Limar 778 Superlight Road Helmet

The Limar 778 Superlight Road Helmet is an incredibly light, low-profile helmet at a very good price. However, it could do with a more secure cradle and I'd like to be able to remove the bug netting.

Limar isn't an especially well known brand in the UK, but with its current sponsorship of the Astana team, its profile is growing.

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As you might imagine from the name, one of the helmet's key selling points is that it's very light – phenomenally so – at 200g. To put it into perspective, the Lazer Z1 (238g), Giro Synthe (223g) and Poc Octal all cost twice as much, and even the Octal, one of the lightest helmets around, is still 4g heavier. That is seriously impressive, especially for a helmet that costs under £100.

Much of this weight saving comes from the 'Monoshell In-mould - Superlight technology' that Limar has used. Despite its very low weight it still feels sturdy and gives you the confidence that it's likely to keep your head intact during a crash (plus the helmet meets EN European standards).

Ventilation is taken care of by 24 vents, with the front eight each having mesh inside. Ventilation is okay, but given that it's designed as a low-profile helmet, the channels are fairly shallow so there isn't a huge amount of air movement. It would also be handy to be able to remove the mesh in the vents if you wanted to, but that's not an option.

Fit is decent, with a fairly standard cradle and dial system that tightens from the back. It works well but it would be good to have a cradle that could be set to one position; with this design it moves when touched, so needs to be adjusted every time you put it on. This is just a case of pulling it down or up to fit, but is still something that could be easily remedied. The helmet also comes with a small safety light on the back of the dial; it isn't going to be bright enough by itself on a dark night, but is a useful aid to being seen.

The helmet sits on the head nicely with a very low profile. It is pretty small too, so it doesn't cover as much of the head as others that come down further and sit higher off the head. It does cover the most important areas though and has all the safety certification you would expect on a performance road helmet and Limar tell us offers, "full protection for forward, backward and rotational sideways impacts”, so should offer a decent amount of protection in a crash.

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The straps are a good thickness and I didn't have any issues with twisting throughout the review period. There is also a padded sheath to protect your chin, which adds to the comfort and stops any chafing. High-vis strips running down the straps also help with visibility in low light.

Inside, Limar has used decent anti-bacterial pads throughout, although it would be nice to have them stretch a little further back, as given the low profile of the helmet you can feel the hard foam on your crown.

I've already mentioned how well the Limar compares on weight with other much more expensive helmets, emphasising just what good value it is at £89.99 for the lightest helmet I've ever used.

Overall, this is a decent helmet with a genuinely impressive weight, but there are a few things I'd like to see in the next version – namely, being able to remove the mesh, more pads, and a cradle system you can fix in place.

Verdict

Genuinely impressive weight for the price, but a few tweaks would make it better overall