Thanks for tuning in today we're going to be reviewing
the Smith Ignite aerodynamic road cycling helmet.
Aerodynamic helmets are a cost-effective way to improve your race performance or just look
faster on weekend rides. The Ignite is Smith's race day ready helmet that combines a sleek and
aerodynamic profile with Koroyd and MIPS safety technology. In terms of packaging
it's a standard cardboard box with a slide out insert and Smith logos on the top and sides.
What's kind of cool road graphics on there you can see the helmet is actually sideways in there
and you even have a little window to peek in at the aerodynamic profile. So lets go ahead
and take it out of the box and we'll go over these specs. Retail price on this is $250 so reasonably
priced but definitely on the higher end. It's a aerodynamic race helmet that's really optimized
for road cycling. It has zonal Koroyd protection and that's what these little structures are,
it's an innovative impact absorbing material they use thousands of copolymer extruded tubes so it
looks almost like straws when you look at it and helps absorb impact if you were in an accident.
That complements the EPS foam with the in-mold helmet technology. You have a
MIPS liner as well so nice rotational absorption very simple liner that's cut out around all the
different vents to optimize airflow but provide some rotational impact protection. You have a
air evac ventilation system so it has 10 fixed vents that help funnel air through the helmet
and then out with these exhaust vents as well you have their VaporFit dial adjustment system.
So simple dial adjustment system we've seen a lot of helmets with this wrap around
construction that really helps you optimize the fit with strategically placed padding as well.
In terms of what comes with the helmet obviously you get the helmet and you get
some tags about what mips is on the inside as well as the branded bag which is really cool
so if you ever need to store your helmet or travel with it
this is a great option. You can see it says Smith and it has a little mesh liner on it
you also get the Smith stickers so you can always rep the brand anywhere you need to place them. Now
let's take a look at the weight of the helmet so this is the medium north america version
so on the scale that is 314 grams so still quite light. Any helmet around about 300 grams
is easy to forget it's on your head most of the urban helmets are typically
400 or even 450 which are more noticeable.
Now let's go over the fit and finish of the Smith Ignite helmet.
This has the classic shallow profile with a long elongated tail in the rear that you see with a
lot of aero helmets. It really helps reduce the drag on the helmet and optimize your performance
you have some strategically placed vents. Two open down the middle that help funnel air right into it
you have the zonal Koroyd technology which looks like almost straws put together.
It's a 3d structure that are all welded together and they provide really good protection so nice
optimized structure in place of EPS foam and you can still see it let's air through.
You have two top funnels and then these little exhaust side vents as well. It's a really good
looking helmet and the best part about this is the rear profile so very aero looking looks very much
like a sports car or even a wind tunnel interior you can see this nice curved center piece for the
structure and then two large vents on each side so pretty cool looking. Smith also offers this
helmet quite a few color options currently there's Matte White or Matte Black for thisaclassic look
or what we have here the Matte Cinder Haze which is really bright and in your face. It's kind of
a strange color name and I'm not sure quite what it means but it's more like a digital camo meets
really bright orange with these overlapping graphics so really eye-catching and you can
see premium construction. You have a in-mold helmet with the shell that goes all the way around
fully finished on the front and rear so definitely what you expect. It's a two-piece design with the
shell so you can see an edge along the back and the rear they're really good looking otherwise
and what's nice about higher end helmets you have nice sharp edges between the exposed foam
and the actual shell as well as the fully finished interior piece. In terms of the vents again you
have the 10 vents that help funnel air through and even though for the aero helmet I've actually
worn this on multi-hour rides on slow climbs and it still provides good ventilation because
the front is essentially open and the back is so large that it lets air right through.
You have that zonal Koroyd technology again and you can see that from the inside it really looks
more like straws and even though it does sort of block the vent provides that additional structure
so if you were to get an impact this would absorb some of that and complement the existing eps foam.
