As I mentioned last week, I crashed my bike, hit my head, and now I need a new helmet. Fortunately Giro has a crash replacement program. Unfortunately, the discount you get (30%), doesn’t really reflect the reality of street pricing – most of the time anyway.

This is actually the second Giro Aether MIPS helmet I’ve owned. The first one took a proper hit when I broke my Aeroad, this one has external damage, but nothing visible on the inside. Obviously, still getting replaced because one you use a helmet it goes away. The problem is that even with a 30% discount, the price ($350*.7=$245) is still higher than I paid either time I bought the Aether. Unfortunately, it’s also the best price I can find right now.

Which is exactly why I’m looking at other helmets. Current forerunners are the Bontrager Ballista and Specialized Evade MIPS with ANGI. The Bontrager is a steal for it’s safety rating and claimed aero-ness, but the Evade is currently pipping it because of ANGI (seems like a neat thing to play with), better venting with aero-ness, and I can get one in a color that isn’t black (would probably go for the white one).