Thanks for tuning in today we're going
to be reviewing the Lazer Sphere
MIPS road cycling helmet and the
Aeroshell.
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Building on the success of the premium
Lazer genesis helmet
Lazer has introduced the new Lazer
Sphere road cycling helmet.
The Sphere is designed to combine the
more premium features of Lazers
top-of-the-line helmets
at a more affordable price point now you
can see packaging wise
it's pretty simple you have their
standard cardboard box that slides out
with the Lazer branding on here and the
black and white graphics.
We also have the aeroshell which just
has a simple
tag that's just attached to it.
Now we have the medium variation of the
Lazer sphere MIPS
and i'll go ahead and take it out of the
box and we'll go over the specs.
So retail price for the MIPS variation is
$159.99.
The non-MIPS version is 20 dollars
cheaper and the aeroshell
is an optional accessory that's sold
separately for $22.99.
It comes in this black or a flash yellow color.
Now the sphere mitts helmet obviously
has a MIPS liner built in.
It has a 5 star Virginia Tech safety
rating which is really impressive
and also has their advanced roll system
which is their top mounted dial so you
can see there's nothing down here where
you traditionally see a dial.
Instead it's actually mounted way on top
which is a really unique design
it also has an optimized airflow design
with 18 air vents
and they're specifically designed to be
tilted 15 degrees downwards to really
funnel the air through the helmet.
In terms of what comes in the box you
get the helmet
you get a little tab with the
advertisement to buy the aeroshell
a little about the MIPS liner itself.
You can see really clean helmet
otherwise you have the instruction
manual in here
and just a basic bag to hold it there is
no
fabric bag for traveling and with the
aeroshell you just get the aeroshell
it's really basic and you just have this
tag that you can slide off. Let's take a
second to look at the weight of the
helmet and the shell.
Again this is the medium size
with all the tags off that comes in at
312 grams
while the aeroshell which is really
quite flimsy.
Just a simple polycarbonate cover
that comes in at 50 grams.
So as you can see the Sphere carries
over Lazers distinctive swoopy design
language
and that means there's an invisible
point around here with these straight
lines
kind of swooping across all the way from
the front to the back of the helmet.
That makes the helmet look like it's in
motion even when it's standing still.
It's a very clean design and with the
contrasting color schemes
you can see it really accentuates that
so the main portion is one color
while the interior structure is a
different color and that really
exaggerates these different design
features. Now with the MIPS variation on
the helmet you get a couple color
variations.
There's a full matte black, a
glossy blue, red,
white as well as this matte stripes
which is kind of an oddly named color
scheme
but it's a matte black on the main
swoopy portion
and then you have this nice blue to red
a gradient effect with these stripe
pattern overlay
on the main support section. It's a
really clean look and almost looks like
a chameleon color scheme
that would shift in the light and with
these little overlay patterns on there
it gives a really distinctive look that
stands out.
I personally really like this and with
the low profile design
you can see it's a helmet that really
sits high on your head
yet it's quite safe with the 5 star
rating which is impressive.
Now again the pattern's really low
profile you have 18 air vents
so you have multiple air vents in the
front that you can actually use for your
sunglasses
and they're all tilted down by about 15
degrees to compensate for your riding
position.
A fairly aggressive rear with a lot of
airflow through the back
and very minimal branding you just have
Lazer
on top with these little stickers and
you can already see the stickers are
starting to lift up a bit.
It's a little surprising that it's not
underneath a clear coat
so something you can actually just pull
off to make it really a stealthy helmet
but otherwise really minimal branding.
Medium size Lazer on the back
that's about it nothing here says sphere
to indicate the model.
Now in terms of the retention system
that's another unique feature
to Lazer, instead of having a traditional
dial system on the rear.
They've actually relocated that to the
top so it's a very cool design it's
called the advanced rollsys system
and that means if you have longer hair
you're not going to have any issues with
this helmet
as there's a nice big opening here you
don't feel that a large pad here.
It's a little awkward to get used to as
you have to move your hand to the top
especially if you're using standard
helmets with a dial
but once you get used to it's fairly
easy to use you just rotate lefty
a righty tighty lefty loosey and that'll
rotate this 360 degree cradle
which will give you a really nice fit.
You can also adjust this up and down
to adjust for different head sizes. You
have standard straps
nylon straps a plastic buckle that's
fairly easy to use.
It is pretty standard with the MIPS liner
they're really well integrated. If
you're not familiar with MIPS
it's actually just a little rotational
liner on the inside and you can see
it'll actually rotate and that
compensates for accident so
i'll absorb some of the rotational
impact and as you can see the MIPS liner
is really well integrated.
