Thanks for tuning in this The Sweet
Cyclists, today we're gonna be reviewing
the Bontrager Specter WaveCel cycling
helmet. Here we have the helmet in it's
an original packaging. The Bontrager
Specter WaveCel helmet is one of the
cheapest ways to currently get into the
WaveCel helmets offered by Bontrager.
If you've been into cycling you
know it's very dangerous and helmets in
general haven't had a lot of major
improvements over the years so
technologies like MIPS and now Bontragers
WaveCel are a really great
addition to reduce the
the impact of crashes and prevent
injuries. As I mentioned they have a few
variations of the WaveCel helmets, they have an
aero version for $300, a commuting
version and a mountain bike helmet.
This is the most affordable of the bunch
at $149, it also has a bunch of other
cool features. It has the WaveCel liner
here and you can see it fits between the
normal EPS foam and the padding. It has a
fit lock magnetic buckle and that's a
really nice feature you typically see on
higher-end helmets. It makes putting
it on really easy.
You have nice removable machine washable
liner on the inside. You have a really
cool BOA retention system here which is
dual direction to really dial it in. This
is the medium-sized and they're offered in
five different colors. I chose the
radioactive yellow and it looks really
cool as it contrasts well with the wave
cell liner. Packaging wise really simple
basic box you get some tags with some
information about WaveCel, I highly
recommend looking at some of it it's a
really cool technology. It's great to see
being introduced into cycling especially
$149 while this is not cheap by any
means it's definitely more affordable.
Now let's take a look at the weight of
the Specter WaveCel helmet, a lot of
people are concerned with the additional
bulk that WaveCel technology may add
to it. This is a medium sized and that
comes out to 346 grams so definitely not
the lightest on the market but not that
heavy either
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Now let's take a closer look at the
fit and finish of the Bontrager Specter
WaveCel helmet. At $150 this is the
most affordable way to get in the
WaveCel line and I think the fit and finish
really justifies that. Not only
do you have this really nice WaveCel
technology, you can see it's a fairly
thick liner that actually sandwiches
between the EPS foam and the inside
padding. They describe this as a
three-dimensional structure and by that
they mean it will both crunch in this
direction and you can see it's all
really strategically placed with the
weaker points here designed to flex as
well as vertically. It's kind of hard
to capture on camera but between the top
and bottom there's a thinner portion
that's designed to really crumple so
similar to MIPS or other
technology this is really designed to
reduce the rotational impact as well as
complement the EPS foam to reduce the
primary impact to keep you safer. What
also makes this helmet seem really
premium is the external shell and
especially here in the radioactive
yellow color it extends all the way down,
it looks really great. Typically with
cheaper helmets you would see a line
just like you see with the vents here
where you would see the unfinished EPS foam.
This looks better and it
should be more durable in the long run
as you won't have a sharper edge
catching anything. If we look at the
design from the front I would consider
this a rather simple helmet, it doesn't
really stand out that much I think
compared to a cheaper helmets the vents
are rather simple with large vertical
openings. Same thing with the top profile
pretty standard and especially with this
minimal graphics
it looks pretty typical. Where it really
stands out I think as some of the other
profiles, if we look at the side profile
that's the one I really like. It's
very aggressive you have this
blunt trailing edge here and really nice
sculpted ear cutout, and again with that
single piece shell here that extends all
the way down you can see it really
wrapped around and even the edges
between the shell portions are really
clean. It's a really premium looking with
these additional lines it gives it a
little bit of flair.
If we rotate it all the way to the back
you can see again really aggressive
venting here, there are a lot of large cutouts
and these black inner portions that
really blends in especially at night.
There's reflective elements here to
improve your safety at night as well and
again really minimal branding. You have
Bontrager here, and Specter and
that's it. You don't have a lot of
graphics. The retention system is also
really great it's nice to see an actual
BOA dial. Most helmets these days
will have some kind of cage system like
this but this dual direction BOA dial
makes it really easy and you can see
these nylon laces here. I found the
fit to be really good, I typically wear
medium and this medium fit perfectly. If
we go to the inside we have this nice
magnetic fit lock buckle and this is
really great. You can see it has two
magnets and you simply get it close
enough and it drops in. One thing that's
unfortunate is when you take it off you
really have to slide it. It's a little
bit unusual you have to slide it in that
direction instead of away from each
other so if you're used to a standard
buckle this does take a little bit.
