- This week's GTN Unboxing
is one that I've been looking forward to for some time now.
Partly because it's so darn good looking.
But also because I've had the pleasure
of using it for the past few months,
and know just how fast it is.
(electronic flourish)
As you probably guessed,
we're gonna be unboxing something from KASK.
Now if you know a thing or two about cycling,
KASK make some very nice helmets.
And in here, we have the new KASK Mistral helmet.
But before we take a look at that,
you might be wondering why I have three boxes sat here.
And that is because we have three
KASK Mistral helmets up for grabs.
Now I'll be explaining how you can get your hands on those
at the end of this video.
For now, let's introduce a new member to the KASK family.
(packaging crinkling)
(meditative electronic music)
What a beauty!
Just look at it!
But of course, this isn't the first time
we've seen this helmet on GTN.
In case you're thinking it seems familiar,
we did catch a glimpse of it at the Iron Man World Champs
with it's custom KONA Colorway,
and the Michelle Vesterby custom pink version.
And of course, we've been wearing it
for the past few months ourselves.
But probably the first time this helmet was spotted
was at the Rio Olympic Games
on the heads of the Australian track cycling team.
In fact, it was the Australian track cycling team
that developed this helmet in collaboration with KASK,
and the Australian Institute of Sport.
And I mean, anything coming from track cycling
is pretty exciting,
where it's all about marginal gains and aerodynamics.
Now we all know that in cycling these days,
it's about the aggregation of marginal gains.
So you make a small gain in everything,
and that could add up to become a winning margin.
So KASK have built upon the success
of their other time-trial helmet, the Bambino Pro.
They've used a very similar shell and fit,
but the main and unmissable difference
is this more pronounced tail on the mistral.
The idea being that it allows more helmet options
for the different riding styles, different positions,
and possibly even different conditions.
So depending on what position you adopt on the bike,
some helmets could be more or less aerodynamic.
So for a helmet like this with a longer tail,
it does suit those riders that stay relatively still
in the aero bars,
and with the tail fitting into the top of their back,
or as close to, and then that allows
a nice smooth airflow over the helmet
and over the rider.
And once we're on the topic of airflow,
it's not just the flow of air
over the helmet that's important.
For longer events, like an Iron Man
or for events in hot conditions,
it's really important that we keep our head cool.
So KASK has specifically developed air intakes
to give riders maximum aerodynamic advantage,
with minimum heat buildup.
So, on the front of the KASK Mistral,
you can see six vents, three on either side.
This allows air to be channeled through the helmet,
around the head, and then exiting through
these two large ports
that you can see at the back just here.
It's actually a really big feature
that a lot of aero helmets miss out.
Yes, we want to go fast,
but allow your head to boil, within a helmet,
is likely going to slow you down, eventually.
And then to add to this,
KASK have included their 3D dry padding within the helmet.
Okay, allow me to try and explain this.
It's essentially an open cell construction,
built up in a number of layers,
to form a tri-dimensional structure.
Still don't follow me?
Right, well, let's pull some of this padding out,
to show you more closely.
Carefully, and slowly, obviously.
(ripping)
Right, so this is what I mean by the open cell construction.
It's still quite hard to see,
but it kind of creates a honeycomb design,
and what this does, obviously,
it helps for comfort,
it also is there for safety,
but it also helps to keep our head cool,
so allows this air flow through the helmet nicely,
and as I've just shown,
they're very easy to remove,
so when they do get all sweaty and dirty,
you can just remove them quickly and easily,
clean them, and then pop them back in,
as I'm gonna do now.
Now, for the helmet straps,
and actually, this is an area
I don't think really gets enough attention
from a lot of brands,
particularly with their comfort,
and especially given where they lie coming around our chin.
But on this KASK Mistral,
it has a self-adjusting lateral divider,
and what that means is that the straps can easily be moved
around earlobe positions,
and then, to add to that,
it's got a faux leather chinstrap,
which is obviously very nice and comfortable on the chin.
But as I mentioned earlier,
I've been using this for the past few months,
and a little touch that I've really liked,
is having this buckle around the sides of the chin,
rather than directly underneath.
And it's just a small touch,
but all these little things make it really comfortable.
But of course, getting an aero helmet on,
in the middle of a triathlon, can be pretty tricky.
I've heard of athletes losing their visors,
having ears folding over in their helmets,
all sorts, but let me show you this.
(click)
Pretty straightforward, isn't it?
So now, when you put your helmet on in a transition,
it's nice, it's straightforward,
there's no risk of losing that visor,
and then as you head out of transition,
or when you're on the bike,
just nice and simply grab the visor,
flip it around, and clip it straight back on.
And that uses a really smart mechanism
that's patented by KASK,
it's using a series of magnets across the ridge here,
and obviously, on the visor,
and the beauty is it also comes
in a number of different color options
for the visor, for different conditions.
So KASK do this clear version.
They also do an orange version,
and, a silver version.
And for those weight weenies out there, in a size medium,
this helmet comes in at 345 grams,
and then with the visor, it comes in at 375 grams.
It comes in two size choices, medium and a large.
The medium being 55 to 58 centimeter,
and the large 59 to 62.
But I guess, many of you are just waiting
to find out how you get your hands on one of these.
There's not just any of one,
because you will get your choice of color,
and obviously size, in fact,
KASK do seven different color variations.
We've got the stealthy black and anthracite,
as we've been wearing on GTN.
We've got the menacing black and red.
We've got the vibrant white and silver.
We've got, to be honest,
there's loads to choose from,
and we've got three of them up for grabs.
To enter that giveaway,
you just need to click on the link
in the description below this video.
And I hope you've been paying attention,
because that link will take you
to a question regarding the Mistral helmet.
Now before you head over to enter that giveaway,
make sure you click on the globe,
and subscribe to GTN.
And if you'd like to see the KONA custom Mistral helmet,
you can see our KONA tech video by clicking down here.
If you'd like to see
Michelle Vesterby's custom Mistral helmet,
click down here.