10 Best road bike helmets in 2021: Safety and speed

Whether you realize it or not, choosing the best road bike helmet to buy can be a tough decision these days.
As cyclists, we want our helmet to be good looking, lightweight, aero, low profile, provide plenty of ventilation and come with the most advanced safety features for maximum head protection.
Whether you’re looking for value for money road bike helmets, or you just want the best one available, I’ve all of them covered for you.

What You Must Look For In Road Bike Helmet

Whenever you need to purchase a new road bike helmet, there are certainly a few things that cannot be overlooked.

Firstly, it is crucial, your helmet to fit your head. Safety testing is conducted on crash test dummies as these are cinched down tightly than on your head. This concludes that proper fitting is essential to get maximum protection for your head.

Do all the brands give the best head fitting?

While talking about head fitting, it varies from person to person. Some of the brands fit the best on certain head shapes in a better manner, and some provide an excellent system of adjustment according to every head shape.

What’s more, after a good fit, ventilation, and weight are good to consider. Roadies are a really weight conscious breeds, and in the helmet, you can shave off a few grams. Also, ventilation is significant for riders living in hot and humid areas. Helmets must be light in weight and better ventilated.

Last but not the least; aerodynamics is another feature to be perceived of best road bike helmets. It can save a couple of wasted watts over course of a long day.

Now you’ve got the idea of what to look for in a road bike helmet, now you are ready to choose the best for you.

• Giro Cinder Mips

Giro cinder is one of the top picks by cyclists as it packs many safety features and is budget-friendly. It’s an alternative to Giro Synthe. It does not put extra weight and comes in at 290 grams for a medium size.

Its polycarbonate shell allows for the addition of 26 giant Wind Tunnel vents with internal channels that pass air over your head and exhaust it at the back of the helmet.

Weight: 267g (Approx)
Number of Vents: 26
Safety Technology: MIPS
Pros: Completely Adjustable, Completely Ventilated, Aerodynamic, Great Sale Prices
Cons: MSRP is as expensive as the POC Ventral Spin

• POC Ventral Spin

Achieved the tag “Best Road Bike Helmet of the year 2020”. The POC Ventral Spin is another remarkable helmet from POC that blew us away. It is a combination of aerodynamics, safety, adjustability, comfort and it is light weighted to boot. However, there is one drawback to owe this helmet that is just its price. Its retail price is $290 as it is new so it is difficult to find it below this price.
A better value can be found in Giro Synthe. Some racers who want the best and don’t care about breaking the bank, POC Ventral Spin is amongst top priority for them.
A bit of extra ventilation can be enjoyed with the Ventral Air Spin Variant helmet of POC Ventral Spin.

Weight: 282g (Approx)
Number of Vents: 14
Safety Technology: SPIN
Pros: Unparalleled Weight combination, Safety, complete Ventilation, and Aerodynamics
Cons: Price

• Giro Synthe Mips

This was announced as the best all-around Premium Road Bike Helmet of the year 2020. Giro Synthe is a premium road bike helmet that aims to combine the features that you desire in a race day helmet to a particular helmet which is enough comfortable and can be worn every time you sit on your bike.

While considering its weight, aerodynamics, safety, and ventilation, Giro Synthe goes in parallel to POC Ventral Spin; however, can be found cheaper than POC Ventral Spin.

Weight: 268g
Number of Vents: 26
Safety Technology: MIPS
Pros: Completely Adjustable and Ventilated, Aerodynamic, Great Sale Prices
Cons: MSRP is as expensive as the POC Ventral Spin

• Lazer Z-1 Mips

Amongst the crowded lineup of premium road bike helmets that we have reviewed, Laser Z-1 MIPs is a true challenger. The comfort, safety, and adjustability that it offers make it stand exclusive of all.

Its styling is the unique feature of any helmet that we have reviewed. Just like the Synthe, the retails for this bike are just over $250 but the sales price can be found even under $180. The Synthe is much lighter and more aerodynamic; the unique features of Laser Z-1 MIPS speak itself to many cyclists.

Weight: 284g (Approx)
Number of Vents: 31
Safety Technology: MIPS, T Pro
Pros: MIPS, T Pro, Highly Adjustable, Magneto Eyewear Doc
Cons: Heavy, High MSRP

• Giro Aether

The road bike helmet Giro Aether is quite impressive in all manners. It is completely ventilated, light, and more aerodynamic as compared to some of the helmets that are designed with the foremost priority of aerodynamics.

Its MIPS spherical safety technology is the most innovative feature of a helmet ever seen. The only drawback of Giro Aether that we have noticed is the whopping price tag that makes it out of reach of many cyclists.

Weight: 267g (Approx)
Number of Vents: 11
Fit System: Roc Loc 5+ Air
Safety Technology: MIPS Spherical
Pros: MIPS Spherical, Air Fit Retention System of Roc Loc 5+
Cons: Astonishing Price Tag

• Smith Trace Mips

In terms of safety technology, Smith helmet has always stood apart and SmithTrace MIPS is a perfect example of that.

From the perspective of pricing, at $250, Smith Trace MIPS stays in line with other top helmet sellers. This helmet could be the best for you if don’t mind a helmet slight warmer but provide maximum protection.

Weight: 280g (Approx)
Number of Vents: 18
Safety Technology: MIPS, Koroyd
Pros: Topmost in terms of Line Safety Features, Enhanced Ventilation Over Smith Overtake
Cons: Still Not the Best Ventilation, Price

• Giro Foray Mips

The Giro Foray MIPS seems quite similar to the Giro Synthe MIPS. The biggest difference between both is “the price”.
The features of Giro Foray MIPs are quite similar to that of Giro Synthe MIPS; however, it comes at a third of the price. This makes it a top pick for best budget road bike helmet of the year 2020.

Weight: 298g (Approx)
Number of Vents: 21
Safety Technology: MIPS
Pros: Premium characteristics at a Budgeted Price
Cons: Doesn’t Vent or Fit Quite Like the Giro Synthe

• Bell Stratus Mips

The Bell Stratus MIPS helmet is a second-tier offering after Z20 MIPS. Stratus can do everything that Giro Synthe and Bell Z20 give in quite a cheaper manner.

Weight: 296g (Approx)
Number of Vents: 18
Safety Technology: MIPS
Pros: Can avail amazing features in a Mid Priced Helmet
Cons: Absence of few Safety Features of the Bell Z20 MIPS

• Kask Valegro

This is a quite a light-weighted and well-ventilated road bike helmet. It suffers from competed at crowded prices and it does not offer technology like MIPS that all non-Kask helmets provide. This makes us refer to Kask Valegro as the top pick.

Weight: 234g (Approx)
Number of Vents: 37
Safety Tech: MIT
Pros: Light-weighted, Good Ventilation
Cons: No MIPS, Drawbacks of Octo Fit Retention System

• Kask Protone

For premium road bike helmets, Kask Protone is on the lower end of the price range. It offers a great range of aerodynamics, adjustability, and good comfort that makes it an attractive choice for cyclists who don’t pay attention to MIPS.

Weight: 248g (Approx)
Number of Vents: 20
Safety Tech: MIT
Pros: Extremely Adjustable, Aerodynamic
Cons: No MIPS, Falls Short of the Giro Synthe’s Adjustability and Ventilation