The SPIN system certainly isn’t noticeable — it feels just like regular cushioning pads. I’ve worn the helmet over longer rides, and it’s never felt anything but good to wear. There are no budget aero helmets. Aero optimisation costs money and brands reserve it for the more expensive options. There's a loophole though. The loophole that brings the Smith Ignite to the best budget bike helmets list is that Smith makes a lot of colour options and rotates them frequently. The helmet has also been on the market since 2019. That means pretty much anytime you look there's a funky colour option for sale at half price.

Outside of safety, you are going to want to look at comfort and style. Budget helmets will tend to give up some features such as lightweight or aerodynamics but you still want a helmet that feels good on your head. You also don't want to neglect style. It might seem silly at first but if you don't like the way your helmet looks, it won't see much use. How important is a Virginia Tech rating? the helmet delivers superior levels of comfort, fit and performance, and features a host of safety systems, An area where the POC Omne Air Resistance Spin excels is strap management. Unlike some of POC's other helmets such as the Octal and Octal X, the straps run directly on the inner-most side, which means it plays nicely with most of the best mountain bike sunglasses, not just POC options.

POC

The last extras on the POC Omne Ultra are at the rear of the helmet. The obvious one is a daisy chain with three loops attached to another section of Velcro. The centre loop has a latch so it opens while the other two are permanently stitched closed. The lower one is a bit bigger than the upper and below it, you will find a small red Recco logo. Completing the system of safety enhancements is MIPS Air Node. In practice, Air Node is as simple as a very specific padding design that "enables 10-15mm of relative movement between the energy-absorbing layer and the padding." Honestly, it doesn't look like it could possibly do that much but Virginia Tech has the Prevail 3 listed as the third best helmet the brand has tested. When you look at the Giro Aries Spherical, there are almost more vents than helmet and it falls to a set of transparent arches to hold it all together. Instead of putting the MIPS liner inside Giro uses the Spherical design. This allows two parts of the helmet to move against each other with no possibility of interrupting airflow. Then, as a final nod to cooling, there is extensive internal channelling to get the air right where it's needed. Everything combined, Giro claims that compared to the previous Giro Aether MIPS, the Aries ups cooling efficiency by 2.3%. That's on top of 4% less aerodynamic drag plus a Virginia Tech STAR value score of 8.40 making it the #1 ranked helmet tested at the time of writing. At the rear of the helmet is a charging port and on either side there is a power button for the integrated front and rear lights. The battery lasts a long time and you can decide if you'd prefer flashing or solid lighting. Beyond that, it's just a good helmet. It feels incredibly comfortable, even though it's definitely on the heavy side, and there is lots of coverage. That means it comes down farther but also that the peak at the front is a solid part of the crash structure and not just for show. The front vents are also good for storing glasses. They technically miss POC's 'Eye Garage' feature, but this is just a small bit of extra high friction material. Not having it feels cheap, but it is ultimately unnecessary. as there's plenty of room to store them and the dozens of options from various brands I've tried all stay put fine.

Given that those are all important for evaluating a helmet, we've included the scores when available. If you are looking for a helmet, it's reasonable to consider that score but you might also choose a helmet that doesn't have it. Not every helmet has been through the testing and there are valid reasons that might have nothing to do with performance. Unfortunately, POC doesn't seem to have submitted the latest version of the Omne Air, now with MIPS instead of SPIN, to Virginia Tech for testing. It also seems like the Omne Ultra MIPS would be the perfect helmet to have extra high-friction pads to keep sunglasses in place when stowed on the helmet.The other thing you get is an understated style that perfectly captures a smart commuter look. Pair it with something from our list of the best commuter bikes and you will feel right at home. What you don't get, unfortunately, is a score from Virginia Tech, and you will have to dig out one of your old micro USB cords if you need something longer than what comes in the box. The latest technology from brain protection specialists MIPS enhances rotational impact protection. PC Shell When it comes to finding a comfortable budget bike helmet, it's all about fit. You could say the same about more expensive helmets as well but it becomes even more important as other features get stripped away. Different brands have different size ranges and some fit perfectly while others are a struggle.

The vertical adjustment requires an internal plastic ratchet to be rotated 90° and slid along a channel to change, which can’t be done while wearing the helmet. Even after several attempts, I found this function difficult to use as the plastic pieces are so small. It’s not an ideal system but this isn’t an adjustment you’re going to be making frequently. The real star though is the rear cradle. The design is the same as products like the Giro Eclipse aero helmet and that means it's compatible with the Roc Loc 5 LED light. It is an added cost but it's the most integrated rear light I know of on a road bike helmet. The Agilis also adds reflective paint that's effective even without a light.Ultimately it's the results that matter. If a brand is able to make a helmet without MIPS that is safe, there's no reason to insist on the MIPS brand. This is one of the reasons we report the results of Virginia Tech testing when it’s available. What does it take to find a comfortable budget bike helmet? The Omne Air also features the MIPS Integra system. This brings together POC’s ‘whole-helmet’ safety and design ethos with the fully integrated brain-protecting technology of MIPS. This holistic approach sees every detail of the helmet engineered to work in harmony with each other, giving you new levels of seamless safety, comfort, ventilation, fit and function. The POC Ventral MIPS has big open vents in the front of the helmet. It's almost more reminiscent of a climber's helmet until you compare it. You do lose some of the ability to evacuate heat through the central part of the helmet but it feels like a reasonable compromise. You also get a choice of a ton of colours and special pads to manage your glasses during the hottest climbs. This is a question of style as much as anything. Don't be afraid to consider how you look in your helmet. As an example, if you like to go fast and ride hard your bike and your clothes probably reflect that. If you match the style of helmet to the style of the rest of your gear you will almost always end up with exactly what you need. The helmet has 10 ventilation holes and five internal channels, which run uninterrupted in an attempt to allow maximum airflow.