LAZER ULTRAX PLUS

Founded in 1919, Lazer started off making accessories for motorcyclists and in 1948 they introduced their first helmet – made of aluminium. Luckily for us, helmet technology has changed since then and these days Lazer is positioned as one of the biggest and strongest brands in the cycling industry. One of their latest helmet offerings is the Ultrax+ helmet, which is aimed at the trail riding/allmountain end of the market and features their Advanced Turnfit System (ATS), in-mold one piece construction, an adjustable visor, 23 vents, and a claimed weight of 230g. Initial set-up was easy and setting up the chin straps and retention system intuitive. It even comes with stickers inside the helmet to let you know what part of the helmet is the front. I guess they literally have to think of everything. The helmet fits really well. The ATS system has some adjustability in terms of where it sits in relation to your occipital bone (you know, the lump at the back of your head). Making the relevant tweaks adjusts how deep your head fits inside the helmet and how much back-of-yourhead protection you will get. I like a helmet that sits low on the rear of my head and with the ATS I was able to make this adjustment. I did, however, find it difficult to reset this position when I was playing around with it so that was a little painful to work out, but I got it in the end. I tend to loosen my helmet retention systems before putting a helmet on and then tightening for comfort before heading off on my ride. Again, this was easy and on-the-fly adjustments were a breeze with with just one hand - thanks largely to the little steps between each adjustment point. Out on the trail the 23 vents meant a really cool head. At this time of year, Canberra is cold already, so my head was never left wondering what the outside temperature was. I feel the Ultrax+ would be a great helmet in the summer heat and maybe better than some ‘enduro’ helmets with fewer vents. But in theory you can give away some safety with increased vent count (helmet penetration etc) so that’s one thing to consider. Luckily for me, I didn’t have to put the helmet through its true test by way of a big impact - but like every legal helmet in Australia it has passed all the safety standards. My personal preference is for a helmet with MIPS for added protection, so it would be great to see this one with it included in the future. Overall it was a comfortable helmet to wear and easily adjusted out on the trail. It kept my head cool and the fit was good, with no pressure spots or discomfort. My only issue was related to the chin strap which kept coming loose and meant I had to frequently tighten it to keep that snug feeling under my chin. The Ultrax+ is a great helmet and offers good value for the money in the mid-level range.

HITS

- Great fit - Easy adjustment - Lots of vents

MISSES

- Chin strap issues - All mountain bike helmets should have MIPS RRP: $139.95 FROM: lazersport.com