The straps themselves
are also really nice as well, you can
see they're very soft nylon and then you
have these nice cam designs for
adjusting it. You just pull up make
any adjustment you want and then drop it
down so it makes it really easy to get
comfortable. You can have comfort the
inside padding is also extremely nice
very plush. It's also removable and
machine washable although I found that
this portion that goes underneath the
cage system is quite difficult to take
off, you really have to put a lot of
force in there and I have been I haven't
actually taken it off as I'm a
little worried I'd break it but
otherwise really comfortable. I think
with the WaveCel liner and makes it
really hug your head better than a
typical helmet. Here's some shots of the
helmet out in the wild, as you can see
the radioactive yellow really pops and
that WaveCel liner is a bold statement
especially against the exposed foam
in the vents. We also found those with
longer hair were comfortable
with his helmet if they could fit their
ponytail above the rear dial. Now
let's do a little comparison between the
Specter helmet and some other helmets on
the market. Here I have my standard Las
helmet, this is non MIPS but you can see
it's a lot more aggressive. Also it has
some of those more premium touches like
a shell that actually comes around but
again it doesn't come around in the
front which gives it a little less
premium of a look. However looks a lot
more aggressive with the large vertical
vents and styling elements especially
when you put these side-by-side you can
see this one's a lot more aggressively
designed whether that helps or not it's
probably less aerodynamic. Inside this
helmet is pretty much your standard
helmet plastic clasp and nylon strap a
liner and then the EPS foam so in the
case of an impact you'll just have a
foam to protect you and the rotational
force will be directly to your head so
that's one reason MIPS came around and
you can see MIPS is now in a lot of
helmets. This is the Lazer Cameleon
helmet, it has been newly introduced from
them and it's about 89 dollars for this MIPS
version. It is a rather nice helmet, it's
designed to be all-around you can see
here really large events and without the
WaveCel technology all the vents
openings are all open here. You have a
MIPS liner, if you haven't seen this
before you can see it's not much more
than a simple little plastic and Teflon
liner that fits between the shell
and the padding. You can see it has
some rotation even by hand and it has these
little pins that hold it in place until
you actually have a major accident
though and the design the idea of this
is to really prevent that rotational
force beam from being transferred
directly to your head and kind of absorb
some of it before it gets to you so. If
we compare the WaveCel side-by-side
you can see the the Lazer helmet, by the
way is $89 so cheaper and you can see
that you don't have some of those
premium touches like the magnetics buckle.
You don't have the completely
finished edges here which is one reason
why the Specter looks nicer and can
justify the higher price. If you go back
to the WaveCel verses
you can see the WaveCel adds a little
bit of bulk because it's a little bit
thicker and it also blocks some of the vents
so if you have longer hair or a ponytail
or something like that and you need
those openings to route your hair
the WaveCelhelmet might not work for you. I
haven't had any issues with the
overheating but I've never had issues
with that as I have shorter hair, but
it's interesting putting in side by side
it's great to see these technologies out
here and improving the safety. Now let's
go over the pros and cons of the Specter
WaveCel helmet. I really like the
magnetic clasp, it's a really nice touch
especially at this price point. Overall
the helmet really has great quality in
terms of fit and finish the external
shell extends all the way down all the
surfaces are really well done and well
designed. Also the WaveCel liner really
adds an element of safety as well as
comfort as it tends to grip your head a
little bit better than other helmets I
own. Some of the cons for the helmet I
think are the heavier weight, this is not
a featherweight helmet at about 350
grams but by no means too heavy you'll
hardly notice it's there. The magnetic buckle
is a little bit non-intuitive, I always
found myself trying to pull at it in the
wrong direction something you have to
get used to with usage. Also the
WaveCel liner does restrict some of
the airflow through the vents and it
does prevent you from attaching any
lights or cameras that require going
through the vents so that's something to
be aware of. Taking this all into account
lets give this helmet a final rating
out of 10. I would give it a 9.2, it's a
really unique and comfortable helmet and
it's great to see technologies like
WaveCel enter the more affordable price
points. Thanks for watching this review,
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