As a big fan of folding contraptions, I think it would be hard to beat certain products for brilliance in execution, design, function and popularity: The Brompton, the Leatherman, the Swiss Army knife, the Bike Friday, and the list goes on.
But sometimes a product will come along that will leave you scratching your head, (in this case out of physical discomfort), and thinking: it doesn’t yet belong on the list.
CEN EN 1078 certified, and consisting of three longitudinal sections, two of which pivot inward underneath the middle section, the Stash only manages to reduce in width from 22cm down to 16 cm, (about a 5.5 to 4 folding ratio), while the overall length remains unchanged; it still manages to be bulky, and even loses some of the storage space inside the helmet where you might have stuffed an extra jacket or a couple of inner tubes and a banana.
Worse, the bulk and girth only increase when it’s opened, and when perched atop the unfortunate wearers’ head using the poorly placed straps and primitive retention system, the result is truly terrifying to onlookers, and uncomfortable to wearers. Since the original Bell expanded polystyrene hardshell cycling helmet over thirty years ago, helmets have evolved beyond all recognition into beautiful, effective accessories that most of us actually want to wear. I’m afraid it ought to be back to the drawing board for Stash, instead of back to 1976 for the rest of us.
It’s available in sizes S/M, M/L and L/XL and weighs 361g for the L/XL.