The Bontrager Ballista helmet
A few days before the 2015 Tour de France Bontrager finally unveiled the Ballista aero road helmet. Prototypes of it have been out a while now including on the head of Jens Voigt during his 1-hour record effort last September, but now it official and the Ballista can be had by you and me.
According to Bontrager they have been working on this new helmet for 2 years and after initially working Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) to get data from two-dozen digital prototypes of different shapes and vent configurations, they then spent lots of time in wind tunnels and in various tough racing situations – culminating in a well vented helmet that is fast, and also looks sharp.
"It became evident that while Ballista's shape provided a significant aerodynamic advantage, its strategically-placed vents and internal, recessed, channels manage airflow far more efficiently than other aero road helmets. Finally, aero got cool" said Bontrager in a press release.
This new aero road helmet features the Headmaster II one-handed fit system, and Bontrager's NoSweat – technology that is meant to keep sweat out of eyes through channeled pads, and will be available in 4 different colors – matte black as seen here, glossy white, high visibility yellow and Trek Factory Racing white.
The official unveiling of the Ballista comes right on the heels of the the launch of the new Madone aero road bike by Trek, and so it is not surprising to see these too tech gadgets in the same frame.
Although non of the pics here showed the Ballista with a visor, it is compatible with Bontrager's NeoVisor. The MSRP of this helmet is $174.99 and it comes in 3 sizes – S, M and L.
