Lazer Vento KinetiCore helmet

The Lazer Vento KinetiCore is an impressive and innovative helmet that mixes decent airflow with a new fitting system and good looks, and avoids giving you the mushroom-head look of some aero helmets.

The KinetiCore system here is billed as a 'MIPS killer,' and this is the first chance we've had to get our hands on it. Instead of allowing (controlled) independent rotation of your head and the helmet, this uses EPS foam crumple zones to disperse impact energy.

Although I love road.cc, I wasn't willing to test how effective it is in a real-world scenario, but independent testing at Virginia Tech resulted in a five-star safety rating.

I personally found it more comfortable than MIPS as well, as you don't have a cradle sat directly against your head. One further benefit is that it allows a little more freedom for the closure system, because you don't have the harness getting in the way.

Lazer has taken advantage with its new ScrollSys system, an update of RollSys. It has a similar full headband to reduce hotspots, but rather than a wheel on top of the helmet, it has a treadmill-like section on the rear. It's a cinch to get the fit correct with this, and by adjusting the height of the harness.

The result is a very comfortable helmet, helped by the soft straps and plush, well-positioned pads. The pads don't tend to soak up too much sweat, and they dry quickly too, but the straps are quite wide and can interfere with glasses. Only very slightly, mind – I found it more comfortable to wear my sunglasses under the straps rather than over them like normal.

The vents (four and the front, nine at the back) create a well-directed and impressive airflow, especially for an aero helmet. It's not quite at the level of a Lazer Genesis or Z1, but I comfortably wore this in the mid-20s Centigrade without ever overheating.

The Vento hits the scales at 290g, which isn't exactly heavy but is still heavier than other aero helmets in its price range. The £269 Kask Wasabi is 26g lighter, for instance, whilst the Met Manta MIPS Aero is 42g lighter and £49 cheaper at £220. Aero helmets aren't normally designed to be lightweight, of course, but if you're looking to minimise weight you can find better.

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In fact, at £259.99 this is the fourth most expensive helmet we've seen on the site. That being said, new technologies always cost more when they are introduced, and KinetiCore is new. The Met Manta features MIPS which is of course very well established and the whole lid is cheaper, but then the Kask Wasabi is £10 more expensive and doesn't have any kind of rotational force protection at all.

Overall

I am impressed by this helmet. It may be expensive, but the new KinetiCore system works really well on the bike and – at least according to the independent lab testing it – in a crash too. The airflow is impressive for an aero helmet, the fitting system is great and it's comfortable.

Verdict

Impressive, comfortable and breezy aero lid with new rotational impact system – it'll cost you, though