The aero road helmet first spied on Orica-GreenEdge riders during the frigid Milan-San Remo last month has a name – the Scott Vanish Aero.
The design is claimed to have 30 percent less drag than a standard Vanish in a simulated sprint.
The helmet was designed with sports engineers from the University of Adelaide who wind tunnel tested the aerodynamics of the Aero and went through 40 prototype helmets before arriving at the final design. The final design features a smooth outer surface with three air slits lead to larger ventilation channels in the helmet body.
The helmet was tested in three usual positions: head up in the bunch, pushing wind at the front of the peloton and head right down during a sprint. It was in this final test, where the chosen design was said to have 30 per cent less drag than the standard Vanish.
Alexandre Dimitriou, helmet engineer at Scott said said: “The challenge was to perfectly match the ideal aerodynamic shape given by the wind tunnel study with the manufacturing and the cooling requirements, while also keeping an attractive and aggressive design.”
Daryl Impey got his season’s first win in the Aero with a victory in a stage of the Tour of the Basque Country.
Scott are the latest to offer aero helmets, following Giro, Kask and others into the market as manufacturers and pros alike capitalise on every watt saving marginal gain going.
At the Paris-Nice prologue victorious Europcar rider Damien Gaudin attracted controversy for taping over the vents in his TT helmet.
