Bell’s Super 2R helmet isn’t exactly new. Spoke’s editor Brett has been using one over the past year and gave us an in-depth introduction to it here. So I wont bore you with all the details again.
The 2016 models have just landed in NZ and should be in stores right now. Apart from a much improved colour line-up (the racing stripes are gone!) there hasn’t really been any real changes. Well actually that’s a lie. There has been one and it’s kind of a biggie. The Bell Super 2R, much like Giro’s new Montaro, now only comes in a MIPS option. It just goes to show how much the folk at Bell Sports really believe in the MIPS slip plane technology. I’ve said it before, I won’t wear a helmet without it.
There is one other welcome change, and that is the addition of the Joy Ride women’s colour range (that would be the one we are showing you right now). Now I know some women out there like to rock the same unisex styled helmets as everyone else but there are a bunch of riders out there who don’t mind the “Pink It and Shrink It” attitude that some companies apply to women’s cycling gear.
With this helmet Bell have done an amazing job of treading the fine line between the two camps with this Joy Ride colour, the have pulled off something tasteful yet feminine. The two females in my household both like it (well one absolutely adores it) and they had to have a game of pea-knuckle to decide who would get it. It’s not the biggest sample of women I know, and a game involving just thumbs isn’t real science, but I figure if I like it, and my wife and daughter both do, then Bell are clearly on to a winner.
Now even though this helmet has been out a while I still hear people questioning its strength. Bell aren’t allowed to tell you this, and if I told you how I knew I’d have to kill you, but you can rest assured the helmet and its removable wraparound chin protection are tough. The chin bar itself is as strong as what you would find on a DH helmet, in fact the only reason the helmet would actually fail a DH helmet test (if it were fully tested) is the that it has open vents on the top and that is an instant fail for the DH standards. But for an all day, all mountain lid you just can’t beat its versatile nature and the extra level of protection it offers .
The Super 2R with MIPS will run you NZ$419 and is in stores now. Its also available in the following two colours pictured as well as Matt Kryptonite, Red/Black and White/Blue.
