Abus Aven-U urban helmet

While its looks are very 'love or hate', the Abus Aven-U urban helmet is comfortable, and has the great advantage that it's almost impossible to put on wrongly.

Writing a review of a helmet is like writing a review of a single glove, or a single shoe, in that's it's just a small part of the overall picture. One glove or one shoe is not particularly useful without the other one, even if you like the way it looks. And a helmet is not particularly useful without a crash, or even wanted at all if you don't like the way it looks.

In fact, in order to stir a hornets' nest at the same time as tipping a can of worms into a kettle of fish, there's rampant speculation and degrees of proof that wearing a helmet may well subject you to an increased likelihood of crashing, or being crashed into.

However, this isn't the time or place for that. It's simply another helmet review. The S-M (53-58cm) sample of the 'Snooker' flavoured Aven-U fitted well. I'll muffle commentry on the name and even resist a 'Let's be' dad joke.

With lots of soft foam padding it's a much more generous fit than most S-Ms but there's a M-L (58-63cm) size available too. Inevitably I wasn't willing to be the guinea pig for the level of abuse it can take, so this is a general overview rather than a real test: certified Lab testing was carried by the well regarded TUV Nord Group in Germany, the homeland of Abus... who also make locks and lots of other 'security' goods.

The Aven-U obviously isn't designed to be a superlight airy race-nut's helmet, although the current crop of aero lids in the pro peloton are certainly blurring previously well-defined style boundaries. It's more like a snug-fitting hard hat. It has fourteen slots, making venting far better than I initially feared, and the construction appears much more robust than the average sports lid.

The sample weighed in at 296g, about 70g lighter than my regular Giro Zen mountain bike helmet and 80g heavier than my Bell Volt road helmet. Its bulbous looks, snug fit and skull coverage are more like a specialist mountain bike helmet, but with a nod to unisex urban styling.

The ratchet-wheel adjustment strap at the back is very effective and padded comfortably at the base of the skull, and the straps are easy to adjust. The internal padding is all removable for washing, useful as it does get more sweaty than a generously vented sports helmet if you're in a rush. There are reflective strips on the back.

That's about it. There are several colour schemes available as well as a variety of other styles to suit urban riders. Personally I'm not a great fan of helmets that look like potties, but I've warmed to the Aven-U while riding around town and I've started to use it for mountain biking on cool days.

From a purely practical point of view (and I'm thinking of relative novices here) I really like the way it's almost impossible to wear it badly. It sits fair and square on your head even if the straps are poorly adjusted. I see way too many riders around town wearing helmets in ways that are likely to render them worse than useless in a tumble.

Verdict

Tough, snug-fitting lid with looks that some will love, some will hate.