New Time Trial Cycling Helmet Looks Like Something Out of Spaceballs

By Spooky on March 11th, 2024 Category: News

Dutch professional sports team Visma-Lease a Bike recently debuted the Aerohead 2.0, a time trial cycling helmet with an outrageous design that seems to have been inspired by Mel Brooks’s cult comedy, Spaceballs.

Visma-Lease a Bike is known for thoroughly testing every innovation it implements, and the Aerohead 2.0 cycling helmet is no different. The new time trial head gear was designed and developed in collaboration with American company Giro Sport Design and debuted earlier this month, on the first stage of Tirreno-Adriatico, where it caused quite a stir due to its unusual shape. Considerably larger than most time trial cycling helmets, the Aerohead 2.0 has an unusually large visor that could help with visibility when head-down riding, as well as wider wings and an upward-elongated front tip. It has been described as “ridiculous” and an “eyesore”, but Visma-Lease a Bike swears by its aerodynamic qualities.

Photo: Visma-Lease a Bike

“The appearance is totally different, it’s a new way of thinking about the aero helmet and we really think we have found a big improvement in our whole system in the TTs,” Visma-Lease a Bike said in a statement.

“It was incredible working for months on the Aerohead II with Visma to collect data and measurements, pushing the limits of what is possible for a time trial helmet,” said designer Ash Lewish.

Photo: Visma-Lease a Bike

The new helmet has caused such a stir in the time trial community that the International Cycling Union, the governing body of the sport, has put out a statement announcing that it would carry out an in-depth analysis of the regulations governing the design and use of time trial helmets. Visma-Lease a Bike insists that the Aerohead 2.0 complies with UCI regulations.

Time trials are becoming just as decisive as mountain stages on grand tours, and so even the most marginal gains provided by riders’ gear are crucial to a team’s victory. Visma-Lease a Bike plans to be using the helmet through the season’s time trials, but its sheer weight means it will not make appearances during climbing sections.