I have been wearing the Rudy Project Sterling helmet on and off since late winter, and it’s a pretty sweet helmet. The Sterling is the new to 2010, and is their top of the line road helmet from the Italian manufacturer. The helmet is a great-fitting, well-ventilated helmet that offers plenty of protection, and is extremely comfortable.

Rudy Project Sterling
The Sterling helmet has a ton of ventilation holes, 18 to be exact, so it ventilates well and really helps cool your noggin. The helmet comes with an inner bug stopper net with incorporated padding, a second full padding set, a storage bag, and a visor. I really liked the plush helmet bag, something that always seems to lack from most manufacturers, it was a nice accompaniment. The Sterling comes in 2 sizes, a small/medium and a large, and is available in an array of 6 color choices with matte finishes. I tested a size large, and it weighed in at 369.5 grams, which included the inner mesh and visor.

Rudy Project uses a composite skeleton (skeletal system and in-molded shell) to strengthen the helmet, while retaining some wildly open set of sculptured ventilation holes. The opened skeleton removes some surrounding material for increased airflow, allowing for efficient cooling. There is also a “Eyewear Dock” built into the exposed skeleton to hold the arms of sunglasses, which is handy on long climbs or when low light conditions are encountered.

Padding
The removable inner mesh net covers about the frontal 2/3rd’s of the helmet, and I found it to be quite comfortable, and I used it instead of the optional pads. Being removable also makes it easy to wash, to remove accumulated gunk. Either padding system attaches using small Velcro patches that are glued inside the helmet’s shell. The plush suede like padding was soft, and has a comfy tactile feel on the skin, and since it was attached o the netting, the pads didn’t drift. The net does a good job of keeping errant bugs from getting into through the front vents, and it can be adjusted to floating within the helmet  depending on how you attach it to the Velcro pads. The padded chin strap was a nice feature, which added greatly to the comfort level of the helmet. On extremely hot days, the net can trap heat somewhat, but the ventilation holes do an excellent job of cooling things off.

I found the visor a bit small, and along with the somewhat blunt front end of the helmet, it didn’t offer as much sun protection as comparable helmets.

Retention System
The Sterling has an excellent adjustment system that uses a comfort ring along with their retention dial system called the RSR7. I really liked the RSR7, it pulled very evenly, and was easy to adjust, even with gloves on. The RSR7 allows a finely tuned fit, and auto adjusts for both height and circumference with the turn of the dial, giving a secure fit without any excess flopping around on your head. I found the adjustable side straps difficult to use and adjust, but most troublesome was their propensity to breaking apart.

I broke 4 of the adjustable strap buckles in a short period of time, so I contacted Rudy Project about the breakage issue (they were aware of it), and they sent me an updated version that was slightly beefier. The new version lasted a good deal of time, but unfortunately they also broke. I gave up, and used some athletic tape from my first aid kit as a stop gap measure. Mountain biking can be a bit tough on helmets, with a lot of tossing it on and off, getting it caught on hydration packs, etc., but a buckle should stand up to the abuse.

Bottom Line
The Rudy Project Sterling was a comfortable helmet, with a great retention system, and a unique composite skeleton, that offers strength, durability and good ventilation. The inner net (aka the bug shield) is a highlight feature, being soft and well padded, and is easily removed for a washing. The excellent adjustment system that uses a comfort ring along with their RSR7 retention dial system, is easy to use (even with gloves), and makes fitting a breeze. The Sterling features an open, ventilated design with 18 huge vents and an exposed skeletal frame, which is very trick looking (form and function).

The adjustment strap buckles are a design flaw, and Rudy Projects needs to go back to the drawing board, since it takes away from an otherwise excellent helmet.

Strengths
- Inner mesh net
- Padded chin strap
- Retention system: RSR7
- Venting system

Weaknesses
- Visor is too small
- Adjustment strap buckles break to easily
- Adjustment strap buckles are difficult to use

Overall Rating: 3.5 Flamin’ Chili Peppers

MSRP: $224.99

Sterling Specs
Weight:

S/M: 12 oz / 349 grams
L: 13 oz / 374 grams

Size:

S/M: 54-58cm, 21.25″-22.8″
L: 58-62cm, 22.8″-24.4″

Retention: R.S.R. 7 Disc

Certifications:

CE 89/686 EEC
EN 1078
CPSC 12.03
AS/NZS 2063

url: http://www.e-rudy.com/index_inner_detail.php?group_id=3&item_id=HL515901US

I have been using the POC Cortex DH full faced helmet for several months now, and it has been comfortable, durable and safe. The helmet offers a plethora of protection and features, which are all engineered with safety in mind, and my crashing and tumbles have shown it to be an ideal candidate for the wicked world of rocky gnarliness and speed.

