Bollé’s the One Road Premium helmet reviewed

Spring riding is often accompanied by cold temperatures and rain. Wearing Bollé’s unique One Road Premium helmet protected me from both with the added aero advantages during my riding this spring. The helmet’s defining feature are the two removable aero shells that cover 31 vents in cold and wet weather or for increased aerodynamics. The helmet is made to be adaptable for different riding conditions, designed to be the one helmet you need to own.

When the temperature drops the helmet comes with two linings. The winter lining velcroes into the helmet and the straps are secured by loops sewn into it. The lining is an excellent feature, it completely covered my ears and is snug. Unlike tuques or caps, the helmet does not move around with the lining in and is very warm for when it dips below freezing. The stitching on the winter liner I received was a stitch short in a corner but continued to be reliable. With the winter lining and the aero shells installed my head was kept warm and dry in some pretty miserable Canadian spring conditions. The helmet was in fact so effective that I found condensation built up on the inside after a couple of hours of hard riding in below zero temperatures but my head was kept warm and dry. By easily removing the aero shells and installing the summer lining, the helmet is suddenly airy and ready for the summer heat.

The sun may already be setting later with daylight savings but a removable LED light that can easily be installed in the back of the helmet is a clever integrated safety feature. Located at the highest part of a cyclists silhouette, the touch sensitive red light can either be continuous or flashing offering increased visibility if you are out early in the pre-dawn morning or later than you planned and forgot your bike lights.

One nit pick is that turning the light on and off with the helmet on my head was not as easy as I would like, especially when wearing gloves. The light is powered by a coin cell battery offering an advertized 40 hour burn time. Having a rechargeable battery for the light would have been nice but it was reassuring to know that I was prepared if I rode later than I intended, which often happens when you lose track of time or find a cool road to take an unexpected detour on. A plastic cover can easily replace the light if you don’t fancy the minor added weight.

An interesting safety feature that Bollé have introduced is the Safety QR Code which can be activated online and allows anyone with a QR enabled smartphone to identify the wearer of the helmet in the case of a crash. This could provide vital medical and contact information.

There are two exposed front vents when the aero covers are on designed to hold sunglasses. They work as designed with Bollé’s sunglasses, but may not be compatible with all brands. The helmet also comes with a removable visor for on or off road use. Even with the visor installed the glasses garage is still accessible.

Fit is an important factor with helmets, fortunately the One helmet fit me well and was very comfortable. With the click-to-fit system I was able to make minor adjustments to its tightness on the fly and with different linings installed it was effortless to find the right adjustment to make the helmet comfortable. The model I received had a carbon black finish with red aero shells and was quite modern and attractive for an aero helmet. With the covers off the helmet looked more traditional but remained distinctive.

Look for the Bollé the One Premium in your local bike shop, available for $229.