It isn’t essential to get the most costly ski and snowboard helmet with all the perfect options. However you do want one that’s comfy sufficient so that you can get pleasure from whilst you put on. New for the 23/24 season, the Giro Owen Spherical has but to disappoint me in testing on the subject of a helmet that has zero stress factors or snags.
This modern ski and snowboard helmet is not any frills relating to fashion however affords prime options like a easy dial-fit system and a Fidlock buckle. It additionally incorporates MIPS Spherical, which is unique to Giro and Bell. Many ski helmets right now incorporate MIPS, a sunshine-colored plastic liner that slips to assist the helmet rotate and soak up power throughout impression. However MIPS Spherical is a sophisticated iteration that has two layers of dual-density foam that rotate, changing the built-in liner.
Most just lately, MIPS Spherical was up to date in 2020 to be lighter with a decrease quantity total. Though I didn’t crash-test the helmet, I did put on it on a number of days in numerous climate circumstances from snowy, windy midwinter days to spring corn laps. Irrespective of the climate, the Owen stored my head at a snug temperature.
In brief: The Giro Owen Spherical ($240) is a light-weight helmet with elite know-how to maintain your head protected. It does come at a steep worth, however the options make it straightforward to make use of, heat, and cozy packaged right into a minimalist shell.
Take a look at our GearJunkie Ski Helmets purchaser’s information.
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Weight
15.9 ounces -
Safety
MIPS Spherical -
Variety of vents
8 with adjustability -
Options
Fidlock magnetic buckle, dial-fit system, fleece liner -
Measurement vary
S to M - 10 coloration choices
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Extraordinarily light-weight with a primary profile -
Simple-to-use Fidlock magnetic buckle -
Snug all-day put on
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You must take your helmet off to regulate the vents -
Getting the ear pads off was practically not possible
Giro Owen Spherical Helmet Evaluate
Out of the field, I may inform why the Giro Owen Spherical is touted as a minimalist ski helmet. It has a spherical form with none brim. There are minimal vents and nearly all of these ports within the again. And there are not any aesthetic imprints or colours on the austere shell.
I wore this helmet whereas snowboarding inbounds at numerous Colorado ski resorts. I’ve been snowboarding for 20 years and have examined dozens of ski and snowboard helmets over the previous decade. Though I fortunately haven’t crashed with any, I’ve turn out to be fairly explicit about what I desire in a helmet for it to make my go-to listing all through the season.
Superior Safety: MIPS Spherical Built-in Expertise
In a phrase, the helmet seems to be fairly primary. However on the within, it employs the proprietary MIPS Spherical know-how for cover, which permits for the outer foam to rotate across the interior foam throughout a crash or impression. I may visually see this building on the within of the helmet. After I pushed on the spherical layer, the interior liner and match system moved up and down and aspect to aspect together with that layer however independently from the shell — like a ball-and-socket.
MIPS Spherical is an development of MIPS. The spherical design is seamlessly built-in instantly into the helmet’s building, reasonably than added into the inside as an extra slip-liner like with MIPS. The Owen additionally meets the CE EN1077 impression score requirements, a European benchmark for helmets for snowboarding and snowboarding, which is telling.
Match and Really feel: Plush, Light-weight
Past the shielding skeleton, the Giro Owen Spherical is a really light-weight helmet. It weighs simply 15.9 ounces — lighter than many different helmets available on the market — and feels prefer it, too. I obtained no complications, scorching spots, or neck aches even when using bell-to-bell days. Additionally, I by no means felt any discomfort when checking my blind spots on mogul runs or when trails merged. After I did by chance drop the helmet on concrete, there have been no main dents or dings.
On the within, the fleece liner is squishy and affords an opulent really feel when tightening the match system. On some helmets, I’ve had wires or different pokey elements begin to protrude if I needed to dial down and cinch the helmet for a safer match. The liner can also be eliminated simply and washed properly.
Heat, Breathability, and Vents
Total, the heat of this helmet was a wonderful center floor between not too scorching and never too chilly. I wore it on heat, spring-skiing days at Breckinridge Ski Resort when the solar was shining and temps have been properly into the 30s. I additionally pulled this armor on throughout windy, cloudy days at Eldora Mountain Ski Resort with temperatures within the teenagers.
