If you’ve ever been unfortunate enough to take a tumble when out cycling you’ll know it can be a spectacularly ungraceful affair. Pushing hard around the local trails or nipping through the lanes, a spill takes you by surprise – you don’t really have time to prepare for it. With twists, turns and angled impacts, crashing while on your bike often leads to a mighty wallop on the bonce and is usually fairly inelegant, to say the least.
This, says Bontrager, the accessory line of the Trek bike corporation, is where traditional helmet design is compromised. Recognising that not all crashes result in straightforward impacts but also involve twisting and rotational forces, they went back to the drawing board when designing their latest line of helmets. With their revolutionary new technology, WaveCel, they’ve created a helmet that they claim is more effective in protecting your head from injury than traditional designs.
Use your head
Forgive the pun, but it’s a no brainer – protect your head. You only get one brain, so it makes sense to give it as much protection as you can. WaveCel is a collapsible cellular structure that lines the inside of Bontrager helmets. It is designed to absorb the energy created by an impact, going through a three-step change in its structure to flex and crumple, thus redirecting the energy away from your head. It’s been proven to protect against direct impacts as well as deal with “twists, turns, and angled impactsâ€, according to Bontrager.
This isn’t just another ‘this is the best thing since sliced bread’ claim by the way. If you have a spare hour or so you can read all about the research and testing of WaveCel here. If that’s not for you, don’t worry, we’ll summarise it for you: these helmets are good, damn good.
Of course, all this clever tech is of no use if it’s not parcelled up in a well-fitting and ventilated helmet. Fortunately, Bontrager have hit the jackpot here too; the WaveCel helmets are equipped with an easy-to-use Boa dial system that allows you to adjust and secure the helmet with just one hand. The helmet also comes with NoSweat pads so you can get the helmet to fit just right.
WaveCel is light too. It adds a barely noticeable 53g on average to Bontrager’s helmets, which by the way are some of the coolest and comfortable lids we’ve ever used. Bontrager uses wind tunnel testing to design aerodynamic helmets with superior airflow properties to keep you cool when things get hot.
You’ll see WaveCel helmets on the heads of the Trek-Segafredo team riders. These guys know what it takes to keep safe when riding, and with a Bontrager lid up top, they’re able to concentrate all their energies on the important business of winning.
Free crash replacement
Did someone say free? Yup, you read that right. If your WaveCel helmet is impacted within the first year of ownership we’ll replace it for free through the Bontrager Crash Replacement Guarantee.
Bontrager WaveCel helmets offer the best in high-performance protection and comfort, and there's an option for every rider. Use your head, get in touch and we’ll show you the options.
