The Aerohead II is unquestionably one of many strangest-looking bike helmets ever made. It ought to be proper at house on the earth of time trial racing, nonetheless, the place aerodynamics are king and elegance simply does not matter.
Introduced this Monday (Mar. 4), the Aerohead II was created by way of a partnership between American helmet producer Giro and Group Visma/Lease a Bike, a Dutch bicycle racing staff. The staff plans on utilizing the helmet – which is custom-made for every rider – all through the upcoming season.
Giro designed the unique model of the Aerohead for American racing bike owner Greg LeMond again in 1986. He proceeded to win the 1989 Tour de France whereas carrying the helmet, beating his closest opponent by simply eight seconds. The Aerohead went on to turn into a commercially accessible manufacturing mannequin.
Significantly extra radical-looking than its predecessor, the Aerohead II is targeted much more on maximizing aerodynamics whereas its time-trial-racing wearer is tucked down within the aero place. To that finish, it incorporates a lengthy wedge-shaped “nostril cone” together with a tapered tail part which flares out to take a seat flush with the rider’s shoulders.
When the rider is tucked down, they appear ahead by a clear visor which wraps across the whole underside of the helmet’s nostril. The visor is significantly bigger than that of the unique mannequin, reportedly offering a lot better visibility.
After being examined extensively over the previous winter, the Aerohead II was utilized in competitors for the primary time this Monday within the opening time trial of the Tirreno-Adriatico street biking stage race in Italy.
“The riders did search for a bit after they first noticed the helmet, however ultimately that did not final lengthy,” says Group Visma/Lease a Bike’s head of efficiency, Mathieu Heijboer. “After a number of assessments and seeing the good points, everybody was rapidly satisfied.”
Sources: Group Visma/Lease a Bike, Giro by way of BikeRadar