Bell Star Pro Helmet Features on the Fly Ventilation Adjustment

Hot on the heels of Smith and Giro’s big helmet news, Bell has launched the new Star Pro helmet at the Tour de France, developed with, and being used by, the Belkin Team riders.

Ben Edwards/Photos Courtesy Bell

According to Bell, the Belkin Team asked for aerodynamics with ventilation, a feature many aero helmets sacrifice. The answer for Bell was adjustable vents through a slider systems allowing on the fly opening and closing. Imagine enjoying incredible ventilation while climbing on a hot day, then enjoying one of the most aero helmets in the market while you descend down the backside. That is the goal of the new Star Pro.

Bell calls the adjustable vents ‘Active Aero’ and when open they draw air under the helmet just above your brow and suck it through a heavily channeled interior and out multiple exhaust ports. Of the 15 total vents, 13 can be closed. With the vents open the helmet is actually cooler than a bare head during the initial five minutes of test time. As most rides are longer than five minutes the real stat here is the Star Pro is essentially as cool as a traditional Bell Gage throughout your ride.

With the vents closed the Star Pro is, according to Bell, the fastest road helmet among ‘leading competitors’. Peloton has reached out to Bell to learn just who those leading competitors are, and we will update our report when we get that information. In fact, based on Bell’s testing, the helmet is faster than those competitors even with the vents open.

In addition to adjustable venting and the aerodynamics, the Star Pro features a Float Fit system that allows vertical adjustment of the rear cradle and circumferential adjustment. Two densities of EPS foam are used, low density at the interior and high density at the exterior. A magnetic shield, similar to the one seen on the Giro Air Attack is an option as well, with optics by Zeiss.

Look for the helmets on the heads of Team Belkin at the Tour. Although they have been hiding from the cameras the first few days in England, expect them to come to the front soon with Bauke Mollema sitting eighth on GC, only two seconds off the lead. As for the Star Pro, it should be in shops in October.

Price: $240 ($280 w/ Shield) Weight: 280grams More: bellhelmets.com