Thanks for tuning in today we're going to be reviewing the Bern Hudson urban cycling helmet.
Developed for commuters the Hudson is one of Bern's safest helmets it's also recently
won the 2021 outdoor retailer innovation award thanks to its sleek urban design functionality
and safety ratings. Now in terms of packaging the helmet comes in a standard cardboard box
you have Bern branding on here nice eco-friendly design with minimal graphics and the slide-out
design. We have the medium variation in the white color I'll go ahead and take
it out of the box and we'll go over the specs. Retail price on this is $119.99 so well priced.
It has the NTA-8776 rating which is a higher speed crash rating designed for e-bike riders.
It has a mips liner integrated directly into the interior of the helmet. It has a removable
tail light that simply pops in on the rear of the helmet and what they call a compass fit
system which is a dial design which actually wraps around and provides really good fit.
It also has a removable fabric bill for that urban style and some protection from the sun. In terms
of what comes in the box you get the helmet again some nice eco-friendly details like a
little thread to hold the labels on here instead of plastic you have a separate comfort pad here
and this replaces the bill so you can simply pop this off the front and then replace that with the
other pad for no bill. You get the removable tail light and this is a little usb rechargeable design
and that simply pops in the rear of the air vent of the helmet you also get the micro usb charging
cable inside this little box to recharge the light. You get the owner's manual here
which gives you a little information about the helmet and then that's about it take a second to
look at the weight of the helmet. I've removed the tags and left the integrated tail light on
so this is the medium North America version that comes in at 370 grams which is definitely on the
lighter side for a commuter helmet. So let's take a closer look at the fit and finish of the Hudson
helmet now. This is available in a couple colors we have the sand white but it's also available in
a couple matte variations black sand hyper green mint or navy you can see really sleek design.
Minimal graphics here you just have the Bern logo on one side and with all the color schemes they
have this nice complementary design. So with the white you get this gray straps gray bill
and it's almost kind of sand color burn logo and with the other colors they have
a similar complementary or contrasting color so it gives a nice sleek more polished look
especially at this 120 dollar price point. Now the shell is a two piece design you can see the top
has this one seam for the top portion and then the bottom portion actually wraps around and
conceals a lot of the EPS foam on the inner lip which really gives it a nice polished finished
look again, a really nice premium feature to have. Now the profile is very much a classic
urban or commuter helmet it's more dome-like so something you'd find on a basketball helmet
snowboarding or skiing helmet as well you have more protection on the rear as it extends
further down especially compared to a road cycling helmet and definitely sits a little bit lower on
your head so unlike road cycling helmets which sit really high this one provides really nice coverage.
Now in terms of the fit system you have what they call a compass fit
this is a standard dial setup so you can see dual direction to adjust to tighten or loosen it
and have these little arms that wrap all the way around gives you a really nice fit
so definitely something you want in your helmet. It has soft nylon straps again in a nice contrasting
color really soft and easy to adjust the side points as well as a simple plastic buckle.
So you can see it really easy to attach and then remove. You have a MIPS liner and if you're not
familiar with MIPS it's just a little rotational liner in here it's designed to absorb some of
the impact so if you're in an accident this will rotate slightly before you feel that on your head
so nice safety feature. Really nicely integrated you can see it's cut around all the air vents
so it's really not noticeable from the exterior. As with a lot of urban helmets you have minimal
venting so there's 13 vents but they're a lot smaller than what you expect with a road cycling
helmet so it brings in air from the front these sides and lets them on the rear so a good balance
so if you're an urban commuter in colder weather or warmer weather this can definitely be a good
option and again this has the higher speed rating. The NTA-8776 which means it's designed for e-bikes
or higher speed impacts. Now in terms of the tail light it's a really sleek removable design so you
can see it pops in there with these two plastic tabs really simple to use. Compared to other
lights we've used you just hold this and pop it out. It's not particularly bright it's
a four led design with only 6.6 lumens but if you combine this with a standard tail
light it's a really good option. There's three modes so double click to turn it on and off
single click to cycle and you have a standard solid a pulsing mode and then a flash mode.
What's cool about this is the power button is the whole lens so you can see the whole thing
actually moves up and down so really easy you don't actually have to grab a specific point you
just tap on it and you're done. Now the other thing to point out is the soft bill here provides really
nice protection from the sun and fabric so unlike other helmets where these are hard plastic it's
actually adjustable so when you don't want to use it you can pop it up and i'll go out of your way.
