The helmet is perhaps the most important safety equipment you can have as a cyclist. Hence, having a safe, secure, and solid helmet will protect the brain and minimize the chances of serious injuries during a fall.
There are a lot of brands in the market today; some have been in business for decades, while some are up and coming. When choosing bike helmets, it’s important to go after reputable helmet brands. In short, they should have the experience and expertise to know what they’re doing.
Here are some of the leading bike helmet brands in the market today.
Abus
Better known for their Abus offers bicycle locks, German brand Abus also makes some very fashionable bike helmets across all types of cycling disciplines. Their presence in road cycling gained a lot of visibility in recent years after their partnership with Movistar Team.
Popular Abus helmet models :
- Road : Abus Airbreaker
- Offroad : Abus Moventor
- Urban : Abus Urban-I 3.0
- Kids : Abus Smiley 2.1
More info : Abus
Bell
Started in California, Bell is a long-time brand in the helmet industry with a history dating back to the 1950s. It’s renowned for making high-quality motorcycle helmets and, in recent years, has expanded into bicycle helmets. Cadel Evans wore a Bell helmet en route to his 2011 Tour de France win.
Popular Bell helmet models :
- Road : Bell Z20 Ghost MIPS
- Offroad : Bell Full-9
More info : Bell
Bern
Bern is a privately held company that started in 2005 and is currently based in Plymouth, Massachusetts. They are known for making stylish helmets for various sports like cycling, skateboarding, snow, and watersports. At the time of writing, they have 14 helmets under the cycling lineup to choose from and have male and female-specific models.
Popular Bern helmet models :
- Urban : Bern Hudson
- Kids : Bern Youth
More info : Bern
Bontrager
Bontrager is the sister brand to Trek. While Trek is the bike brand, Bontrager is the accessories and apparel brand. Bontrager helmets have exclusive use of the WaveCel technology that helps to protect the head from angled and rotational forces during crashes.
Popular Bontrager helmet models :
- Road : Bontrager Starvos WaveCel
- Offoad : Bontrager Rally WaveCel
- Urban : Bontrager Charge WaveCel
- Kids : Bontrager Jet WaveCel
More info : Bontrager
Ekoi Racing
20 years after its inception in 2001, French-based Ekoi is one of the leading brands among the pro riders in the Tour de France. Ekoi helmets are worn by no less than three teams in 2021. Their focus is road racing and triathlons. With a direct-to-consumer business model, they can sell their helmets at 30 to 40% cheaper than their competitors.
Popular Ekoi helmet models :
- Road : Ekoi Legende
More info : Ekoi Racing
Giro
No stranger to bicycle helmets, Giro is one of the leading brands in the market today. They have a wide range of cycling gear, from helmets to shoes, gloves, and jerseys. But among all these, their most popular products are their wide selection of MIPS-equipped helmets.
Popular Giro helmet models :
- Road : Giro Aether Spherical
- Offroad : Giro Manifest Spherical
- Urban : Giro Quarter
- Kids : Giro Tremor MIPS
More info : Giro
HJC Sports
Established in 1971 and better known for their Moto GP helmets, HJC Sports is a new entry into cycling. They rose to the highest levels of professional cycling when they partner with Israel Start-Up Nation, the team of 4x Tour de France winner Chris Froome. Their primary focus is on road racing and triathlon helmets.
Popular HJC helmet models :
- Road : HJC Ibex 2.0
- Triathlon : AJC Adwatt 1.5
More info : HJC Sports
Kask
Italian brand Kask is perhaps most well-known for its partnership with Ineos-Grenadiers who won 12 Grand Tours since its inception in 2010. While they’re well-known for their stylish and very popular helmets, such as the Kask Protone in cycling, Kask also makes helmets for snow and equestrian sports.
Popular Kask helmet models :
- Road : Kask Protone
- Triathlon : Kask Bambino
More info : Kask
Lazer
Lazer is a bike helmet specialist with a history dating back to 1919. It was started by Henri van Lerberghe who won the 1919 Tour of Flanders. Today Lazer makes helmets for all cycling disciplines, and they have been a mainstay in professional cycling for decades.
In 2022, Alpecin-Fenix and Team Jumbo Visma will wear Lazer helmets at the Tour de France.
Popular Lazer helmet models :
- Road : Lazer Z1 MIPS
- Offroad : Lazer Chiru MIPS
- Urban : Lazer Urbanize MIPS
- Kids : Lazer Gekko MIPS
More info : Lazer
Limar
Limar is based out of the beautiful Italian city of Bergamo. They pride themselves on making the most of technologies to design aerodynamic and innovative helmets such as Air King and Air Pro+ that the Astana Premier Tech riders will wear at the Tour de France.
