Fizik, the saddle specialists who turned its hand to a successful shoe range, has now branched out into helmets.
Today’s launch sees four models: the Kudo, Kudo Aero, Kassis, and Kunée. Both the Kudo and Kudo Aero are aimed at road, gravel, and XC riding. The Kassis is aimed at off-road trail riders, and the Kunée is a specialist aero helmet for TT and Triathlon.
The helmets, however, don’t come cheap, starting at £189.99 / $199.99 for the trail-focused Kassis, with the road going Kudo and Kudo Aero at £269.99 / $289.99. The TT-specific Kunée tops the price list at £359.99 / $379.99.
That puts Fiziks new helmets at the premium end of the market along with the likes of Kask’s Elemento WG11 (£335), Trek’s Velocis (£230), and Lazer’s Kineticore Z1 (£230) for the road, and Fox’s Crossframe Pro (£190) and Giro’s Merit Spherical (£190) on the mountain bike side.
Air flow
Fizik says that all of the helmet designs were guided by CFD (computational fluid dynamics).
The aim is to streamline airflow and minimize wind resistance – not only for aerodynamics, but also to channel air through the helmet vents for comfort and cooling.
Fizik claims the shape of the vents and internal channelling is designed to induce the venturi effect, where airflow velocity increases on entry and is pushed out at the rear, helping to keep a constant flow of a cool draft.
Advanced fit
Whilst Fiziks' retention system looks very much like any other premium helmet, it has introduced design tweaks enabling the fit to be adjusted over a wider range with more fine-tuning than competing designs.
The rear cradle has 5 anchor points, offering 5cm of vertical adjustment. Adjusting this also adjusts the tilt of the helmet.
The micro dial rear adjuster works in unison with internal retention anchors at the temples.
These offer three-position adjustment, which alters the shape of the retention system from a round shape in its shortest position to a more oval shape in its longest position.
It should mean that Fizik’s design and fit system will suit more head shapes than most.
The helmet range is available in a broad size range from 52cm up to 61cm
Safety
The road/gravel Kudo and Kudo Aero, along with the trail-focused Kassis, feature MIPS Air Node. The latest multi-impact-protection system, with its anti-rotational design integrated into the pad system and how it anchors into the helmet, is much less intrusive than previous generation designs, and doesn't hinder airflow.
For added safety, the Kudo, Kudo Aero, and Kassis all come with a clip-in rear light with a 35-lumen output and 90-minute run time on solid, or 180 minutes in flash mode. The light is available separately for £29.99 / $29.99 / €29.
All helmets are compliant with CE EN 1078:2012 or CPSC 1203 safety standards, depending on country, and rated 5 stars in the Virginia Tech Helmet Ratings.
Fizik helmet range overview
Kudo
The Kudo is Fiziks' lightest and coolest design. Fizik claims the rounded low-volume design makes for a helmet that reduces wind resistance whilst providing optimal thermoregulation thanks to the venturi effect created by the brow vents, internal channels, and large exhaust port.
The side vents are designed to also hold sunglasses securely.
Fizik produces different helmets to meet the different global sagety standards. This results in the US (CPSC) helmets weighing slightly more than the European (CE) versions:
- S: 52-56 (CE 270g/CPSC 310g)
- M: 56-59 (CE 280g/CPSC 320g)
- L: 59-61 (CE 310g/CPSC 360g)
The Kudo comes with a soft bag and rear light as standard and in white, black, and bronze.
- Price: £269.99 / $289.99 / €290
Kudo Aero
The Kudo Aero looks rather like the Kudo with the vents filled in.
Fizik, however, claims the Kudo Aero’s shape is very aerodynamically efficient with the addition of the clear rear breakaway spoiler working in conjunction with the Venturi effect of the brow vents and large exhaust port to increase airflow for comfort whilst reducing drag.
- S: 52-56 (CE 270g/CPSC 300g)
- M: 56-59 (CE 290g/CPSC 320g)
- L: 59-61 (CE 320g/CPSC 360g)
The Aero comes with a soft bag and rear light as standard and in white, black, and silver.
- Price: £269.99 / $289.99 / €290
Kassis
The Kassis follows the same compact rounded design as the road-going helmets but with extended coverage at the temples and the rear.
It comes with a fully adjustable peak with the twin large rear side vents doubling up as sunglass holders.
The Kassis is available in white, dark navy, and mud-sand colours, and is compliant with CE EN 1078:2012 and NTA 8776 or CPSC 1203 safety standards.
- S: 52-56 (CE 330g/CPSC 380g)
- M: 56-59 (CE 360g/CPSC 420g)
- L: 59-61 (CE 400g/CPSC 460g)
- Price: £189.99 / $199.99 / €200
Kunée
The TT/Triathlon Kunée was designed with a smooth frontal surface and teardrop shape, with a magnetic, wide, seamless visor.
The visor has brow vents that mesh seamlessly with the 3 vents on the helmet.
Using the same Venturi design as the road helmets, Fizik claims the Kunée’s cooling airflow is amongst the best of any TT design, though they haven’t released any performance data yet
On the teardrop's rear flanks, Fizik has used a corrugated set of side panels designed to keep the disruptive air close for a much smoother transition around the riders’ shoulders.
Fizik says this corrugation has enabled it to keep the size and volume of the Kunée smaller whilst having similar aerodynamic performance to wider helmets designed to shelter the riders’ shoulders.
This more compact and lighter shape makes for a more comfortable helmet.
The helmet was designed in collaboration with athletes, with wind tunnel and real-world testing as part of its development.
It complies with CE EN 1078:2012 and CPSC 1203 safety standards.
The Kunée comes in 2 sizes: S/M and M/L, and in white only
It comes with both a clear and mirrored visor, plus a travel case.
- S/M: 54-58 (400g)
- M/L: 58-61 (450g)
- Price: £359.99 / $379.99 / €380
