”. its not quite as dorky, not as aero, but I WILL wear it when training and racing.
I have no doubt that aero helmets are aerodynamically better than the traditional helmet, but they don’t appeal to me at all aesthetically.
Obviously, I’m in the minority because Triathlete has a cover boy wearing an aero helmet and they wouldn’t put something on the cover that would turn most readers off.
I don’t care anymore about being as aero as possible on the bike, so I don’t plan to buy an aero helmet until I stand out in the crowd like someone still wearing one of the early Bell helmets. Will that happen and when?
I think you will continue to see more & more aero helmets. I would guess that 50% of the field will be wearing them within 3 years. The prices will come down and like all other technological advances, aero helmets will trickle down to the masses.
I’m sure seeing more and more of them at HFP races. Just think back to the triple T. I’d say at least 1/2 the field had aero helmets (granted, this is NOT a normal race population) on about the slowest course you can find anywhere.
I am guessing (predicting the future is hazardous to your health) that as the cheapest speed you can buy ($149 for a helmet vs. $1500 and up for race wheels with similar gains) there will be a LOT of them sold. It may get to where you will look dorky without one … and who cares how you loook anyway if you can go faster … form and fashion follow function. And you can buy used helmets - (eBay and ST classified) as the new models displace the old models.
Seriously, there is absolutely no way to tell. WAY to many other variables (heat, fatigue, course, fitness, tires, etc.) to measurably tell. Instinct says yes, to the tune of 30 secs per 40K? (WAG here)
I only finally made the jump since 30-60 secs makes a BIG difference to me now in placings. 2-3 years ago I could have cared less about 3 mins.
Funny you should ask. I am the definitive MOP’er and I just bought the Rudy Syton this morning. The local tri shop had it for $75 and I just couldn’t resist. Will it make me faster? Maybe, but not as much as more training would. Will people cruise past me and think, “Hey! I just blew by the dork with the disk wheel and the aero helmet.” Probably. Will I still wear it and have a good time doing it? Absolutely!!
Won’t happen for a long time. Most helmets worn by the masses at tri’s are well under $100 a pop. Aero helmets are quite expensive as a purchase for most people. Look at most people at the races. The bikes are not $5000, with $1500 worth of wheels.
It’s going to happen sooner rather than later. Looking through the pics of a local sprint tri a while back I noticed a lot of them so I panned through last year’s pics. This year at least half of the front half of the race had some kind of aero helmet. The year before it was less than half that. Even at LP this year I saw them all the way through from the fast doods to the 8 hour bike crowd.
I don’t think it’ll be more than half the pack for a long time, but it’s becoming pretty “normal”.
I think given their aerodynamic advantage i don’t see why they won’t become mor epopular. I am sure many people do not want to “go that far” and get an aerodynamic helmet because they don’t want to look like a poser. Meanwhile their bike is screaming 10 Gs. It’s an odd dilemna to me. With many of the helmets being in the same price range as regular road helmets i don’t see what the big deal is. There is a large advantage in aerodynamics by getting a TT helmet. If you are slapping together a super aerodynamic bike together why not make yourself aero.
I have no problem with people spending money on stuff they like or is supposedly better even if they aren’t the fastest guy out there. Nice stuff makes life nicer. If you have it spend it and look cool doing it!
for those that dont want to read the whole thing :
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Cote: Most people don’t realize that a nonaero helmet creates four times the drag of a nonaero wheelset. So you can spend two thousand dollars on a wheelset, or spend two hundred on a helmet and be faster. How you put your race number on matters more than having an aero wheel; today, we glued on our numbers to get them to fit flatter. Then there’s water bottle placement: On a round-tubed frame, having a bottle on your seat tube is more aerodynamic than not having one at all, and it’s much more aero than putting it on the down tube. And wearing gloves in a time trial will slow you down more than using a nonaero front wheel.
If you want to go faster wear one. 30 to 40 seconds to me means I can run 6 sec per mile slower in the 10 k. My fave is the people on a $5k rig riding along with their hands on the bars. You know those aero bars work much better with your elbows in the pads?.
My point is I don’t think they look cool, but that is my bias.
I did a HFP Oly/sprint series event today and I’d guess less than 25 percent of the field was wearing aero helmets. The field ranged from a dozen or more who have qualified for Kona to total newbies.
Just about everyone who beat me yesterday at an Oly was wearing one- and I beat quite a few who were as well. I would say 85% or more of the FOPers had them on their heads. I had my helmet geek taped.
My point is I don’t think they look cool, but that is my bias.
I used to agree with this. That, combined with not wanting to look “silly” wearing an aerohelmet when I’m a solid but not outstanding biker, prevented me from buying one.
Now, I’ve seen them so much I think they look cool. And since I’m seeing them on guys more in my bike range instead of just the pros, it seems less silly of me to have one. I think this combo of trickle down and familiarity will lead to significant portions of the pack having them. Basically, we’re all lemmings. Needless to say, I have one.
Yes, I will likely inevitably succumb, unless I want to be the old guy who never updates his equipment. Maybe in 2009. I’ll look for an “aero lite” model that isn’t too extreme.