The Swedish based POC company was predominantly a snow sport protection company, and they have always had safety at the forefront of their research and technology. They have recently morphed over into the biking protection world, and their full faced Cortex DH helmet is their epitome of safety standards. The POC Cortex DH uses an innovative 2 layer shell, a lightweight carbon fiber wrapped around their aramid (aromatic polyamide) reinforced in-mold liner. The liner has a thin shell of polycarbonate covering the multi-impact Super EPP (expanded polypropylene) core. The double overlapping shell design, uses their VDSAP (Ventilated Double Shell Anti Penetration), allowing a fully ventilated construction with maximum comfort without sacrificing penetration resistance or impact energy management. The helmet will eventually be equipped with the patented MIPS system to reduce the rotational forces to the brain in case of an oblique impact.

Wow, that is a head full of techno babble, but when it comes to safety, and especially with my noggin, I am all for it!

The chin bar size and distance have been optimized for protection, without sacrificing breathability. The Cortex DH has a plethora of vents, over the top, the sides, under the visor, and next to the ears. They have something they call “Ear Chambers”, which are designed for increased equilibrium, balance, and ability to hear better on the trails.

Impressions
It was a nice warm day to take the POC Cortex DH full face helmet out for its maiden voyage. The helmet comes in 2 sizes (M-L and L-XL), and my 59.5 cm head fit just perfect in the L/XL size. I am used to wearing a street motorcycle helmet, so it felt pretty normal shoving my head into the helmet. At first the upper edge of the helmet padding seemed slightly hard, and it poked me in the brow, but after wearing it for a few minutes it softened. It was surprisingly comfortable, and I had no pinch spots. It comes with two sets of cheek pads (thick and thin) for fitment, and has a removable liner, which is a nice touch for cleaning purposes.

The only trouble is, how the heck do you spit with it on?

Once you start moving the subtle ventilation ports actually start working just fine, and the helmet stays fairly cool (for a full faced helmet). The adjustable visor offered lots of shade relief for the face, and acted as a great air scoop. I wore sunglasses with the helmet, since I completely forgot about getting a set of goggles for it, and like any full faced helmet some sunglasses might not fit properly. I immediately felt a greater sense of security wearing the helmet, and it even made me creep up the speeds in many sections of my usual rock gardens. I always worry about what could happen if you took a chin dive onto the rocks with a normal helmet? Sure it will do fine for a head first shot (done plenty of those), but what about chin first or anything oblique? I have taken a couple of minor tumbles with it on, and I worked just fine, and I felt a lessened impact in direct comparison to a normal helmet. It is nice to know that it’s a multi-impact helmet, and will not need to be tossed away after most crashes.

Measured Weight: 2.26 lbs / 36.2 oz / 1025 grams

I had to get used to the subtle roar that the wind would create when you got going, which was due to a combination of the vents and the visor, and it sounded like after burners kicking in. I got to speak with someone when I had the helmet on, and I had no issues with a conversation, so the little ear opening/ports do just fine. Sometimes while moving along, the air movement makes some strange noises, and you swear someone is walking and talking on the trail near you, like ghostly voices! I had worn my normal helmet when I rode up the trail, figuring (rightfully so) that I was going to get quite hot with a full faced helmet. If any sort of long uphill slogs are going to occur, then it is highly suggested to strap the big boy on your pack, and stick with a usual helmet until the danger zone begins.

Revvin’ up your engine
Listen to her howlin’ roar
Metal under tension
Beggin’ you to touch and go
Highway to the Danger Zone
Ride into the Danger Zone

Yes, I know it’s Kenny Loggins, but the darn song started to poke around in my head.

With the Cortex on, I did a long rolling traverse out in the sun, and it was fine until I started to pull up some steep terrain and my head built up some heat. Since I wasn’t moving fat enough, the venting system wasn’t coming into play, and I soon had to take the helmet off. Breathing inside the helmet was fine, albeit somewhat slightly constrained due to the tight cheek pads. One nice aspect is the front chin bar vent, which power jams air to straight you.

