Helmets have long been plagued by an unspoken rule: Light weight, ventilation, aerodynamics- pick two, there's your helmet. As you can tell by now, though, Specialized prefers not play by such rules, or really any rules for that matter. They'd rather turn standards on their head and create products that nobody ever dreamed of. And you needn't look any further than the new S-Works Evade helmet for proof of this. Straight up, it's the fastest road helmet out there.

Beginning with the aerodynamic development, the engineers and designers basically lived in Specialized's Win Tunnel to create this Evade. Having their own wind tunnel allows the teams to develop products with aero at the forefront of the design, rather than merely testing them at one. With this tool, they carefully analyzed every aspect of helmet performance in the Win Tunnel, and combined that work with real world testing, to ensure that there was stone left un-turned in the quest for performance. This makes for a helmet that has countless testing hours and years of development, and ultimately, this adds up to the fastest road helmet of any brand Specialized has ever tested.

The detailed aero enhancement process not only took grams out of the drag, but did it without sacrificing safety. In fact, the designers switched the construction to favor the in-house Energy Optimized Multi-Density EPS product that optimizes the foam type in different places. As far as ventilation is concerned, free-flowing air through the helmet not only makes the helmet cooler than ever, but it also decreases aerodynamic drag. Going hand-in-hand with this, ventilation and aerodynamics were both optimized in the Win Tunnel together, making for the best combination of aerodynamics and ventilation out there. Now, the exterior vents and interior channels have been carefully considered to make sure that the helmet draws in the maximum amount of air through the helmet for extreme cooling. The 4th Dimension Cooling System has deep internal channels, large vents, and aligned exhaust ports. And the result? The new Evade is just as cool as a bare head with no helmet, making it the coolest aero helmet on the market today.

The measured net result of this dedicated, thorough work: the Evade saves 50 seconds over 40km versus a traditional road helmet and roughly six seconds over the prior iteration of Evade. This means that it's not only as cool as a bare head, but also as fast. For road race helmets, there’s nothing that can match this performance.

Except, perhaps the level of upgrades in safety. It all starts in the helmet itself with the patented EPS construction that relies on multi-density foam that's paired with a robotically woven, Aramid-reinforced skeleton. This delivered a reduction in the overall size, creating a smaller profile that fits lower down on the head for a better fit and safety, but that wasn't even close to the new safety concept they had in mind. They teamed up with MIPS researchers to introduce MIPS SL, a new, ultra-light, and supremely comfortable version of the proven MIPS that's available exclusively on Specialized helmets. With MIPS SL, the designers essentially integrated MIPS technology within the helmet padding itself. MIPS SL's minimalist "watchband" attachment system provides 10 to 15 millimeters of rotation in every direction and offers the same brain protection benefits as other versions of MIPS, while also ushering in a new level of comfort and weight savings. A huge win for road cyclists.

Then you have factor in the addition and integration of a new ANGi Crash Sensor, which is housed in a small pod on the rear retention set-up that gives you and your loved ones peace of mind like never before. When connected to the Specialized Ride app (iOS or Android) on your smartphone, the sensor will detect a crash and send a text message to specified contacts in your phone. It also syncs with the app and STRAVA® to provide GPS-based activity tracking. If it detects a crash, it commences a countdown that, if you’re ok, you can stop and keep riding. If, however, ANGi determines that you’re in need of help, it’ll send an alert to your selected contacts with your last known GPS coordinates and a message that you’re in need of help. There is also a back-up process in case you are out of cell range. Nothing is perfect or will 100% save your life; like CPSC standards, the positive proven capabilities of MIPS, nor ANGi, but Specialized has gone to great lengths to innovate and integrate more safety features than any other bike helmet maker we know of. It is clear this a priority for the company, and they lead the way in the industry.

Last, but most certainly not least, a fast helmet is useless unless it fits and adapts correctly to the individual, and the same can be said for most safety features as well. With this in mind, the new S-Works Evade II ANGi has all the features you'd expect from a top-level Specialized helmet, like the Mindset HairPort 2 fit system with micro-adjustments, soft webbing that won't stretch out, and a new Gutter Action brow pad that manages sweat to keep it out of your eyes. And to top it off, the designers added a new magnetic buckle to the mix that makes buckling with one hand a breeze. This is a road helmet that aero performs more like TT helmet, cools like the best vented lightweight road helmets, carries impressive and unmatched safety features, fits and feels great, and actually looks cool too. Hopefully it won't evade you for long.

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