Bontrager Starvos WaveCel Helmet

The Bontrager Starvos WaveCel is Bontrager's entry-level WaveCel protection-equipped helmet. It's comfortable, well ventilated and comes with the top score from Virginia Tech, the world's most trusted independent impact tester, but it's heavy, and looks bulky too.

According to Bontrager, WaveCel is a collapsible cellular structure that lines the inside of your Bontrager helmet (the tech is exclusive to Bontrager). It works like a crumple zone that absorbs the force of an impact before it reaches your head. It is designed to be more effective than traditional foam helmets in protecting your head from injuries caused by certain cycling accidents.

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WaveCel caused a massive hoo-ha when Bontrager launched it last year. Long story short, Swedish company MIPS, rival helmet liner maker, claimed that its own preliminary test results of WaveCel helmets could not substantiate Bontrager's big claims for WaveCel.

Then Virginia Tech gave all Bontrager WaveCel helmets its top five-star rating in independent impact tests – although the overall best-performing road helmets were still MIPS equipped.

We don't have the capacity to do our own independent impact testing, so if you want to look at Virginia Tech's results they're here and you can make up your own mind.

We all hope we'll never have to test a helmet's ability to protect our heads from impacts, and equally it's down to you whether you wear one or not. For the record, at road.cc we are firmly anti helmet compulsion.

When WaveCel first appeared last year, one worry was that it would be hotter than MIPS, that the cells would trap heat rather than channel it out of the rear. The helmet I was wearing directly before testing the Bontrager Starvos was the Bontrager Velocis MIPS so I was able to compare them directly.

I preferred the WaveCel for hot-weather riding for the simple reason that, unlike MIPS, WaveCel doesn't use a plastic liner that sits directly on your head, where it becomes very sweaty. Rather, the cell construction above the (removable) pads allows the head to breathe through the multiple tunnels.

Not only is WaveCel designed to protect your head against angled impacts, but I also discovered it protects it against bugs – maybe more by accident than by design. While wearing the Velocis MIPS I got stung by an angry wasp that got itself wedged between between the MIPS liner and outer shell. With the wider but fewer vents of the latest aero road helmet styles it's just more likely to happen. Usually it's only entry-level helmets that have bug nets – proper cyclists are clearly too tough to worry about wasps – but WaveCel does the job of one perfectly while allowing the wearer to keep up their tough 'Scared of wasps? Me?' persona. Having said that, WaveCel looks disturbingly similar to a wasp's nest, but I haven't noticed any homesick wasps trying to chase me down so far.

The downside of WaveCel is that it's heavy. Bontrager's MIPS helmets were already not the lightest, but now the WaveCel-equipped lids are markedly overweight compared to the competition. Although in its defence the Starvos is a mid-range helmet – and Bontrager's entry-level WaveCel helmet – where low weight is not so crucial, just as Mat found with the Bontrager XXX WaveCel, it's not uncomfortably heavy but I have been more aware of it in use than with lighter helmets. However, it's worth pointing out that the size medium Starvos tested here is lighter than the same-sized XXX WaveCel, which costs double the price.

Like saddles, helmet fit is always going to a personal thing. If it doesn't fit your head shape, it's unlikely it will ever be comfortable no matter how finely you fettle the retention system. As luck would have it, the Starvos WaveCel fitted me so well it could have been custom moulded.

Strangely, the Velocis MIPS hadn't fitted so well despite being nominally the same size (medium, 54-60cm): I was always having to push the front up no matter how tight it was ratcheted down. But the Starvos hardly needed the Bontrager Headmaster dial – which, incidentally, is not as smooth as the Velocis's geniune Boa dial, so it's just as well. I drew from this that the Starvos fits a narrower head better than a round one.

Although the Starvos was perfectly comfortable on a narrow head, outwardly it looks as if it was more designed for a round one. Although it appears sleek and modern in these photos, on my head it looked bulkier and very close to the dreaded mushroom shape that distinguishes entry-level helmets. However, like my head, my face is long rather than round, which could accentuate this.

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Lastly, WaveCel doesn't leave a gap for storing your sunnies when not wearing them. The best I could do was to wedge the arms of my Rudy Project Defenders between the WaveCel and the shell, but I would not be confident to ride with them there on anything rougher than A roads.

Value and conclusion

Sub-£100 for a helmet with a protection system such as MIPS or WaveCel is not bad, although for the helmet market in general it's mid-level. The Starvos costs the same as the MIPS-equipped Giro Syntax and the MIPS-equipped Met Vinci, both of which we liked. The XXX WaveCel is Bontrager's top-line WaveCel-equipped helmet and goes for double the price.

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If you're looking for a helmet that's top rated for protection and you're keeping under £100, the Bontrager Starvos ought to be on your list. It's also very comfortable, it doesn't overheat and build quality is good. However, it's on the heavy side, it looks bulky on narrower heads and doesn't have anywhere to stick your shades.

Verdict

Good value helmet that offers top-rated protection, good ventilation and comfortable fit, but feels and looks heavy