Helmets 101
The major components of a helmet, are the outer shell, the foam liner (SEPP for the POC Cortex DH), the retention system and the padding. The hard shell helps spread the impact over a larger surface (specifically to the liner), accentuates sliding and prevents object penetration. The foam helps prevent or reduce brain injury by managing the energy of an impact through its own compression or destruction, and it does that by converting a small part of the crash energy to heat. Its main duty is to slow the stopping process so that the head slows down during its inertial of the impact (deceleration). Our heads are soft and malleable, and the brain itself moves around inside a gelatinous ooze (cerebrospinal fluid). A major issue in crashes, is the coup-contrecoup (brain rebound) injuries, which can cause concussions, contusions, DIA’s (diffuse axonal injury) and even epidural hematoma.

Bottomline
All things considered, the POC Cortex DH is an excellent helmet! POC is at the forefront of safety in regard to multiple sports (snow, bike, skateboard) protection, and the Cortex DH helmet is the epitome of their substantial engineering and research prowess. I not only felt safer while riding the steep and gnarly, but I found myself riding with more speed and freedom down the trails. The multi-impact, anti-penetration and impact softening abilities are really nice features in this safety juggernaut. The ventilation works fairly well, but even for a full faced helmet it was slightly warm. The helmet was comfortable, lightweight and the simple buckle closure system was easy to adjust and put on.

I am looking forward to more continued adventures in the Danger Zone using the fine POC Cortex DH!

Strengths
-Light
-Comfortable
-Removable Liner
-Multi-Impact
-Safety engineered!

Weaknesses
-Slightly warm
-Expensive
-Only 2 sizes

Specs
Color: White
Size: M-L (55-57cm), and L-XL (58-60cm)
Weight: 1050 grams
Outer Shell: carbon
Inner shell: PC
Membrane: Aramid
Core: SEPP
Fit: LD Foam
Comfort: SynVal
MSRP: $599

POC Cortext DH url: http://www2.pocsports.com/products/showproduct.asp?category=10-Bike&id=10310

The uvex (pronounced ew-vex) Supersonic rs helmet has been my loyal companion for quite a while now, and I have found it to be lightweight, comfortable, easily adjustable and having excellent ventilation. The German made helmet has a plethora of features, that add not only to its safety, but to the comfort and usability of the wearer.

Features
The Supersonic RS has a lot of nice features, mostly in regard to the fitting and adjustability system. It uses their proprietary IAS ring (Internal Adaptive System), which is a rear mounted dial driven adjustable retention system. The system allows easy circumferential adjustments, and can accommodate a wide range of head sizes, and headgear thicknesses used for inclement weather conditions. Simply twirl the dial, and the system tightens or loosens around the head.

The chin strap, named the Monomatic, is a button and ratchet closure system, which allows easy micro adjustments, and includes a nice wraparound pad for comfort.

There are 23 vents for cooling (yea, I counted them), with the big ones at the front featuring mesh panels to stop bugs from getting sucked into the inner helmet cavity. The straps come through the shell and are secured by toggles on the outside. A neat feature is the ability to swap the toggles for special ones that let you mount uvex LED’s to the helmet – rear-facing red centrally at the back and 2 forward-facing white ones on either side at the front.

The helmet is constructed with the industry standard in-mould microshell, which has a thick inner foam and a thin outer plastic protective shell. The foam is made with the shock-absorbing polystyrene (expandable polystyrene foam or EPS) material. The outer shell is split into two large pieces, and is made from the Makrolon polycarbonate material, which is the same impact-resistant material that Uvex’s eyewear lenses are made from. The shell has been extremely rugged, and has shown no signs of wear nor abuse, which is a testament to the tough Makrolon material.

Polystyrene 101
Polystyrene (Poly(1-phenylethane-1,2-diyl)), abbreviated as PS (recycling symbol “6″), is a polymer made from the aromatic monomer styrene (vinyl benzene ), a liquid hydrocarbon that is commercially manufactured from petroleum by the chemical industry. Polystyrene and its origin can be traced back to 1839 when Eduard Simon, an apothecary (pharmacist), distilled an oily substance from a Turkish sweetgum tree, which he named styrol. About one hundred years passed, and various scientists conducted numerous experiments, before German chemist Hermann Staudinger discovered that heating styrol starts a reaction and produces macromolecules, this substance is now known as polystyrene. BASF began commercial manufacture of polystyrene in 1931, when they were part of the monstrous German conglomerate I.G Farben (BASF, Bayer, Hoechst, Afga, etc.). Post World War II the I.G Farben conglomerate was divided back up into the individual companies, and in 1952 BASF invented expandable polystyrene (EPS), which they called Styropor. An interesting adjunct is that Bayer invented Makrolon (used as the outer shell of the helmet) around the same time period.

