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benb
04-07-2018, 07:34 PM
I Picked up a Bontrager Ballista yesterday.

I'm coming off a Specialized S-Works prevail. The Prevail is getting pretty beat up in a relatively short period of time and the specialized lettering is flaking off!

Anyway.. I've had Giro, Bell, Limar, Specialized, etc.. in the past.

The Bontragers fit me better than anything else, they're more of an oval shape than most helmets. Not going to work if you need the round shape but if you need an oval shape they're fantastic, and arguably matching the shape is a big part of safety. I tried on the Velocis as well and it fit the same.

I wore it for about 5 hours today and no pressure marks on my forehead which is rare for me. No noise like the Prevail if you forget to put your glasses over the straps. The Prevail is the noisiest helmet by far and away that I've ever tried if you don't get the straps under glasses. I can't tell if the aero helmet stuff does anything but I could feel that it directs air differently around your ears.. hopefully that doesn't mean it's a noisy helmet. Too hard to tell today because it was incredibly windy to the point the wind noise was hurting my ears.

Between the current sale and the loyalty points it was about $100 cheaper than the Prevail. Can't complain about that.

rnhood
04-07-2018, 08:13 PM
I have the Prevail, the Prevail II, and the Ballista. The Prevail II is quieter than the Prevail, but not as quiet as the Ballista. The Prevail II has better ventilation than either. It also has what they call sweat management however, I found this feature to be a stretch. Maybe it's marginally better than the Prevail and Ballista, but that is about all. In hot weather though, the Prevail II is king.

yashcha
04-07-2018, 09:09 PM
I also like the Ballista. The ventilation system works better than my other helmet, the LAS victory supreme. It is also pretty light at 260 grams for the small model.

monkeytusmc
04-08-2018, 07:46 AM
I bought the road circuit with mips and it’s great. Magnetic light clips came with it also but I haven’t used them yet. Huge upgrade off my Schwinn.


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benb
04-08-2018, 07:49 AM
I'm actually confused, when did the Prevail II come out? I'd have to look really carefully to figure out if mine is the original or the II.

In any case I never found that helmet bad in terms of sweat. Hopefully the Bontrager will be OK too.

I have had a few helmets in hot weather that build up sweat without you noticing then it would dramatically run into your eyes on a descent and sting you so badly you could barely see.

PSJoyce
04-08-2018, 08:07 AM
I've got a Ballista and really like it. It's comfortable and very quiet.

I tried a Ballista MPS but didn't like it that much. Noisier and sat higher on my head.

I also like the new Velocis MIPS. Very comfortable, light, and well ventilated. It feels like it was designed for MIPS from the start.

.RJ
04-08-2018, 08:57 AM
The new circuit helmet with the integrated light mounts is really slick. I like mine.