catlike whisper plus – a review (of sorts)

i have a new helmet. having a new helmet is quite an event. i’ll probably have it for the next 2 years or so and in that time do 18-20,000km in it. we’ll go through hours of fun, pain, sunshine and rain together…

as you can see i’ve bought a catlike whisper plus. you’ll know that even from a distance because nothing else looks quite like them. you may have seen king carlos and his cervelo team using them.
rather than the usual, angular vents and pointy back-end of modern helmets, the whisper plus has 39 rounded vents providing its unusual looks and massive air flow.

out of the box, two things struck me. firstly the light weight. i’ve read that 270g isn’t as light as the class leaders. all i can tell you is that compared to the giro ionos that is replaces, it is noticeably lighter and that was by no means a heavyweight. the second is just how well finished it seems to be. the edges of the plastic cover are bonded perfectly to the polystyrene inner. the in-moulding process perfected.
the fit is very good too. the outer dimensions are much smaller than the ionos – less mushroomheaded – and it feels like it when you put it on. it seems that your head is in it rather than it being on your head (do you follow?).
initial set-up of the straps was done really quickly and easily although the straps don’t sit quite as close to the face as others – maybe they’ll mould into shape through the months of use.

in action, this helmet is all about ventilation. as i said earlier, the flow of air through the helmet is huge, so much so, that if you turn you head slightly when travelling at speed, you can hear the turbulence in it as the air can’t travel in the straight lines that it wants to.
i hope i’ll never find out if the crash protection rating is accurate, but for now i’ll settle for great performance and PRO as fck looks.