ROCKRIDER MOUNTAIN BIKE HELMET ST500 £27.99

Two issues back the new Troy Lee A3 helmet was front and centre as our Most Wanted item – with integrated MIPS liner, two kinds of expanded foam padding and magnets indexing the visor position it’s a technical masterpiece, and at £200 a price to be marvelled at too.

This month we have the other side of that coin, a new helmet from sports supermarket Decathlon with all the popular mod cons – dial retention system, dropped coverage at the rear, EPS shell, removable padding, 17 air vents – without the sky high pricetag. We’d call that something of a technical marvel as well.

The ST500 helmet looks pretty good too, the days when budget helmets made you resemble a ripe mushroom are well and truly over, it seems. You also get a good shaped visor that doesn’t sit in your eyeline, and straps that flow perfectly round your ears without touching them. There are eight colours to choose from, and Decathlon has 50 stores across the UK so you can try it on beforehand.

What you don’t get for £28 is a moveable visor – it’s fixed – or a MIPS liner. You don’t get a bag to store it in, multiple padding options, or a magnetic buckle. But for around 15 per cent of the price, who’s counting?

DRESSING DOWN

Riders who like to keep the logos minimal and the tones muted are going to enjoy the Specialized Drirelease Tech Tee. It looks like a relaxed-fit t-shirt, but has the technical nouse and fast-wicking properties of a riding jersey.