Besides road cycling helmets, Limar also has gravel, mountain, and dirt biking helmets in their lineup.
Popular Limar helmet models :
- Road : Limar Air Pro+
- Offroad : Limar Air Pro
- Urban : Limar 360º
- Kids : Limar Kid Pro
More info : Limar
MET
Although MET has been around for a while, it rose to prominence in 2020 when Tadej Pogacar won the Tour de France wearing their Trenta 3K Carbon helmet.
Based in the Valtellina Valley in the Italian Alps, MET is just 100km away from the mystical Stelvio pass. They have a wide range of helmets for road, off-road, downhill, and urban cycling.
Popular MET helmet models :
- Road : MET Trenta 3K Carbon
- Offroad : MET Parachute MCR
- Urban : MET Grancorso
- Kids : MET Eldar
More info : MET
Nutcase
Nutcase was founded in 2000 by a former Nike Creative Director, Michael Morrow, from his garage. Nutcase’s focus is on family, and this is obvious through their helmet lineup. There are multiple designs to choose from helmets for parents, kids, toddlers, and even babies.
Popular Nutcase helmet models :
- Adult : Nutcase Onyx
- Youth : Nutcase Little Nutty
- Baby : Nutcase Baby Nutty
More info : Nutcase
Oakley
Perhaps better known for their performance cycling sunglasses, Oakley released their first road cycling helmets, the Aro range, in 2017. There are now four models in the Aro range, the Aro 3 Lite, Aro 3, Aro 5, and Aro 7 for time trials.
Popular Oakley helmet models :
- Road : Oakley Aro 3
More info : Oakley
POC
Swedish-based POC is known for designing good-looking helmets and sunglasses. Their product lineup covers road and offroad cycling and snowsports. They are also the inventor of the SPIN (Shearing Pads INside), a technology that protects against rotational forces similar to MIPS.
Popular POC helmet models :
- Road : POC Ventral Air SPIN
- Offroad : POC Tectal
- Urban : POC Omne SPIN
More info : POC
Rudy Project
Better known for its wide range of performance eyewear for outdoors, Rudy Project has quite a strong bike helmet lineup which is seldom being talked about.
Popular Rudy Project helmet models :
- Road : Rudy Project Spectrum
More info : Rudy Project
Salice
Salice is a century-old, family-owned Italian brand based at the shores of Lake Como. Their lineup is mainly road bike helmets across a wide range of price points, catering to cyclists with all budgets. The helmets still retain the Italian flair; stylish and yet functional.
Popular Salice helmet models :
- Road : Salice Stelvio
- Urban : Salice Vento Urban
More info : Salice
Scott
Unbeknown to many, Scott Sports also has bike helmets in their product offerings in recent years. Perhaps more well-known for its road and mountain bikes, Scott like many other brands have moved to expand its offerings from apparel to accessories and even tools.
Up until 2020, Team BikeExchange has been riding on Scott bikes and also wearing Scott helmets in the World Tour.
Popular Scott helmet models :
- Road : Scott Cadence
- Offroad : Scott Fugaa
- Urban : Scott Vivo
- Kids : Scott Spunto
More info : Scott
Smith Optics
Smith Optics is an American outdoor brand started in 1965 by Dr. Bob Smith who was an orthodontist and ski bum. Their product offerings started with skiing gear and gradually expanded into multiple outdoor sports such as cycling and watersports today. Smith Optics now has sunglasses, helmets, and apparel for cycling.
Popular Smith Optics helmet models :
- Road : Smith Persist
- Offroad : Smith Forefront 2
- Urban : Smith Express
More info : Smith Optics
Specialized
Specialized is one of the leading brands in the cycling industry. Their product range is among the most complete with everything from bikes to accessories, apparel, components, and tools. Their helmets come with the ANGi crash sensor that automatically contacts your emergency contact with your last known location.
Popular Specialized helmet models :
- Road : S-Works Prevail 2
- Offroad : S-Works Ambush
- Urban : Specialized Align 2
- Kids : Specialized Shuffle
More info : Specialized
Suomy
Soumy started in Italy back in 1997 by Umberto Monti and the help of his two brothers Valter and Maurizio. Its first helmet is not for cycling but for motocross, followed by fencing in 2000 and MotoGP. It wasn’t until 2014 that Soumy entered cycling and today has an extensive lineup of helmets for road cycling.
Popular Soumy helmet models :
- Road : Soumy Glider 2
- Offroad : Soumy Free
- Urban : Soumy E-Cube
More info : Suomy