Kask Bambino Pro Aero Helmet Info

Most of us aren’t in the market for a time trial helmet in order to compete in the Tour de France. That doesn’t mean our races aren’t important, though. The Kask Bambino Helmet has been developed not necessarily to be wind tunnel perfect, but rather to offer excellent real world performance over the course of a triathlon or time trial.

The Kask Bambino Helmet has a lobbed-off tail design that sets it apart from some of the more famous TT helmets we’ve seen over the years. But that’s no accident. The shape of the Bambino is not only supposed to make you slippery in the face of a front-force wind, but also offer a much lower drag coefficient when there is a cross wind. And it will make you much more aero once you put your head down and are hammering with your eyes focused only a few meters ahead of you. We’ve all seen enough Tour de France time trials to know that even guys who are bred and trained to race against the clock also spend an awful lot of time with their heads down, just ignoring the pain. If you have a helmet with an elongated tail, that is just acting like a rudder in the wind, causing unnecessary drag.

The Bambino stands apart from many of its competitors by the fact that it has been designed to be comfortable, and in fact accomplishes that goal. Though ventilation and aero seldom go hand-in-hand, the Bambino avoids feeling like you have your head under a salon hair dryer, like the ones your grandma probably uses. It may not be designed to be as well-ventilated as its brother, the Protone, but the Bambino has six unobtrusive slits in the forefront of the helmet that combine with the four exhaust vents at the back to channel enough air around your head to keep you from overheating. That’s how a notoriously persnickety guy like Bradley Wiggins can be willing to wear this helmet over the course of a 50- to 60-kilometer time trial – and win the race, like he did at the World Championships. Comfort comes also in the form of the reasonably flexible ear section that will make it easy to slide your head in, while also enhancing the overall aerodynamics of the piece.

Italian design nearly always adds a little spice of the unexpected and in the case of the Kask Bambino; it is how they decided to affix the visor. Using five magnets, the visor snaps into place without requiring messy Velcro or un-aero hinges. Though you’ll need to buy the visor separately, you’ll certainly want to do that since you’ll only get the full benefit of the aerodynamics when you have snapped your visor in place. Kask has also been thoughtful enough to make visors with various tints, so that you can interchange them according to the weather conditions you’ll be facing.

The chin strap incorporates soft lateral spacers, which thanks to their shape, enable excellent ventilation and avoid that unpleasant sweaty strap feeling. The padding is removable and can be washed once it does start to give off the aroma of hard work. The material itself is made from Coolmax, which means that it will be an amazingly effective fabric to wick away your sweat.

The Kask Bambino Helmet has passed the CPSC helmet standards for the US and weighs in at 350g in size medium. And if you do have the misfortune to crash your Kask Bambino within a year after purchase, Kask America will offer you a 25% discount, according to current prices, on a replacement Kask helmet. All you do is take it, along with your proof of purchase, to an authorized Kask dealer and they’ll get you set up.

The Kask Bambino Helmet will provide you with an unparalleled degree of comfort and an efficiency cutting through the wind no matter from what direction it is blowing.