Bontrager Blaze WaveCel helmet

Bontrager released the Blaze WaveCel helmet half way through the season last year and it has a new take on the rotational injury protection.

The most noticeable difference from other helmets is the Wavecel inner protection. Much like the name says, Wavecel looks like a long, never ending set of waves extending out into the ocean. The design of Wavecel has been optimized to maximize collapsing under stress (crash) to help prevent an injury.

Wavecel works in three steps: first by being able to flex slightly to absorb/dissipate energy, secondly it is designed to crumple and protect, and finally after compression the waves can glide over one another.
All three of these steps help out in preventing rotational head injuries, where the movement of your head is out of sync with the rest of your upper body.

The Bontrager Blaze Wavecel helmet has extensive venting, with 14 ports designed into the helmet, all of those vents made it one of the coolest helmets that I have worn in recent memory.

Fit comes from a BOA adjustable head cradle, which works quite well, but I found that I could pop out the framework lower snaps if I adjusted the position on my head. If those snaps were made to be slightly larger i'm sure it would stay in place better.   I also found that the Blaze sits rotated forward on my head.  Almost like it is attracted to my eyebrows, and wants to sit uncomfortably close to them.    I would say that my head size runs closer to the larger end of the spectrum, but within averages.

The liner is one piece and is comfortable, easy to take in and out for washing, much nicer than other companies multi piece versions,  The kind where you never know if you are going to see them come out of the washing machine.

Website: www.trekbikes.com/ca/en_CA/

Price: $399 usd