Met Rivale Helmet
There’s a plethora of cycling helmets on the market today, and it becomes a minefield to know own which one to buy. It’s even trickier if you ride several bike genres, and have to make a choice between specific styles or a multi-use lid. Italian brand Met know this and have put their pro peloton support and science to good use, bringing the developments to the average rider.
Met also use the superior ‘in mold’ construction for the Rivale, producing a stronger helmet, enabling them to utilise far larger vents, without detracting from safety. In tests, impacts are shown to spread over the whole helmet, reducing the risk of injury to the rider – a definite plus point, and the style of the outer shell is also quite cool. Weighing in at 230 grammes, it’s a lightweight lid and is easily adjustable on the fly with the ‘Safe-T fit system’ which adjusts the cradle all around the head and not just at the back. Along with the lightweight straps, it looks and feels like a quality helmet should.
The aerodynamics of the Rivale helmets have been extensively tested by Met, producing a helmet that they say saves the rider 3 watts of power. In layman’s terms, for us it did fit extremely well, especially at the front and over the top edge of glasses, allowing air to be sucked in through the well positioned vents and keeping the head cool. Through a long hot summer of riding, my head stayed comfortable and my hair didn’t suffer too much of the usual wild ‘helmet hair’ scenario.
Adding to the comfort, the Coolmax anti-allergenic interior pads are washable and soak up moisture extremely well; and on the safety front, there’s also the ability to clip on a rear red light to improve your visibility to other road users. Having seen this light tested by Met in early developments, we really liked this addition, which stops you having to fasten a light elsewhere on the lid.
Overall then, Met have produced a great road cycling helmet, and one that sits nicely within the mid-price range, but with useful elements of quality drawn from their pro team developments. It’s a helmet that will suit the keen enthusiast and the club racer, keeping you safe and stylish on the roads. And, if it’s good enough for Manx speedster Mark Cavendish, it’ll be good enough for you – well done Met, we like it.
