Lazer Strada KinetiCore helmet review

Lazer’s Strada KinetiCore is one of its most cost-effective road cycling helmets.

Taking the template of the flagship Vento KinetiCore aero road helmet, the Strada retains a similar overall shape with an increased number of ventilation holes.

Despite costing only £89.99 / $109.99 / €119.95, it retains the KinetiCore construction – Lazer’s answer to MIPS – and the brand’s high-end ScrollSys retention system.

Overall, Lazer’s Strada KinetiCore helmet is well ventilated, good looking and feels well made. It also has an impressive safety rating, considering its price.

However, the fit was tighter than expected and Lazer’s ScrollSys retention system isn’t the easiest to adjust.

Lazer Strada KinetiCore helmet specification and details

The Strada KinetiCore is a mid-range model in Lazer’s range of road bike helmets, sitting below its high-end options such as the Vento KinetiCore (£259.99 / $299.99 / €269.99) and Z1 KinetiCore (£229.99 / $249.99 / €249.99).

Despite this, it features many technologies from those high-end helmets, including the ScrollSys retention system and the KinetiCore construction.

Lazer describes ScrollSys as its “most technically advanced retention system”, featuring a continuous track belt, located on the upper-rear of the helmet shell, in place of a standard rotary dial.

KinetiCore is Lazer’s proprietary rotational impact protection system. Instead of incorporating a low-friction liner into the shell or padding, as is typically done with MIPS, KinetiCore profiles the helmet’s EPS foam core to create 'crumple zones'.

In the event of an impact, these are claimed to absorb energy that would otherwise be transferred to the rider’s head (and therefore brain).

While we’re not able to test the efficacy of KinetiCore, it’s notable that the Strada KinetiCore has received a five-star rating (out of five) from Virginia Tech’s helmet testing lab.

Likewise, because KinetiCore involves removing material from a helmet, Lazer claims it offers additional advantages compared to helmets with low-friction liners or other advanced safety technologies.

These include improved ventilation, reduced weight and lower environmental impact (because less plastic is used per helmet).

Beyond this, the Strada KinetiCore features a polycarbonate shell that wraps underneath the lower edge of the helmet for added protection from bumps and scrapes.

There are 23 vents in total, although the overall shape appears almost identical to that of the Vento KinetiCore aero road helmet – a helmet that performed well compared to a ventilated helmet in our best-value aero upgrades wind tunnel test.

For improved protection from wet weather, Lazer also sells the Strada Aeroshell separately, for £19.99. As its name suggests, Lazer says the Aeroshell improves the aerodynamic efficiency of the Strada too – although it doesn’t offer any figures to back this up.

On our scales, a size-medium Lazer Strada KinetiCore weighs 287g, 3g less than the claimed weight of 290g.

For context, Van Rysel’s FCR helmet (£89.99 / €100) weighs an almost identical 293g in a size medium, although this has a more aero-focused design with fewer ventilation holes.

Looking at more vented designs, it’s fair to say there are lighter road helmets available for similar money.

Rudy Project’s Skudo (£82.99 / $169.99 / €119.90) weighs 260g in a size small/medium, for example, while Scott’s ARX Plus (£100 / $120 / €130) weighs 269g in the same size.

Nevertheless, 20 to 30g of additional weight isn’t necessarily something you’ll notice while riding.

There are four sizes available – small (52-56cm), medium (55-59cm), large (58-61cm) and extra-large (61-64cm).

The Lazer Strada KinetiCore is available in seven colour schemes.

Lazer Strada KinetiCore helmet performance

In use, Lazer’s Strada KinetiCore helmet acquits itself well.

It feels well made, as you would hope of any helmet, but belies its £89.99 / $109.99 / €119.95 price.

Likewise, while they don’t compromise on safety, cheaper bike helmets often don’t look as slick as higher-end ones – that’s not the case here.

Impressively, the Strada KinetiCore simply looks like a more ventilated version of Lazer’s flagship aero helmet, the Vento KinetiCore, despite costing less than half as much.

In general, comfort was excellent. The padding is relatively thin, but I didn’t experience any pressure points or hot spots.

Ventilation was very good too – the large holes enable lots of airflow through the helmet, and the intricate internal channelling means there’s plenty of room for air to circulate.

It also has dedicated ports for storing cycling sunglasses, which is great to see at this price.

The fit of my size-medium (55-59cm) test helmet was quite a bit tighter than expected, however.

The main body of the Strada KinetiCore itself is similarly sized to other size-medium Lazer helmets I’ve tried, such as the Genesis.

The issue appears to be a lack of available slack in the retention system, especially in its lower height settings, rather than a lack of room within the helmet shell itself.

The Genesis, which uses a slightly different retention system, feels much roomier in contrast, for example.

It fits my 57.5cm-circumference head, but there’s little room left to wear a thicker winter hat underneath it, which is a potential issue for anyone who feels the cold like I do.

This also made it difficult to wear the Strada KinetiCore with a high ponytail or bun, because it was difficult to get enough slack to squeeze my hair into the hole in the centre of the retention system.

Moving the retention system up and out of the way of my ponytail was a work-around, but then it didn’t cup the back of my head as securely.

To sense check my experience, my colleague, Ashley Quinlan – who has short hair and a 57cm head circumference – tried the same size-medium Strada KinetiCore and didn’t feel the relative tightness was as much of an issue.

Given the availability of two larger sizes (large, 58-61cm, and extra-large, 61-64cm), I may have been able to size up and solve these issues – provided I was happy with how the larger helmet looks and didn’t mind a few extra grams, of course.

I also found the continuous track belt – which adjusts the tension of the retention system – trickier to use than the rotary dials featured on most helmets.

Because it increases tension from above, it does a good job of removing a potential pressure point.

However, I found its textured surface difficult to grip and there’s quite a lot of friction in the system. This means it requires an unexpected amount of force to operate and feels relatively clunky.

This issue is only compounded when trying to operate it with sweaty fingers or with winter cycling gloves on.

Lazer Strada KinetiCore helmet bottom line

Given the number of words dedicated to the Strada KinetiCore’s two faults, you might be forgiven for thinking I didn’t like it much.

It is a helmet with many positive traits, though, and one that looks and feels smarts and well made – especially for its relatively low price.

As noted, the sizing issue can likely be resolved by going up a size. The bigger helmet is likely to look a little more bulbous on your head, but that arguably doesn’t affect performance.

Whatever size you opt for, though, the retention system annoyances are unavoidable.

Lazer’s ScrollSys does the job, but using it is more fiddly and less satisfying than with comparable systems from its competitors. It’s also awkward to use with long hair.