So if you're riding a night or an early morning and you want better visibility and then when
you need it again you just pop it down you can also remove the whole thing which is really cool
so i just pull on the velcro and the whole thing comes off a really nice soft padding so you can
see it's perforated. Its very comfortable and they provide the a second iece here so it's
the same piece minus the bill so you can swap that in here to get that nice padding on front
and then you can see the helmet looks quite a bit sleeker without the front bill.
So if you don't need to use it you can easily swap this in and out.
Now let's take a look at the hudson on the road we found that it's a really good looking premium
helmet especially in the matte finish and the gray straps and bill it's a nice combination and that
fabric build can also be tucked out of the way when you're riding in night or darker situations.
So overall it's a really well thought out helmet the taillight is also one of the
easier to use tail lights we've used on a commuter helmet. The whole rear of the lens
acts as the button so you just tap it to cycle through the modes or double tap it to turn it off
ventilation wise is also pretty decent but it is a warmer helmet because the events are smaller.
Now when you're buying a helmet can be really confusing as a lot of different categories.
So what i have here is a road cycling helmet a mountain biking helmet
and the Hudson the commuter helmet. The big difference with the road cycling helmets and
a commuter helmet is obviously first the profile you can see this is a Lazer Sphere. It has the same MIPS liner
but a lot thinner so it sits up higher on your head accommodates thicker and taller sunglasses
and much more ventilated. You can see this is more like a swiss cheese with air vents coming
all the way up front through the side and all the way through the back much more aggressive.
They're lighter obviously because there's less material and less coverage so you can
see the more commuter helmets extend quite a bit further down compared to a road cycling helmet.
There's also mountain biking helmets and what's unique about these they
usually have adjustable visors for off-road trail use you have the same more aggressive
and taller rear sections and that's designed to provide a little more protection in terms
of a crash offroad. They're a little bit heavier not quite as light as a road helmet
but still more ventilated to keep you cool when especially when you're climbing up steep trails.
They similarly have mips liners for a lot of the helmets but a lot more airflow and more aggressive
design. Now let's compare the Hudson vs other commuter helmets first off we have the Coros
SafeSound urban helmet. You can see really similar profile you have that commuter dome design. Minimal
branding a fabric bill on both what's unique about the Coros it has integrated electronics so
you can actually stream music using the bluetooth connection with these special speakers
that actually funnel the noise to your ear without covering up your ears
so you can still hear things around you and be safe when you ride. The downside to
this kind of helmet is that with the integrated electronics it's a lot more expensive to replace
and if anything were to go wrong you have a heavy helmet that now doesn't have electronics with it.
One better comparison is the Thousand Chapter helmet, this is their latest version this has
the MIPS liner more performance oriented. with a lighter design. You can see again
similar profiles the Thousand has a little bit sleeker design with this matte black
you have a fixed plastic visor here which you can remove with tabs but then leave some spots.
So that's why i like the Bern design with the soft fabric build that you can simply remove
again similar minimal venting. The Chapter has these top vents while the Hudson has a more
strategically placed top and side vents. The Chapter has a magnetic removable tail light
which simply pops off and when you pop it back on it will turn on for that full power.
What's unique about the Chapter is they have a little pop-out design this is designed for u-locks.
So you pop out that cover put your u-lock through here and lock it they even have a
guarantee they'll replace the helmet if someone were to steal it while it's locked there.
Now with the Bern you have that similar design without the fancy pop-out magnetic design
so same reinforced vent where you can slide a u-lock through without the cover so interesting feature.
I think the Chapter is still a better looking helmet just in terms of the profile
but the Bern's sleek styling and matte finish it's a pretty strong contender.
Now let's go over the pros and cons of the Bern hudson helmet what we like about it is
the competitive price has a lot of higher end features at the $120 dollar price point. It also
has a MIPS liner and the NTA-8776 certification which means it's been tested for higher speeds
and should be a very safe helmet. Finally the premium looking and removable fabric bill is
a really nice feature you don't typically see at this price point. Some of the cons of the helmet is
that it lacks reflective elements especially on a commuter helmet it'd be great to see that. There's
also no helmet storage back which is always a nice premium feature to have to store the bag or
to store the helmet or travel with the helmet. Finally color selection is limited to matte colors
although they do look pretty good as they have nice complementary color schemes. Taking everything
into account would give the helmet an 8.1 out of 10. It's a really sleek commuter helmet with
some nice premium features. thanks for watching this review don't forget to like and subscribe.
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