The helmet has two vents within the entrance, which align with vents on the Giro goggles. There are six vents on the bottom: two on the base of the top and 4 on the prime again. The 4 close to the highest are adjustable.
As a result of the vents are minimal and solely half are adjustable, I discovered the air flow system to be good however solely partially crucial. The 2 entrance vents don’t shut, which is what I would like when the wind blows into my face. The again vents have been breathable on the new, sunny days however may additionally shut if my head was getting too chilly on the lower-temp days.
My principal gripe with the venting system is opening or closing the vents. The slider is inside the highest of the helmet with no exterior toggle. In order that’s nice if I’m scorching and wish to take away my helmet and open the vents. However on the windy, blizzardy days? Taking my helmet off for even just a few seconds to shut the vents was not ideally suited.
Options: Goggle Compatibility, Buckle
When contemplating goggle compatibility, I wore the helmet with 4 completely different fashions: Smith Squad Magazine goggles, Giro Article II goggles, Zeal Cloudfall goggles, and Anon M4S. The Giro and Zeal ski goggles match greatest with no gaper hole. The Smith goggles have a tough connector clip at the back of the goggle strap, making it laborious to suit into the laborious goggle clip on the helmet.
I at all times respect a Fidlock magnetic buckle, as I can get the helmet on and off with no need to take off my winter mittens. When testing this buckle and the match dial, I wore the ladies’s Burton GORE-TEX Mittens and the ladies’s Baist Mitt. I may rapidly and simply safe or launch the chin clip. I may additionally easily use the match system’s dial with only one thumb reasonably than my thumb and forefinger.
The goggle retainer is a reasonably inflexible clip that secures on the backside with a gap on the prime. To check if goggles would fall off utterly, I put a pair on and shook them. This clip fared higher than clips that open on the backside (with these, goggles often fall off throughout the first shake), however not in addition to goggle retainers with a snap or bungee the place goggles can’t fly off. For the Owen, the goggles fell off after just a few laborious shakes.
Critiques
Whereas the model claims the ear pads are detachable, we may solely take away the gentle, interior plush half through hook-and-loop closures. Getting the outer half off, which was a extra inflexible materials, was not possible. We couldn’t discover directions, reached out to the producer for 3 weeks, and subsequently broke a set attempting to take away them.
At this level, we decided the ear pads are mounted. It’s not a giant deal, particularly for riders in chilly locations, however you must plan forward. And we hope that Giro updates its advertising supplies to mirror this element.
Additionally, the adjustable vents weren’t well worth the problem since they will solely be opened and closed contained in the helmet after eradicating the helmet altogether. I usually use vents once I’m too chilly, however I wouldn’t wish to take my helmet fully off in freezing, blizzardy climate, even when meaning having a colder head. Plus, of the eight vents, solely the 4 within the again are adjustable with an open-and-close choice.
Giro Owen Spherical Helmet: Conclusion
The Giro Owen Spherical is a stable selection if you’d like a streamlined, clear helmet with premium security and a number of other options that make it straightforward to make use of and cozy for all-day put on — particularly for those who’re not using in notably stormy climate that may entice you to shut the adjustable vents. The design makes use of MIPS Spherical for cover, and that absolutely built-in model of MIPS is constructed into the helmet.
This helmet’s design is extraordinarily polished and minimal, which is matched with a low weight of simply 15.9 ounces. A part of this refinement is that there aren’t any additional visible particulars or sliders on prime that change the vents. As an alternative, the vent slider is contained in the helmet.
Though this does make the helmet look a bit extra refined, that additionally means you must take off the helmet to regulate the vents. When you change up your vents usually, the interior slider — that’s used to open and shut the 4 again vents — will possible not be your ideally suited system.
All the opposite elements have been easy to make use of just like the Fidlock magnetic buckle, match dial, and goggle retainer. When you’re searching for a modern, no-frills helmet that makes use of prime safety and affords an opulent, zero-pain-point inside liner, go for the Giro Owen Spherical.