Bontrager Jet WaveCel Children’s Bike Helmet

Bontrager's Jet WaveCel Children's Bike Helmet comes with Bonty's collapsible structure fitted, which is designed to absorb the force of an impact. It's well proven, which gives plenty of peace of mind, but it does add weight, reduces airflow and whacks the price up.

Bontrager describes WaveCel as a collapsible cellular structure which is designed to be more effective than traditional foam helmets in protecting your head from injury. It's a crumple zone, basically, which absorbs the force of an impact before it reaches your head.

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Virginia Tech, one of the world's most trusted independent impact testers, has given it the thumbs up, and the Jet is ASTM certified rather than just EN-1078, the European standard. The ATSM standard uses a headform with a smaller mass in its impact testing, giving results that are more relevant to the size of a child's head.

WaveCel is quite a bulky product, though, which adds a fair amount of depth to the Jet's overall size. With that comes weight: the Jet tips the scales at 487g, which is heavy for a little neck.

A very similar helmet design from Met that my daughter normally wears is over 100g lighter without the WaveCel.

The other issue is that the Jet doesn't have a huge number of ventilation holes, so it isn't massively breathable, exacerbated by the fact that the WaveCel affects airflow. All these types tend to, though – it was something I found noticeable on the Koroyd-equipped Endura Pro SL. That said, Simon was quite pleased with the ventilation on the Bontrager Starvos WaveCel helmet.

The Jet is a very well made helmet, and it's adjustable too.

The base of the EPS (expanded polystyrene) inner layer is covered in a soft-touch material which takes away any sharp edges and also protects the helmet from being damaged. The ABS polymer outer is tough, too, and will stand up to plenty of knocks and scuffs.

The added bonus of this bright green finish is a little extra visibility if your child is riding on the road. You also get a pack of stickers in the box to personalise the Jet.

A small cradle inside adjusts from 48 to 52cm diameter on this child's version, or 50-55cm on the Youth model also available. It's tweaked easily by way of the rear thumbwheel, and the back can be adjusted for height as well, which also gives clearance for a ponytail.

Rather than using a traditional clip for the Jet, which can often lead to pinched skin, the Jet uses a magnetic Fidlock buckle which is easy to connect and separate but remains very secure when in use.

At £69.99, it's a bit pricey, especially when the child is continuously growing. The Met helmet I mentioned earlier, the Yoyo, has a list price of just £30. Admittedly it doesn't come with the size adjustment, using just pads instead of any dials, and the Jet is arguably safer too.

Decathlon's B'Twin 520 Teen Cycling helmet is similar in shape, and costs just £14.99.

> off.road.cc’s guide to the best kids’ mountain bike helmets

Okay, you can't put a price on your child's safety and protection, so if you want what is probably one of the safest helmets out there then the price tag isn't going to be an issue. For me personally, my six-year-old found it really heavy to wear compared to her EN-1078 certified Met, which meant the Jet was rarely the helmet she went for without being prompted.

Verdict

Well made, cool looks and approved safety data, but it's pretty heavy for a kid's lid