You also have the MIPS liner built right on top and you can see nice cutouts here around the vents
and the front two vents are completely open so you get a good mixture of that kind of classic
open interior with that extra safety layer and you can see quite flexible. You get a traditional
wrap around retention system so essentially thin plastic that goes all the way around and then
you have a traditional dial to tighten or loosen this and also move this up or down as needed so
nice setup. You have a single layer webbing on the side as well so low bulk with the side adjustments
which is nice. A lot of helmets sort of drop this in the name of weight loss this one keeps it so
you can adjust the position up and down and it's nicely padded too with this little t-splitter. You
get a standard plastic buckle instead of a Fitlock magnetic one which works well and keeps the weight
down and again easily adjustable with this thin nylon strapping. The other thing I wanted to point
out is that you can actually put your sunglasses on the helmet while you're riding so it has this
integrated storage system that's hidden right underneath the top of the vents so you just place
your sunglasses. Here we have our Smith Mag you slide them up and you can see this top portion is
actually open allows the temple arms to go there and then keep the sunglasses safe and secure.
Now lets take a look at the helmet on the road as you can see the Ignite in the orange collar
really pops and keeps you visible from quite a distance away. We're also surprised to find that
the orange colors are almost a perfect match for the Ale branding so if you have an Ale kit
some of their orange interiors or logos will be a good match for this. Overall the helmet is really
comfortable easy to adjust and very lightweight and with that aerodynamic profile you get that
sleek look so you can go faster on race day or just have fun on a weekend ride or short ride.
It's also very well ventilated even though it is an aerodynamic helmet we're impressed that
we're able to stay cool so even on long slow climbs we're still quite comfortable so really
well designed overall and a good complement or replacement for a road cycling helmet.
Now let's compare the Ignite with other helmets on the market. We have the Smith Trace here
and he uses a very similar Zonal Koroyd technology you can see here and in the blue it really pops.
It's all along the edges with that open vent just like the Ignite
that really helps funnel air through and keep you cool and safe. The big difference between
a road cycling helmet and the aero version of the Ignite is the fact that the Trace has a more
rounded rear profile while the Ignite has an extended drop tail for improved aerodynamics.
You can also see there's more vents obviously on the Trace so better for hotter weather
or long climbs while the Ignite is more optimized for aerodynamics.
There's a lot of aero helmets to choose from and they all have that similar extended tail profile
though. This is the Furo from Bolle on the left and you can see similar shallow but very long design.
Really designed to get the air to go through. What I like about the ignite though is that you have
that more unique rear design almost looks like a TT helmet while the Furo kind of looks like a
standard one just extended and I really like the shape of the Ignites vent. You can see that round
kind of hole in the inside really looks cool versus the standard slots. What's interesting about
the Furo it's a dual purpose aerodynamic helmet that has flexible venting so you can
actually remove these little covers so if you want more venting you take it off and then if you have
a race or a cold weather day you can easily put these on and get the aerodynamic benefits.
Obviously you have to keep track of these little covers and you can't really do it on
the road so it's one downside of the adjustable designs. We also have the POC Ventral Spin here.
It's really a beautiful helmet especially in this mint green you can see same thing extended tail.
The Ignite is a little bit more slippery looking with that extended portion though but you can
see similar venting where it really ends right in the front and then you have the top vents to help
get some of the air out. This is the spin version they've actually moved to a MIPS version
so with the Spin version it was just these little pads so very open on the inside versus the
MIPS liner. Although the Ignite still has good ventilation even on hot days.
Now let's go over the pros and cons for the Ignite helmet. What we like about it
is it has a sleek and aerodynamic profile that elongated tail and the unique rear vent structure.
It looks really cool we also like the eye-catching matte cinder haze color scheme which is a unique
offering from Smith and like a lot of the graphic scheme it's really well laid out
and something that should stand the test of time.
We also like the fact that the large vents funnel air through the helmet and keep you cool so even
though this is an aerodynamic helmet you can still ride this on warmer days or slower climbs.
The only real con with the helmet is the fact that the cool orange color seems to really attract bees
so something to be aware of and maybe go with a different color scheme if that's an issue for you.
Taking everything into account would give the helmet a 9.1 out of 10 it is a sleek
and well ventilated aerodynamic helmet. Thanks for watching review don't forget to like and subscribe
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