It was first spotted on the head of Filippo Ganna back in January and then used by the Ineos Grenadiers team at the Tour Down Under – and now Kask has revealed all the details of its new aero helmet, the Nirvana. The radical design has created a great deal of buzz: with its over-ear covers and teardrop shape, the helmet clearly borrowed from time trial models – Kask already has the Mistral and the Bambino – blurring the lines between bunched racing and contre-la-montre.
Kask says the Nirvana delivers a 35% reduction in aerodynamic drag compared to the best-in-class helmets in the aero road category and saves 4.4 watts at 45kph compared to its previous fastest road helmet, the Utopia Y, against which it benchmarked the new helmet.
The brand says ventilation has not been compromised, and in this area the Nirvana is 19% better than before. According to Kask, the “innovative ear covers … allow airflow to be channelled more efficiently around the helmet. Internal channelling has also been integrated to provide optimal thermoregulation to the front and top of the head whilst delivering unprecedented levels of ventilation."
As well as being designed to go fast, says Kask, the Nirvana also achieves its number-one priority – safety. The Nirvana was designed in accordance with the Kask’s Rotational Impact WG11 Test, an internal testing regime which measures the performance of its helmets against rotational impacts. It uses Kask’s 3D-printed Multipod padding, first debuted with the Elemento, which Kask claims enables the helmet to better withstand linear and rotational impacts, and functions isotropically, meaning it behaves the same way whichever direction the force is applied.
Additionally, the Multipod's design – it is made up of tiny 3D-printed struts – improves ventilation by allowing air to pass directly through to the rider's head. There’s added Merino wool padding at the front and sides to increase comfort and sweat absorption, aiming to eliminate sweat drips.
The new helmet is aimed not only at WorldTour teams seeking marginal gains but also at track riders and triathletes and cyclists “obsessed with performance”.
Alessandro Cernicchi, Kask’s new R&D director who was previously with motorcycle brand Dainese, explains why the Nirvana was developed and how Kask has achieved the improvements in the three elements of a road race helmet’s performance – aerodynamics, ventilation and safety: “We’ve been witnessing increased speed in racing in recent years,” he says. “This is thanks to new tech, better equipment and new training techniques – and because of this, there is now a greater focus on improving aerodynamics than on saving weight.”
Ineos Grenadiers were directly involved in the development of the helmet, Cernicchi continues, with early testing using a virtual wind tunnel. “With a virtual wind tunnel you can fit a digital twin of your helmet on a rider, run a simulation and see what happens. Normally we run a simulation at 45kph at three wind angles. This is accounting for increasing levels of yaw. The output we got from the virtual wind tunnel was efficiency and ventilation. What’s good about virtua [compared to real life, which brands use now for validation rather than development] is that we can run hundreds of simulations, we can run them very quickly, optimise the shape of the helmet and lower its CdA.”
He continues: “We got 35g of drag reduction. It may not sound like much, but if you put it in perspective it’s quite a lot. At 45kph it’s equivalent to 4.4 watts saved, which is 72 seconds faster on a 180km course. Or 50kph on a 20km course – for example in a breakaway, you’d be 7.2 seconds faster. Or at 60kph you’re saving 10.4 watts, which is 1.2 seconds faster over 4km in a sprint finish. So races are won or lost by margins that are smaller than this.”
Explaining the improved ventilation compared to the Utopia Y: “Normally you can’t improve aerodynamics without sacrificing ventilation or vice versa. But for the Nirvana, with the optimisation we did we improved on both aspects compared to the previous model. We used a combination of virtual and real wind tunnels and looked at aero performance versus thermal comfort. One of the things we discovered in our research was that there are areas of the head that are more important than others for ventilation. The head is very sensitive to ventilation at the front and on the top central part. So we focused all the ventilation on those areas and eliminated the other parts and the final result was a 19% increase in airflow in the important areas. This was possible because of the breathable nature of the 3D-printed Multipod padding.”
The Nirvana uses Kask’s Octofit+ adjustment system, which the brand says provides exceptional comfort and stability via micro-adjustments across the nape of the neck, and a classic faux-leather strap. The helmet also incorporates a sunglasses port at the front and a reflective graphic at the back. Perhaps the only thing that the Nirvana doesn’t have compared to its main rival aero road helmet, the POC Procen Air, is a visor. “It’s something we might consider for the future but not for the first year. For now we’re not proposing a visor,” says Cernicchi.
The Nirvana comes in Black Matt and White Matt, as well as Cherry Burst, Blueberry Fade and Ultraviolet - three brand-new colourways which feature graduated shading. Weight is 260 grams for a size medium; the Nirvana is available in sizes M and L at a recommended retail price of £320. Go to Kask's website for more information. We have a Kask Nirvana in for testing - keep an eye out for our review.
