Bontrager unveil new pro-level helmet

The Leopard Trek pro cycling team, home of the Schleck brothers and Fabian Cancellara for 2011, have announced that they’ll be using Bontrager’s new Oracle helmet for the forthcoming race season.

A Trek in-house brand, Bontrager are supplying Leopard Trek with everything from wheels to bottle cages too. One of the key design objectives for the Oracle helmet was to make it low profile.

“No-one wants to look like they have a bucket on their head,” said Bontrager Helmet Product Manager, Al Clark. Good ventilation was another central consideration.

The Oracle uses an in-moulded carbon-fibre skeleton to provide the structural integrity and load dispersal needed to create large vents in the close-fitting design.

“Our expertise in carbon fibre and our experience in analyzing air flow with various other products gave us considerable advantages when designing the Oracle,” said Clark. “Bontrager has been designing carbon-fibre parts for nearly a decade and our engineers have spent countless hours analyzing how wind forces interact with cyclists and their equipment. That decade of knowledge paid huge dividends in Oracle’s engineering and design.”

Other features of the Oracle include internal channeling to help pull air through the helmet and over the head, a Headmaster one-hand-adjustable fit system, anti-microbial pads, and lockdown strap dividers. There’s also a built-in brow band that’s designed to draw air over the forehead for improved cooling.

The new Oracle will see its first racing action at Leopard Trek’s ProTour debut at the Santos Tour Down Under starting this weekend.

Oracle helmets will be available in the spring in three sizes and five colours, including a Leopard Trek team edition.