New Aero Road Helmets Being Tested At Tour Down Under

The largest cycling brands are developing more aero road helmets and rolling them out at the Tour Down Under.

Trek Factory Racing tests aero road helmet

The Trek Factory Racing team has been racing the Tour Down Under in a sleek aero helmet from Bontrager. The new helmet was first seen when Jens Voigt wore it during his hour record-setting ride back in September, though the all-black design of Voigt’s helmet made it hard to see much detail.

Now, the Trek team is racing in a white version of what appears to be a very similar, if not the same, helmet. Bontrager would not comment on the new helmet, only saying, “We are still in development of a final product.”

The new helmet appears to have three, small forward-facing vents and much larger exhaust vents on the rear, a design that is not unique to Bontrager and is used by nearly ever helmet manufacturer. Larger exhaust vents allow air to freely flow through the helmet and across the rider’s skull, keeping it relatively cool despite having less ventilation on the front of the helmet.

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Marcel Kittel testing new Giant aero helmet

Marcel Kittel (Giant-Alpecin) won the People’s Choice Criterium ahead of the Tour Down Under wearing a new lid from Giant.

Giant-Alpecin recently announced that Giant would be its helmet provider, though a quick look at the Giant website will show that Giant does not yet produce an aero road or time trial helmet—two very important components in a WorldTour team’s equipment arsenal. For now, Kittel is the only Giant rider in the new helmet, and like Bontrager, Giant is staying fairly tight-lipped about it.

Giant’s global marketing director, An Le told VeloNews, “We have been working with the team to develop and expand our line of high-performance helmets. The helmet Kittel is wearing is a new Giant aero helmet that will be launched commercially later this year.”

Read more about the week in cycling gear & tech at Velonews.com.