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review
Lazer Vento KinetiCore helmet£259.99
VERDICT:
Impressive, comfortable and breezy aero lid with new rotational impact system – it'll cost you, though
Decent airflow
Innovative anti-concussion system
Comfortable and easy to use fitting system
Expensive
Others are lighter
Weight:
290g
Contact:
At road.cc every product is thoroughly tested for as long as it takes to get a proper insight into how well it works. Our reviewers are experienced cyclists that we trust to be objective. While we strive to ensure that opinions expressed are backed up by facts, reviews are by their nature an informed opinion, not a definitive verdict. We don't intentionally try to break anything (except locks) but we do try to look for weak points in any design. The overall score is not just an average of the other scores: it reflects both a product's function and value – with value determined by how a product compares with items of similar spec, quality, and price.
What the road.cc scores meanGood scores are more common than bad, because fortunately good products are more common than bad.
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The Lazer Vento KinetiCore is an impressive and innovative helmet that mixes decent airflow with a new fitting system and good looks, and avoids giving you the mushroom-head look of some aero helmets.
The KinetiCore system here is billed as a 'MIPS killer,' and this is the first chance we've had to get our hands on it. Instead of allowing (controlled) independent rotation of your head and the helmet, this uses EPS foam crumple zones to disperse impact energy.
Although I love road.cc, I wasn't willing to test how effective it is in a real-world scenario, but independent testing at Virginia Tech resulted in a five-star safety rating.
I personally found it more comfortable than MIPS as well, as you don't have a cradle sat directly against your head. One further benefit is that it allows a little more freedom for the closure system, because you don't have the harness getting in the way.
Lazer has taken advantage with its new ScrollSys system, an update of RollSys. It has a similar full headband to reduce hotspots, but rather than a wheel on top of the helmet, it has a treadmill-like section on the rear. It's a cinch to get the fit correct with this, and by adjusting the height of the harness.
The result is a very comfortable helmet, helped by the soft straps and plush, well-positioned pads. The pads don't tend to soak up too much sweat, and they dry quickly too, but the straps are quite wide and can interfere with glasses. Only very slightly, mind – I found it more comfortable to wear my sunglasses under the straps rather than over them like normal.
The vents (four and the front, nine at the back) create a well-directed and impressive airflow, especially for an aero helmet. It's not quite at the level of a Lazer Genesis or Z1, but I comfortably wore this in the mid-20s Centigrade without ever overheating.
The Vento hits the scales at 290g, which isn't exactly heavy but is still heavier than other aero helmets in its price range. The £269 Kask Wasabi is 26g lighter, for instance, whilst the Met Manta MIPS Aero is 42g lighter and £49 cheaper at £220. Aero helmets aren't normally designed to be lightweight, of course, but if you're looking to minimise weight you can find better.
> 22 of the best cycling helmets for 2021 — plus how to choose the right helmet for you
In fact, at £259.99 this is the fourth most expensive helmet we've seen on the site. That being said, new technologies always cost more when they are introduced, and KinetiCore is new. The Met Manta features MIPS which is of course very well established and the whole lid is cheaper, but then the Kask Wasabi is £10 more expensive and doesn't have any kind of rotational force protection at all.
Overall
I am impressed by this helmet. It may be expensive, but the new KinetiCore system works really well on the bike and – at least according to the independent lab testing it – in a crash too. The airflow is impressive for an aero helmet, the fitting system is great and it's comfortable.
Verdict
Impressive, comfortable and breezy aero lid with new rotational impact system – it'll cost you, though
road.cc test report
Make and model: Lazer Vento KinetiCore helmet
Size tested: 58-61
Tell us what the product is for and who it's aimed at. What do the manufacturers say about it? How does that compare to your own feelings about it?
Lazer says: "The Vento's lightweight, all-new aerodynamic design is engineered to go faster with no compromise. Built for those who want more than just marginal gains, the Vento provides superior comfort thanks to the ScrollSys adjustment system that lets you alter the fit on the move with a simple scroll of the belt."
Tell us some more about the technical aspects of the product?
Lazer Kineticore technology uses controlled crumple zones to protect against rotational and direct impact
Designed in sprint position at a 15° angle with a reduced frontal surface
Refine your helmet's fit by scrolling the easy-to-use Lazer ScrollSys belt for the ultimate fit
Lazer's advanced ventilation system channels draws cool air into the helmet and expels hot air through the rear
The floating front headband increases airflow and eliminates pressure points, to keep you more comfortable
Keep your eyewear safe when you're not wearing it by storing them securely in the vent docking system
Compatible with the aftermarket Lazer Direct Mount LED
Manufacturer claimed weight of 290 grams (size medium)
Rate the product for quality of construction:
8/10
Feels very well made.
Rate the product for performance:
8/10
It is comfortable with loads of airflow and an easy to use fitting system.
Rate the product for durability:
8/10
Rate the product for weight (if applicable)
7/10
Not what you would ever class as 'heavy,' but you can get lighter.
Rate the product for comfort (if applicable)
9/10
Very comfortable for long rides thanks to an excellent fitting system and impressive airflow.
Rate the product for value:
4/10
It's very good, but you can get very similar performance for less.
