Kask Nirvana helmet

The Kask Nirvana road helmet shoots for best-in-class aero performance, while also offering strong cooling credentials. For the price, you'd expect it to deliver on performance, ventilation, safety and comfort, and I thought it did an excellent job at combining these qualities.

For more options, check out our guides to the best lightweight road cycling helmets and the best aero cycling helmets.

The Nirvana is the latest offering from this Italian company that specialises in helmet technology. It steps up from the Utopia Y as Kask's top-performing road, tri and track helmet. Fundamentally, it builds upon its predecessor with a teardrop-shaped design, broken only by four large frontal ventilation holes. Air is channelled through the body of the helmet, providing cooling to the head, and exits via 'exhaust vents' at the rear, retaining a smooth airflow.

The most noticeable feature, which gathered attention when Ineos debuted the helmet earlier in the year, is the 'aero ears'. That's not one of Kask's own design feature names, but you'll know exactly what I mean from the photos.

It's not something I've seen before on a road cycling helmet, but stepping back, it does seem to make total sense if you're designing something to perform well aerodynamically. For me, the helmet sits over the top third of my ears and really isn't that noticeable. A welcome side-effect is the reduction in wind noise – a nice extra bonus if you ask me.

If we take a deeper look into the aero performance and claims, Kask says that this helmet is approximately 6 watts more efficient at 40km/h than the Utopia Y, which is more than just a marginal gain. If you compare that with a non-aero helmet, you're really stepping into a very noticeable benefit. Here on road.cc we haven't conducted independent aero testing on the Nirvana, but a 6W improvement from the previous version would surely put this amongst the very best performing aero helmets available.

Are aero helmets just for crazy fast cyclists? No, not really. Improving aerodynamics not only helps you ride faster, but enables you to maintain speed for less effort. That's something that would appeal to any cyclist. At this point, I'd highly recommend stopping to watch Jamie's video on whether an aero helmet is really worth it.

The Nirvana has the Octofit+ retention system, which fastens at the rear of the helmet much like most current road helmets. The system has a large amount of adjustability, especially vertically. In particular, I noticed the large gap within the Octofit+ system, deliberately designed to accommodate long hair and ponytails. As someone with short hair, all I can say is that the retention system worked well, it was secure and comfortable.

One gripe I have with the helmet is the construction of the chin strap. For some reason it's made of leather, which to me just feels totally out of place on a performance helmet. I didn't find it especially comfortable, either. My head measures 55cm and I tested a medium helmet (for 52-58cm heads) and the chin strap has at least 7cm of surplus length, which is currently electrical-taped to the upper strap while I deliberate on whether I would take scissors to the Italian leather. It just feels a bit incongruous to have a bunch of heavy duty strapping on a high-performance helmet.

At first glance, the helmet looks to have minimal padding, with only three soft padded strips. However, along the length of the helmet, the 'multipod' lattice-type structure also provides support and cushioning. This material is part of Kask's proprietary safety system designed to perform under its WG11 safety protocol – its alternative to the Mips safety standard that's been adopted across the wider industry to increase a helmet's ability to withstand rotational forces. I won't pretend to have crash-tested or cross-compared helmet safety protocols, but reading up on these tests does give reassurance that this is a helmet with strong safety features.

You can find out more about the WG11 tests on Kask's website, and our feature All you need to know about Mips speaks for itself.

On the whole, there's a lot of tech sitting underneath the lid, but my experience of wearing the helmet over a number of autumn rides was very good. I had no comfort issues, and the helmet fitted perfectly with a range of Oakley sunglasses. Kask has clearly spent time thinking this interaction through. It's worth noting that the helmet doesn't really offer anywhere to store sunglasses in the vents if you wish to take them off, but doing so would kind of defeat the object of an aero helmet.

In terms of ventilation, it's really very good. Primarily, this is because the vents at the front are very large, allowing fast-flowing air to pass directly over the head. It never got too warm for me when climbing, although admittedly my test conditions never exceeded 20°C.

Value

At £320 it's almost as expensive as you can get for a road cycling helmet. Despite the numerous features I've talked about in this review, it's likely you'll think twice before pulling the trigger for that cost, especially as there are some great examples out there of high-performing aero helmets that don't break the bank – or at least with much less damage.

The Met Manta, as worn by Tadej Pogacar, scored brilliantly in our review back in 2021, and is nearly £100 cheaper. It's also really difficult to ignore the appeal of the Van Rysel FCR, for under £100; this is the helmet Jamie used in his recent testing, and it's performed excellently on a number of independent aero tests. It's up to you to decide whether you'd prefer another £220 in your pocket.

The Nirvana is available to buy in five different colours: black, white, 'Cherry Burst', 'Ultraviolet' and the 'Blueberry Fade' we have here.

Conclusion

Apart from the strap, I'm really struggling to fault the Kask Nirvana. Its aero performance is backed with great design, enhancing its comfort and safety. It's quite possibly the best aerodynamic helmet you can currently buy – if you have the money.

Verdict

High-class aerodynamic helmet with great ventilation and safety features