Well, here it goes! Great ‘Aero’ Head. No it isn’t about the high altitude club that we often hear of but never meet anyone who has really joined. It is however, about the highly present and often misunderstood aero helmet. The title of this article may offend and if my editors deem it inappropriate, they can change it. I personally find it very critical to this discussion though as Great ‘Aero’ Head is very important and without it nobody who owns an aero helmet is taking full advantage of the wonderfully pointy dome of speed.

“Helmet discipline” is another way I could refer to Great ‘Aero’ Head, it sounds a bit too dictator like, so I don’t say it often, but it refers to the often difficult task of keeping our heads still, low, and straight when riding with our aero helmets. It is something that even the best in the world struggle with and it should be expected that we will all experience it and at certain levels of competitiveness it is more prevalent.

Aero helmets are some of the most wind tunnel tested items out there and they all show wind tunnel improvement over a standard helmet. Once we realize that inside a wind tunnel the conditions are almost perfect we may be able to realize that we are often blinded by the numbers and other ‘aero’ improvements and propoganda, some great and some poor. Now, I am not saying that these numbers are fictitious or inaccurate nor am I saying there is no benefit to an aero helmet, I am just saying that in the almost perfect environment of a wind tunnel the conditions may not replicate what may be really happening out on the course. In the reality of racing the majority of aero helmet users are not riding in an almost perfect environment or with good head position. It’s not uncommon to see athletes looking down, sideways, backwards, up, around and at the scenery, and any of us who have seen an aero helmet knows that the majority of them have long pointy tails. When they are not straight, those pointy tails go out to the side of us, above us and I am sure somehow below us, now call me crazy but having a foot of helmet out to the side of us doesn’t seem too aero to me.

Not so good 'aero' head

In the photo to the right, this particular person is riding very quickly, but at this moment that is poor head position. Now, could this athlete have finished faster with better position of her head? Would she have finished worse off of the bike without the helmet at all? Or did that awesome bike and wheel set up negate her bad head position? Who knows? Of course this athlete didn’t ride the entire race with her head pointed down(at least I don’t think she did) but do wind tunnels test for this sort of thing? I don’t know. I’ll save that for the scientists. But what I will say is that for the majority of aero helmet users who are looking for every millisecond of advantage please remember to do your best to focus on good ‘aero’ head.

Now all that being said, I must touch a bit on some of the other arguments on the subject and you the reader can determine, or not, how you feel but maybe you will be able to formulate some clarity in your own heads. These other arguments are often times fallacious and with the results of wind tunnel testing have been often times ‘proven’ as factual. Example: (False cause argument) I am fast because I wear an aero helmet. Reality: No you are fast because you are prepared. Your aero helmet may have saved you a few seconds, but by no means did it ‘make’ you fast. Example: (Reductive Fallacy Argument) aero helmets are fast. Reality: Sure they test fast in a wind tunnel, but out in the real world how truly fast are they especially if you are looking up, down and side to side. Example: (Causal Reductionism) The fastest persons finishing time was faster because he wore an aero helmet. Reality: Well, there were alot of other people who had an aero helmet too, the fastest guy was fastest because he was better prepared.

Do you see what I am getting at? No? Well, simply put there are advantages to aero helmets, just wear it and ride with it properly to take full advantage of the wonderful domes of speed. If you look at some of the fastest athletes in the world, like in this photo below, you can see superior head position. Try your best to replicate this. If you are still trying to wrap your mind around what I am saying try this on for size, fast is as fast does; aero helmet or not, if you decide to buy one, wear it properly(good helmet discipline) otherwise keep wearing your standard helmet.

Perfect "Aero" Head

Ciao for now! I’ve got to go ride.