Mark Threlfall: If you're serious about going faster on the bike, then it's likely at some point
you have contemplated upgrading from your standard road helmet, as I'm wearing here,
to either an aero road helmet or even a time trial helmet, or maybe you've just simply seen
people wearing these helmets and wondered why. In today's video, I'm going to be tearing apart and
weighing up the pros and cons of each of these helmets and how they may benefit each rider.
Don't worry, I will be putting them up against each other in a little
versus two. [music]
Now, you may be thinking really what difference can a helmet make? You know the theory,
make a small gain in everything and all those small gains can add up to become a winning
margin. It's all about the aggregation of marginal gains. That's exactly what
we've got going on here really. It is marginal gains. It's commonly thought that around 20%
of our overall drag when cycling comes from the bike itself and the remaining 80%
comes from us, the rider. Given that our head is essentially breaking the wind, well,
the helmet plays a very important role then. Let's take a look at the options. Firstly,
we've got a standard road helmet like this one I'm wearing here, which is the Trenta from MET.
It's got loads of air vents. They're very well ventilated, but its primary function is protection
and comfort. They tend to be pretty light. This one is incredibly light, around 250 grams,
whereas an aero road helmet is designed for speed. Here, I've got the brand new Manta from MET. It's
still obviously incredibly protective and still very much a road helmet with similar shaping,
but you'll notice there's far fewer air vents as it's trying obviously to be more aerodynamic.
They can weigh in a little bit more although this one is also incredibly light at just 250 grams.
[music] Then, we have the TT helmet,
which is something quite different again. I like the aero road helmet. It is designed for
speed but the shape is quite different. Typically, we see this teardrop-like
shape effect with the idea that the tail fills that void behind the rider's head
and between the back, therefore sort of smoothing out that airflow and therefore reducing drag. Now,
the tails can vary in length and I'll explain a little bit why on that later on,
but you probably have noticed there's even less air vents yet again. Also, they can be
a little bit heavier. This one is around 350 to 400 grams, which is no surprise, really.
[music] Before I delve into
these helmets any further, let's get some schools on the door in classic GTN fashion
with a little backyard TT. Honestly, I'm intrigued to see if we actually see much difference here
at all. I've picked out a relatively short course, but hopefully enough that we can
pull some data from. It's 3 kilometers long, and nice and flat. Unlike usual,
I'm actually going to hold the same speed for each of these runs, 40 kilometers an hour,
and see what power that gives me, rather than the other way around as we usually do. That way
each helmet is used in the same conditions, the same speed, the same wind flow,
et cetera. First off, let's give it a go with the standard road helmet. Three, two, one, let's go.
[music] Second run, donning the aero road helmet now.
Let's do this. Three, two, one. Let's go. [music]
All right, final run with the TT helmet. let's do this. Three, two, one. Let's go.
[music]
All right. Actually, I was a bit worried we weren't going to have much to talk about here,
but I've got some pretty good results for you here. First off, all those runs were literally
within a couple of seconds of each other, which is good news because that's the idea, I was traveling
at the same speed, so that's good. For the road helmet, just the standard road helmet, I averaged
254 watts. For the aero road helmet, 249. Then, for the TT helmet, 245. So, that's a 9 watt saving
from the standard road helmet up to the TT helmet, which I'm quite pleased with because
that's actually in line and follow suit with a lot of the research that I found out there.
We had a significant jump up from the standard road helmet to the aero road helmet,
and then a slightly smaller jump up again from the aero road helmet to the TT helmet.
What I do know from the very clever sciency people out there is that the faster we go,
the more these aerodynamic and marginal gains come into play. So, there we go. The TT helmet
is faster. Brilliant. Cheers, guys. Speaker 2: Mark, is that it?
Mark Threlfall: Mate, I can't believe you're making me do this. Yes, okay, aerodynamics and
speed isn't simply all it's about, is it really? There is more to it than that. Let's go grab a
coffee and I'll explain a little bit more about why these other helmets may be a good option.
[music] They do, of course,
all have their own benefits but let's start with probably the obvious thing. Which would you
rather turn up wearing to a group ride or be seen wearing while cycling around your
local lanes? It's probably going to be one of these two as opposed to this one. It's not to
say this isn't a good helmet or a good choice. I personally think it's a very cool helmet,
but it is a bit serious, isn't it? Now, let's take a look firstly at the standard
road helmet. This is a great all-rounder and for that reason a very popular choice. It's very well
ventilated. If you're working hard or it's a hot day, it's going to keep your head nice and cool,
and therefore keep you cool as well. It's almost designed so that you don't even
realize it's on your head. It's very lightweight. It's breathable and it's very comfortable.
For that reason, this is a very popular choice from my own perspective for training, but also,
if I were to go racing or training in a hot or hilly environment, it'd probably be my choice
there, too. [music]
The aero road helmet, on the other hand, is a great in-between option. It is also becoming
increasingly popular. The bonus of this is you could wear this any day of the week and
people wouldn't necessarily notice. Yet, you are gaining from some of those aerodynamic benefits
that we saw just before. For that reason, that's why you see a lot of the pro cyclists wearing
this kind of helmet on those flatter stages for those aerodynamic gains. As you can see
and as I mentioned earlier they are obviously less ventilated than the standard aero road helmet, but
then of course, oddly that does actually make it a good option also for the colder and winter rides
when you want to keep your head warm. Then, the TT helmet. This is, of course,
as we've seen the fastest option for the right course for the right rider. Let's be honest. This
isn't your everyday helmet option. You're probably going to have this in addition to one of these and
saving this for race day. I saw a 9 watt saving from one end of the spectrum to the other today,
and then 4 watts from the aero road helmet up to the TT helmet, but that is going to vary from one
person to the other depending on the position that they can get into, they can hold, but also their
body shape potentially, too. Or, alternatively you could drop down to an aero road helmet.
Actually, interestingly, a lot of people don't see a huge difference between the benefits from an
aero road helmet to a TT helmet because of their position. Actually, interestingly, a lot of pro
athletes opt to wear something like an aero road helmet for hotter events like Kona because whilst
it does have less ventilation than a standard road helmet, it tends to have a little bit more than a
TT helmet. It just helps to keep them cool, and if you're not gaining much from wearing a TT helmet,
it's a no-brainer really, isn't it? There's been a lot to cover today. Please, if you have any more
questions, drop them in the comments section down below. I'd love to help out and get back to you
on those. Don't forget to follow us over on social media and check out some of our other videos. If
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[music] [00:09:48] [END OF AUDIO]