Helmet Safety
The safety standards for helmets include a retention system, and an impact test, the latter is done using a hard headform dropped vertically onto a flat and shaped anvil at specific speeds. The US standard is to keep the g forces registered inside the headform below 300 g.

The major components of a helmet, are the outer shell, the foam liner, the retention system and the padding. The hard shell helps spread the impact over a larger surface (specifically to the liner), accentuates sliding and prevents object penetration.  The EPS foam helps prevent or reduce brain injury by managing the energy of an impact through its own compression or destruction, and it does that by converting a small part of the crash energy to heat. Its main duty is to slow the stopping process so that the head slows down during its inertial of the impact (deceleration).

The problem is that our heads are soft and malleable, and the brain itself moves around inside a gelatinous ooze (cerebrospinal fluid), so the testing with a hard headform may not be very appropriate for the human skull? One of the major things a helmet cannot prevent is the occurrence of coup-contrecoup (brain rebound) injuries, which can cause concussions, contusions, DIA’s (diffuse axonal injury) and even epidural hematoma.

I am a strong proponent of wearing a helmet, and it has saved my life and alleviated severe injuries in a couple of nasty bike and kayak incidents. I think more research into new technologies needs to be examined to further along the current helmet model.

Impressions
The first thing you notice when using the helmet is how easy it is to adjust it. A simple twirl of the IAS wheel and you can tighten or loosen the helmet around your head. It was quite easy to adjust the helmet’s tightness, even when wearing thick winter gloves. I found it very beneficial to change the fit on the fly to suit the riding conditions, from mellower to more technical. I regularly ride with a helmet video camera, and when going through rougher terrain it’s nice to be able to crank the helmet tightly for good stabilization and isolation. The padding was adequate, and I especially liked the thick pads at the apex of the helmet. I did find that the padding at the very back by the IAS section was a bit small and thin (the Velcro tab poked me in the neck), so I replaced it with some extra padding from an old helmet to alleviate the issue. I wish helmet manufacturers (not just uvex) would pad their entire wraparound carrier systems, especially where they drop down towards the neck. After a long day of riding it always seems that your neck gets slightly chafed by any of the systems?

I thoroughly enjoyed the Monomatic ratchet and button chin strap system. It was incredibly easy to make small micro adjustments into how hard the helmet is pulled down onto your head. The usual process of moving the straps through the quick release buckle for adjustments is only needed once, and from then on any adjustments that are required (different headgear, hair style, riding conditions) is maintained by the Monomatic system. The 1/2 inch of adjustment of the system was more than adequate for any situation that I encountered. It has a nice wraparound pad that covers the entire ratchet section, so I never had a pinched neck from using the system.

The 23 ventilation holes worked just fine (heck it still got hot, but what helmet doesn’t), and they provided plenty of cooling effect for my noggin. The front bug net worked quite well, and it kept a couple of pesky insects from getting sucked into the helmet and bothering me.

Between the excellent adjustment system, decent padding, lightweight and good ventilation, I found the helmet to be a very comfortable helmet, and it was fine for any of the multiple hour rides that I regularly participate in.

Measured Specs
Weight: grams
Size: x

Bottomline
The uvex Supersonic RS is an excellent, well made and feature filled helmet. The German made helmet has plenty of safety and comfort features, from the usable and functional IAS and Monomatic closure systems, to the ability to attach mini LED’s if desired. I found the helmet comfortable for long rides, and thoroughly enjoyed the easily adjustability for fit, which could even be done on the fly. The Makrolon shell has been amazing durable, showing now signs of wear and tear. The only small issue I had was the rear padding was inadequate.

Strengths
-Monomatic ratchet/button chin strap
-IAS adjusting ring
-Makrolon shell

Weaknesses
-Rear padding needs to be thicker and larger

MSRP $120

uvex Supersonic RS url

Specs:
Made in Germany
Safety standards: European – EN 1078 / TUV GS, US – CPSC
Colors: pearl/red/silver, silver fade, titan fade, silver/black/pearl, pearl/light blue/silver, blue/silver/pearl
2 Sizes: Small/Medium (285g, fits 52-58cm) and Large (300g, fits 58-63cm)