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review

Uvex Race 1 helmet

8
£99.99

VERDICT:

8
10
Excellent road helmet with distinctly Germanic attention to detail
Weight: 
241g

At road.cc every product is thoroughly tested for as long as it takes to get a proper insight into how well it works. Our reviewers are experienced cyclists that we trust to be objective. While we strive to ensure that opinions expressed are backed up by facts, reviews are by their nature an informed opinion, not a definitive verdict. We don't intentionally try to break anything (except locks) but we do try to look for weak points in any design. The overall score is not just an average of the other scores: it reflects both a product's function and value – with value determined by how a product compares with items of similar spec, quality, and price.

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Cruising in at just under a ton, the Uvex Race 1 helmet is an understated yet phenomenally competent road lid that oozes stereotypically Teutonic attention to detail and refinement.

Arguably you could buy two very competent mid-range designs for the same money, one as the daily driver, its counterpart for competition. After all, accidents aside; even the best helmets have a finite lifespan of around three, maybe, four years.

However, the Race 1's compliance with the TüV/GS standard along with CE1078 inspires greater confidence and while some of us will be irked by marketing acronyms there's some very sound engineering underpinning it.

Double in-mould construction is a case in point. It refers to the deployment of a secondary polycarbonate shell, which protects the otherwise vulnerable expanded polystyrene liner against accidental damage. Ours was a timeless satin black with a curious, yet not unappealing green paint spatter. Other options include red/white, white, blue/white and dark silver.

Uvex employ a rollover bar technology that works with the 2 K IAS 3d systems for optimal fit and theoretically displaces impact uniformly during a crash. FAS (Fast Adapting System) continues this theme and is just another way of saying straps can be micro adjusted to suit individual head shapes whereas 'Monomatic' refers to the single release chinstrap button and rear thumbwheel, which work intuitively, albeit with more refinement than most.

Ventilation is another preoccupation and the Race 1 features 20 vents employing the now familiar inlet/exhaust system for continuous cooling whether cruising along the flat or winching up the climbs. These seem similarly accommodating of silicone blinkies or helmet cam hardware. In many respects, the mark of a good helmet lies in how unobtrusive it is and aside from sitting slightly higher than my regulars, performance and comfort have been superb.

Despite its incredibly airy persona, Gore-tex covers and caps have only proved necessary during two particularly fierce hailstorms where we were pelted with sugar cube sized particles. The machine washable anti bacterial pads guzzle sweat. Wind noise is non-existent, even descending at 35mph plus, and there's been no hint of whistling (aside from my riding companion) facilitating uninterrupted conversation and awareness of approaching traffic.

If you need to carry a backpack, the rear cradle doesn't catch on the straps as you look left and right.

Verdict

Excellent road helmet with distinctly Germanic attention to detail

road.cc test report

Make and model: Uvex Race 1 helmet

Size tested: Black-Green, Large - 55-59cm

Tell us what the product is for, and who it's aimed at. What do the manufacturers say about it? How does that compare to your own feelings about it?

"The Race 1 provides lightweight and well ventilated protection. The helmet is constructed using double in-mould technology".

Very nicely executed and extremely unobtrusive road helmet.

Tell us some more about the technical aspects of the product?

* Double in-mould construction

* Integrated roll over bar technology

* 2K IAS width & height adjust headring provides comfort, ventilation, adjustability and weight saving.

* Multistep, anatomically shaped Uvex monomatic comfort closure is easily adjustable with 1 hand.

* Fast Adapting System straps, these can be easily and continuously adapted to your own head. The helmet stays firmly on your head at all times and the strap remains in the best position.

* 20 ventilation channels

* Vent pads - High quality moisture wicking material with embossed ventilation channels. Comfortable and soft on the skin, dries quickly and is antibacterial, removeable & washable.

Standards:

* EN1078

* TUV GS

* CE

Rate the product for quality of construction:
 
8/10
Rate the product for performance:
 
8/10
Rate the product for durability:
 
8/10
Rate the product for weight, if applicable:
 
8/10
Rate the product for comfort, if applicable:
 
9/10

Barely noticed it - in the most positive sense possible.

Rate the product for value:
 
8/10

Relatively expensive but the build quality and performance reflect this.

Tell us how the product performed overall when used for its designed purpose

Overall, I've been delighted with Uvex race 1. It's extremely well finished, yet very light, intuitive to configure and those twenty vents gulp in plenty of cooling airflow.

Tell us what you particularly liked about the product

Pretty much everything.

Tell us what you particularly disliked about the product

Nothing.

Did you enjoy using the product? Yes.

Would you consider buying the product? Yes.

Would you recommend the product to a friend? Yes.

Overall rating: 8/10

About the tester

Age: 40  Height: 1m 81  Weight: 70 kilos

I usually ride: Rough Stuff Tourer Based around 4130 Univega mtb Frameset  My best bike is: 1955 Holdsworth Road Path and several others including cross & traditional road

I've been riding for: Over 20 years  I ride: Most days  I would class myself as: Experienced

I regularly do the following types of riding: cyclo cross, commuting, touring, fixed/singlespeed, mtb,

 

Shaun Audane is a freelance writer/product tester with over twenty-eight years riding experience, the last twelve (120,000 miles) spent putting bikes and kit through their paces for a variety of publications. Previous generations of his family worked at manufacturing's sharp end, thus Shaun can weld, has a sound understanding of frame building practice and a preference for steel or titanium framesets.
Citing Richard Ballantine and an Au pair as his earliest cycling influences, he is presently writing a cycling book with particular focus upon women, families and disabled audiences (Having been a registered care manager and coached children at Herne Hill Velodrome in earlier careers)

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3 comments

Avatar
Ginsterdrz | 10 years ago
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Bizarrely I've just bought one! Tried loads of lids over the years-cheap and expensive. My first impressions: very comfortable fit which feels secure and cosseted, great ventilation in eighty degree heat, lots of little clever design features i.e. the velcro chin strap tidy. UVEX seem to have a fresh approach and it works. £89 at Merlin.

Avatar
midschool | 10 years ago
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Clearly the reviewer yearns for a career writing novels in the classic style of Jane Austin and Charles Dickens. Alas, he has had to turn his hand to reviewing bicycle parts on the internet (And is clearly very inspired by them).

Avatar
Sniffer | 10 years ago
0 likes

Interested in the comment about finite life of a helmet. If it has not been crashed and looks OK, is there really a changeout need? I realise UV might be an issue.

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