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TECH NEWS
Met Manta aero helmet launched at the Tour de France
It sometimes feels as though a day doesn’t pass without the launch of another new aero road helmet, and the latest is the Met Manta, introduced at the Tour de France on the heads of Team MTN Qhubeka.
The new Manta has been designed for sprinters, and was actually requested by MTN Qhubeka who challenged the Italian company to design an “extremely lightweight helmet for sprinting.”
We recently did a roundup of new aero road helmets at the Tour de France, including Met’s Rivale, which the helmet brand described as the “the lightest open aero road helmet in its class.” It seems the new Met Manta, is the marketing spiel is to be believed, is even better.
Met says the new Manta is “inspired by the heritage of fast and sleek Italian racing cars,” though I’m failing to see any hint of the Ferrari 250 GTO in it myself. It also adds the even bolder claim that the Manta is the “lightest, fastest and most aerodynamic closed helmet at the Tour de France.”
Confused? Basically the Rivale is a vented (open) aero road helmet and the Manta is a full-on aero helmet (closed) with fewer vents. The Manta is faster but comes at a cost, it's not going to be as cool as the Rivale.
How fast is it? Met claims the shape of the Manta helmet saves 10 watts at 50km/h compared to the Rivale. It’s lighter as well. The Rivale weighs a claimed 230g, the new Manta bests that weight with a claimed 200g for a medium. It has fewer vents than the Rivale but Met is confident that ventilation is still adequate to keep the rider’s head cool, with the strategically placed Airflow Converge and NACA vents on the front and sides. Internal channels direct the airflow inside the helmet.
Like the Rivale, the new Manta is constructed using the company’s Homothetic Embedded Skeleton (HES) technology. The idea behind this is to ensure an impact is spread across a wider area and not localised in one region. There is also the same Safe T Advanced retention system with vertical adjustment.
The Manta will cost £170. More info at www.met-helmets.com
David worked on the road.cc tech team from 2012-2020. Previously he was editor of Bikemagic.com and before that staff writer at RCUK. He's a seasoned cyclist of all disciplines, from road to mountain biking, touring to cyclo-cross, he only wishes he had time to ride them all. He's mildly competitive, though he'll never admit it, and is a frequent road racer but is too lazy to do really well. He currently resides in the Cotswolds, and you can now find him over on his own YouTube channel David Arthur - Just Ride Bikes.
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6 comments
Any news on when these helmets will these helmets will be made available to the public?
I've scoured the MET website but can't find a general release date anywhere.
I used a fully aero helmet for an ironman this year. Always used Road helmets before. Temp was into the 30s but I really couldn't complain about it being hotter than normal.
I do think there coukd be a market for warmer winter helmets though.
I concur. Use my Kask in exactly the same why. Nice dry warm head all through the year except really hot days. One of the best things I've ever purchased
Serious Q - does it actually make you any faster?
Are people really going to buy and use these for normal riding? I get hot and sweaty enough in my normal helmet.
I use an aero helmet not for speed but for weather! I wear one right through the winter. It's crazy that in the UK we all ride around in the winter wearing hats with massive holes in them, and have to then wear more hats underneath. My Giro Air Attack is just awesome once it gets cooler...and in the rain!
On that basis I would suggest that this helmet would be better to wear in the UK for more of the year than the 'normal' helmets that should really be called Summer Lids or some such like. I think helmet manufacturers are missing a trick not branding them as such. The Giro Gabba helmet! You heard it hear first.