Rudy Project Strym helmet

The Rudy Project Strym helmet looks classy in this dark grey colour, fits my head really comfortably (and flatteringly low – no 'mushroom head' here), and is well ventilated. The strap dividers sit neatly below my ears, but – and it's a fairly big but – the non-adjustable strap is so long it means there's next to no adjustability of the other one. Pulled tight, the buckle sits so close to the under-ear divider that there's nowhere for the excess strap to live. It's annoying and an oversight on an otherwise really nice helmet.

• Pros: Fit, comfort, bug net, strap dividers
• Cons: Strap length/buckle placement

Aside from meeting safety standards, perhaps the most important thing about a helmet is the fit: it's got to be comfortable and suit your head shape. This one felt just right as soon as I put it on. It sits low on my head without interfering with my vision or my glasses. (It's not me in the photos, by the way.)

I'm not keen on helmets that have the padding stuck to the inner of the helmet – I always find those with a more flexible way of fitting around the head more comfortable, no matter how thick the pads. Here, the padding is part of the bug net, attached to the helmet with Velcro/equivalent (small 'hook' patches are stuck to the helmet itself, with larger 'loop' patches on the net allowing some adjustment), but at the front it sticks to what Rudy Project calls an 'Adaptive Air Frame Band'. This is fixed at two points either side of the front, so the centre is free to adapt to the shape of your forehead.

The retention system attaches at the same two points up front, so when you turn the dial at the rear (the 'RSR 10 Adjustable Retention System') it adjusts from those points – rather than pulling the Adaptive Air Frame Band any tighter. It works well.

The rear cradle can be moved up and down, just by pushing or pulling, though it does pull rather easily. Lowering it makes the helmet feel more secure on the head, and gives space to pull a ponytail through.

Strappage

As I mentioned up top, the strap design is the helmet's only real flaw. I'm testing the 55-58cm helmet and don't have a particularly huge head, but the length of the non-adjustable strap means there's next to no room for adjusting the other one. The buckle already sits so far round my chin(s) that it's almost right up against the strap divider when adjusted correctly, leaving a good 10cm of spare strap.

If the non-adjustable strap was just a few cm shorter it'd be so much better. (Or if it was one long strap that could be fed through the helmet – which is what I initially thought could be done but can't, it's two separate straps.)

The strap dividers themselves (or 'Divider Pro Side Buckles') are great – similar to Specialized's Tri-fix splitters but better because they can be moved up and down to suit your ear size/shape/position, and – for me anyway – the straps sit tighter to my head than Specialized's non-adjustable ones.

Ventilation

It's a fairly breezy helmet, its 16 vents doing a good job of letting cool air in. Because I hate the idea of getting flying buzzy things stuck in my hair I nearly always wear a cap under my helmet so I might be overplaying how well vented the Strym is in comparison, but my head has felt cold – too cold some days – so it seems to work.

You could always remove the bug net if you put ventilation higher than repelling flying insects.

There's no Mips going on here – and you can spend less and still get Mips incorporated – but at 244g it's a decent weight for the money. Compared with those of a similar price, it's lighter than the £95 Specialized Propero III with Angi (313g, medium); it's also lighter than the £99.99 Sweet Protection Outrider (267g, medium) and the £99.95 Salice Ghibli (255g, size 52/58).

There are lighter lids: the S-Works Women's Prevail II I tested a couple of years ago is 189g, but costs another £80.

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Overall, I'd say this is potentially a very good helmet – if you have a bigger chin and can make more use of the excess strap you'll like it more – but just a tweak of the non-adjustable strap for the rest of us would make it so much better.

Verdict

A potentially very good helmet, limited only by the silly-long non-adjustable strap