How do you make one thing Gravel Particular? Nicely, it’s acquired to be olive inexperienced, and it is acquired to have pockets. The design group at POC has clearly taken these two guidelines and, quite madly, utilized them to the Omne helmet, one of many extra aero choices from the manufacturers helmet vary.
Do you want a gravel-specific helmet when so most of the finest highway bike helmets will even work completely properly? POC thinks so. We’re not so positive, however that’s not going to cease us from testing it to search out out.
Gravel particular helmets?
The POC Omne does appear to be the testbed for the model to check out some barely extra uncommon concepts. The usual Omne is a really succesful helmet, however then we’ve acquired the solar-powered Omne Everlasting, an Omne Air Rapha collaboration, an Omne Lite, and right here we’ve the Omne Extremely, which is filled with adventure-ready options.
POC states this helmet “embodies the spirit of gravel”. If the spirit of gravel is, as I believe, strapping issues to different issues in more and more aesthetic methods then POC has very a lot acquired my backing on this declare. The usual Omne chassis has been upgraded with a Velcro patch on one facet, so that riders could connect an simply seen ID patch to 1 facet, and on the opposite is a small bungee cargo holster. There’s additionally a rear strap operating vertically that has a buckle, with a purpose to strap… different issues to? I imagine this can be with a purpose to safe a rain cowl however it’s exhausting to inform from the photographs and it isn’t particularly acknowledged anyplace.
The ultimate little bit of gravel-specific tech is a Recco reflector, extra generally seen on higher-end snowsports jackets in order that, within the occasion that you simply develop into entombed in a badly timed avalanche, mountain rescue can extra simply find your (hopefully nonetheless alive) physique. Whether or not this poses any use in day-to-day purposes it’s exhausting to say, however ought to any of us try to cross a glacier as described within the Tough Stuff Biking within the Alps guidebook it might properly be the distinction between life and demise. Maybe much less so to your native membership run.
A extra helpful characteristic day after day than the Recco reflector is the inclusion of MIPS, as per the opposite helmets within the Omne vary, and most of POC’s higher-end helmets throughout the board.
Has cargo gone too far?
I’m, to a sure extent, being facetious right here. There are a selection of completely legitimate issues that you could possibly properly need to strap to your head. Not like the finest cargo bib shorts nonetheless, which often boast sufficient capability for fairly a sizeable assortment of gravel-specific equipment, bandanas, bananas, sweets and tubeless patch kits, the cargo cage on the Omne Extremely isn’t vastly voluminous.
A glowstick within the occasion of a rescue is likely to be one good use, or maybe a torch bought from an area ironmongery store when your dynamo entrance mild provides up close to the top of your 10,000km race. You would strap a banana and neglect about it till you really want some energy, or a neatly folded emergency blanket must you be caught out by an aforementioned avalanche in your approach to the café cease. Should you’re feeling actually security acutely aware you could possibly even strap a spare helmet to your helmet, in order that in case your important helmet perishes in a tumble you don’t need to sacrifice cranial safety. For this, maybe the light-weight Omne Lite is likely to be the optimum alternative.
Additional testing will reveal whether or not I can discover a legitimate use for the gravel options (no, I’m not taking it throughout a glacier!). Progress and product growth wouldn’t be doable with out innovation, in no matter type it comes, and merchandise like this, whereas low-hanging fruit for some mild teasing, do pose legitimate questions on product specificity within the spherical. Do we want gravel-specific issues usually? Or, maybe extra pertinently, is the rising recognition of extremely races, particularly for amateurs, going to offer us a slew of ultra-specific merchandise?
