Specialized S-Works Womens Prevail II Helmet

Specialized's S-Works Women's Prevail II helmet is superlight, very comfortable, simple to adjust and works well with ponytails – if you don't mind a bit of faffing. It costs £175, which is a fair old wodge if all you want to do is pootle to the shops, but the Prevail II is aimed at racing, where its 'superlative aerodynamic design' could well be worth the outlay for you.

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There's a lot going on with this helmet in terms of construction and design, but one of the things I like best – which I have to admit I was a bit dismissive of to start with – is that the two straps around your ears are non-adjustable.

They're not adjustable because they're designed to just fit. So you don't have to adjust them. And, for me anyway, they work. Called 'Tri-Fix web splitters', they hold the straps perfectly flat against your cheeks, so no adjustments necessary. All you have to do is pull the strap under your chin to tighten. Specialized even has a YouTube video to show you how easy it is.

Another feature I've learned to love is the HairPort. I wear my hair up in a ponytail for riding, and have always just pulled it as low as possible to fit under the helmet cradle. But the cradle on the Prevail is height adjustable, and it's so comfortable when you do set it low, really hugging the back of your head, that it's worth making use of the space for your ponytail.

I do find it a bit of a faff to get my ponytail through. I tend to put a helmet on from the front and tip it to the back, if you get my drift, but to fit my hair through the HairPort I have to poke the ponytail through first, which sits the helmet on the back of my head and then I have to faff around a bit with getting escaped bits of hair into the right place at the front, before tightening everything up. Wearing a cap underneath helps.

Wearing a cap underneath doesn't help so much with airflow, and doesn't make the most of the Prevail II's '4th Dimension Cooling System', but to be honest, without a cap underneath I couldn't feel a huge amount of airflow over my head – and I was really trying to detect it. Even with that Mega Mouthport at the front. I could feel the air rushing past the sides of my head, over and around my ears, but not a lot over the top of my head.

I have worn it on some very hot days and haven't overheated, though, so in that respect it works.

The other big thing about the Prevail is how light it is. Limar claims its Ultralight+ helmet is 'the lightest in the world' and it's 175g; this Prevail in a small is 189g and one of the lightest we've tested on road.cc. It says 190g on the sticker inside the helmet, but the road.cc Scales of Truth say 1g lighter.

Although very light, it features an 'Aramid-Reinforced Skeleton' within the EPS (polystyrene) core. There's a fair amount of EPS on show, too, which doesn't make it the most attractive helmet out there, in my opinion, but could be one reason why it's so light – or probably helps, anyway.

Another thing I really like about this helmet is the 'Gutter Action brow pad design'. Essentially, rather than your forehead pressing against the front of the helmet (or helmet against forehead), the cushioned front part of the webbing system sits slightly away from the front of the helmet, so there's nothing rigid against your forehead. It basically means it's very comfortable – as well as helping to stop sweat running down your head.

The only real drawback I can see with the Prevail II is the price; at £175 it's not right at the top of the high-end helmet tree, but the branches are definitely thinning out.

If you wanted many of the same design features in a more affordable package then the £80 Propero 3 is worth a look. Lara tested the Propero 2 last year and found it a bit bulky, but the 3 looks to be a sleeker design. In fact, looks-wise I think I prefer the Propero to the Prevail, with more of the EPS covered and some other colour choices.

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So, if you accept that a helmet's main purpose is to protect your head in a crash, and accept that it meets the necessary standards on that (in this case, EN 1078), what else do you judge a helmet on? The Prevail II is very light, very comfortable, very easy to adjust, and promises a bit of an aerodynamic advantage. It's a very good helmet. It's not cheap, but there might be a lot of money hanging on that win...

Verdict

A very good, easy to adjust helmet whose light weight and aerodynamics might make all the difference on race day