It's cut around all the air vents so you
can't actually
see the MIPS liner from the exterior so
it's very clean it won't affect the
airflow.
You have additional air channels on
the inside to funnel air through.
The other accessory that's unique to
Lazer are their aeroshell covers and
they've
created a specific one for the sphere
and as you can see it's a simple
polycarbonate shell
there's no buckles no additional pieces.
It's fairly large though you're not
going to put this in your pocket but
if you want an aerodynamic advantage you
can simply slide this over
and as you can see it just snaps on it's
really impressive there's no attachment
points. Once it's on it's really
secure you really have to pull it off to
take it out
and as you can see it covers up all the
front air vents
as well as the side it leaves the back
ones for a little bit of ventilation but
this actually
helps with aerodynamics so you're going
to go a lot faster as you don't have air
flow through the helmet.
Even on rainy days you're now
protected from
wet or cold weather as you can stay
warmer and dry.
It is a very unique feature and at 23 it's quite
cheap as well
compared to normal rain caps for helmets
this looks quite a bit sleeker as it's
really form-fitted it's not just a
shower cap that would fit over so
you're not going to have anything
flapping in the wind and it's very
secure. You have the Lazer branding
on top but otherwise really simple
so really cool feature
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Here we have the helmet on the road and
as you can see it's a pretty good
looking helmet.
It's low profile with a very swoopy
design that makes it look really fast.
We really like this color scheme as well
as it has that subtle gradient from blue
to red in the rear.
There's a lot of ventilation so you
definitely stay cool even on warmer days
or slow climbs and it also sits up high
enough that allows
even large retro sized sunglasses fit
really easily
and snuggly. You can also store them in
the vents when you don't need them as
well.
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So we have some traditional road helmets
here like the Smith Trace
and you can see compared to the Lazer
the Smith Trace
is a little more vibrant and in your
face especially in this get wild color.
It also has Smith's Koroyd road technology
instead of MIPS.
You can see very similar low profile
design
lots of airflow through it.
Equally unique styling
elements
and this is where you can really see the
Rollsys design
of Lazer. Instead of having this large
cradle on the bottom
the Lazer system is very simple with
just these little
side straps coming out.
Now what we like about the Lazer it has
distinctive styling especially with a
two-tone color
compared to the Smith. Compared to the
bontrager
spectre this is their Wavecel helmet
you can see it has a similar
sort of swoopy design but because it's
one color
you kind of lose that design scheme and
it looks a lot more
bland in our opinion where the Lazer
really stands out.
Now with the aeroshell you can also
compare the Lazer sphere with some arrow
helmets.
One fun comparison is the Bolle Furo so
you can see the Furo has much
flatter top design and that's more
aerodynamic.
You can see that top portion is
really flat where there's still more
dome like on a road cycling helmet.
You do have similar design elements like
the sharp trailing edge
and side vents. What's cool about the
Furo
is you can actually pop out the little
vent covers for an Aero helmet
so you can see the main three vents
actually have covers so it's a little
easier to use than the full aeroshell
from Lazer and actually something you
can actually store in your jersey pocket
if needed.
It gives you that similar kind of
dual personality but
with the Lazer shell it's obviously much
more extreme
and a full aerodynamic cover rather than
just a couple of vents.
Similarly you compare that to the
POC.
Compared to the POC which has a
little less ventilation
for improved aerodynamics. Again
the POC is a little bit flatter than the
Lazer which is a little more dome like
but again similar design elements low
profile
aggressive rear trailing edges with
excellent venting.
The POC is a little more of a design a
little fancier much more expensive at
almost 300
but they have more unique color schemes
like this mint green
versus kind of color shifting Lazer.
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Now let's go over the pros and cons for
the Sphere helmet.
What we like about it is the competitive
price at 160 dollars it's right in that
sweet spot
for a more premium lightweight helmet
without being too expensive.
It also has very optimized airflow from
the 18 vents
so it definitely keeps you cool even on
hot days. We also really like the
five-star virginia tech helmet rating
which means this helmet is also safe if
you have to use it in the case of an
accident.
Some of the cons of the helmet is that
the fact there's no reflective elements
that would be nice to see especially for
nighttime riding. There's no helmet
storage bag included which is a little
surprising
at this price point and there is exposed
eps foam on the front
inner helmet rim which is something
traditionally you don't see on more
expensive helmets.
Taking everything into account would
give the Sphere MIPS helmet a 9.0 out of
10.
It is a very sleek and comfortable helmet that's
low profile yet still affordable.
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