Tell us how the product performed overall when used for its designed purpose
Very well: it's comfortable, offers decent airflow, doesn't give you mushroom head, and has soft straps that help on longer rides.
Tell us what you particularly liked about the product
The KinetiCore system feels like a potential game changer.
Tell us what you particularly disliked about the product
The price - this is expensive!
How does the price compare to that of similar products in the market, including ones recently tested on road.cc?
The Met Mantra comes in £40 cheaper offering broadly similar qualities, but with MIPS. The Kask Wasabi is £10 more expensive, although this doesn't have any kind of rotational force protection and doesn't look as good either.
Did you enjoy using the product? Yes
Would you consider buying the product? Yes
Would you recommend the product to a friend? Yes
Use this box to explain your overall score
This is very well made, very comfortable and surprisingly well cooled for an aero helmet. If – or perhaps when – the new KinetiCore design gets cheaper as it becomes established, it could score higher still.
About the tester
Age: 33
I usually ride: CAAD13 My best bike is: Cannondale Supersix Evo
I've been riding for: 10-20 years I ride: Every day I would class myself as: Expert
I regularly do the following types of riding: commuting, club rides, sportives, general fitness riding, fixed/singlespeed,
George is the host of the road.cc podcast and has been writing for road.cc since 2014. He has reviewed everything from a saddle with a shark fin through to a set of glasses with a HUD and everything in between.
Although, ironically, spending more time writing and talking about cycling than on the bike nowadays, he still manages to do a couple of decent rides every week on his ever changing number of bikes.
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7 comments
I collect helmets (got about 20+ top models) and I got both the G1 MIPS and the Vento. The older G1 MIPS is lighter, cheaper, fits much more secure and comfortably on my head, as cool, and way safer as tested by Virginia Tech. Let's cut to the chase, the Kineticore is a major step back (probably fatal for the brand) as an attempt to get away from having to license MIPS. Heavier, much less safe than MIPS every single Kineticore Lazer helmets are way worse in rating than their older MIPS models. The G1 is rated #6 safest while the Vento is #78! The stars don't matter when there are 75 safer and cheaper helmets to your top model helmet that you're discontinuing with heavy discount right now. The only thing the Vento has over the G1 is aerodynamics. So the G1 is the ultimate climbing and ultra safe helmet but when you want aero you should look to other brands that offer both aero and safety like the Giro Eclipse or Bont XXX (which I also have both).
The Kask Wasabi meets the WG11 safety standard that does include rotational impact testing - https://www.kask.com/en/safety.htm
No it doesn't. The only WG11 helmet tested by Virginia Tech got only 3 stars. But I have the Wasabi and Utopia just cuz people here wear them more than any other actually safer helmets.
My issue with these standards is much like the "dieselgate" issue. Are helmets being designed to be the safest they can be or to get the highest marks in certain tests?
Let's have a bit of balance here please. "The KinetiCore system here is billed as a 'MIPS killer,'"?? Billed by who? The Lazer Vento may well have been awarded 5 stars by Virginia Tech, but at £260 it just scraped under the 5 star limit with a score of 13.70, the limit being 14.0 (lower number is better). The (allegedly) safest helmet tested at Virginia is a 60 quid Giant helmet which scored 9.13, way ahead of the Kineticore according to VT. Furthermore most of Lazer's own, cheaper than Kineticore, Mips helmets achieved a better score than Kineticore. Mips killer my a$$, just another way to separate the gullible from their money.
Thought the same when I read "billed as a MIPS killer", so I thought I'd google "MIPS killer" to see just who's been "billing" the helmet as such. As far as I can tell, there are two youtubers whose two videos of the "MIPS killer" Kineticore helmets have garnered a grand total of 1263 views, and...that's about it.
MIPS killing aside, any comment on the fit? I only ask because I got an online deal on a Lazer Strada, which is the cheaper, non-aero MIPS killer a month or so back for £50, which seemed like an obscenely cheap way to kill MIPS. I like the helmet, but it really didn't fit me well at all. My head circumference has always sat in the middle of the medium range on most helmets, and I'd had 2 Lazer helmets before, always had a medium and always loved the fit, so I thought it'd be a medium. The helmet fit but it was super snug, with a bit of a pressure point at the top of my forehead. Meanwhile, darling wife tried it on and it fit her fine, which is odd, since she's tried a few Lazer helmets in the past but the small size has always been too big. So the end result was her killing MIPS and not me.
I went to an LBS to get a new helmet, they had the Vento in stock, I tried the Vento in a medium and it was exactly the same issue. Tried it in a large and it was too wobbly on my head. Tried a whole bunch of other helmets on, all in a medium, and they were all fine. LBS said a few people have commented on the fit of the Kineticore helmets. Went with a Lazer Genesis MIPS in the end, which means I have a great fitting helmet, but can't kill any MIPS
i actually thought that Virginia barely slotted it into the 5 star bracket just to give it some face. Almost 80 helmets in the 5 star category but the actual impact to the brain between the top and last of the 5 stars is very huge so the stars don't mean anything. See my comment above. I don't think I'll be buying another Lazer helmet in the future with the new direction they're taking. Their models used to consistently dominate the top safety ratings now they're way down there, more expensive, and actually fits worse on my head.