Review: Lazer Bullet 2.0

Lazer’s original Bullet was big. Like, very big. It was long, wide, and heavy, and the design focused squarely on aerodynamic performance. But in order to make a helmet work, it must tick other important boxes: Comfort, venting, and aesthetics.

Designers at Lazer went to work on improving the Bullet across these categories, and the finished product is the Bullet 2.0, which addresses those concerns, and does so quite well. It’s still a pretty long helmet, and it’s not light. But It feels less bulky than the original, and it certainly looks a lot sleeker. Venting? Well, we’ll get to that in a moment.

The 2.0 shares plenty of similarities with the original Bullet. For starters, the overall shape looks identical, and the sliding vent integrated into the top of the helmet remains too. But Lazer updated the inside of the helmet to include more channeling, thereby allowing air to flow over your head and out the back. And the Venturi Cap at the rear of the helmet supposedly accelerates air flow through the helmet. This addresses a problem with the original Bullet, which was stiflingly hot even on cool days.

In theory, that should lead a cooler experience, quite literally. In practice, it is indeed cooler, but you’ll never mistake this for a standard road helmet with big vents and lots of airflow. Even among aero helmets, the Bullet doesn’t offer the best venting, but it is significantly improved over the original. I still felt as though the air flow coming into the helmet was too focused on the center of my forehead. And on climbs when there’s no breeze, you’ll remember right away that this is an aero lid.

Still, the Bullet 2.0 is very wearable, unless the temperatures really climb. Or if you’re really going to climb. But that’s not what the Bullet is trying to be. It’s no climbing lid, and as such, venting at low speeds is pretty much non-existent. I like this helmet for flat or rolling rides. If I’ve got a big climb on the menu, it’s probably not going to be my helmet of choice.

The retention system also remains largely unchanged, though there is an integrated LED light on the dial. It’s tiny, though, and I mostly found this to be too dim to be useful. Lazer could have cut this and shaved a few grams off this bulky helmet, or increased the lumens.

It’s a pretty comfortable helmet, though the retention system does feel less refined than some of the wispier systems we’re seeing that incorporate Boa dials and thin Boa cables. This may be another area where Lazer can shave some weight off the Bullet. But if your only concern here is comfort, the fit system doesn’t pinch anywhere, and it snugs up well.

Aesthetically, the helmet looks fast, but still pretty big. Still, the shape is growing on me. Yet while the rear of the helmet makes the Bullet look like exactly that, it does rise strangely high up on the rider’s head, leaving a lot of your skull exposed. I can’t speak to whether this is any more or less safe, but it is striking visually and I’d be curious to know if there are any impact mitigation concerns here.

The integrated face shield is a great option for the part-time triathlete or time trialist who doesn’t want to invest in a dedicated TT helmet. The face shield essentially turns the Bullet into one, and it’s crystal clear with very little distortion peripherally. It mounts magnetically and holds firmly in place. When you don’t want it anymore, just stick it on the integrated mounts at the rear of the helmet. It’s a pretty nifty system and a nicely executed integration.

My test helmet didn’t come with MIPS, which was a little disappointing. But adding a MIPS liner would add more weight to an already bulky helmet, and could even alter the already-large appearance. It’s nice to see a mount for Lazer’s other integrated components like the inclination sensor and the LifeBeam heart rate monitor.

Overall, the Bullet 2.0 is a much more impressive helmet than its predecessor. Lazer cut enough of the bulk to make it look less bulky than the original, and the venting is slightly improved, enough that wearing it on flat and rolling rides shouldn’t be a bother. It’s still a very closed ventilation system, and the air flow still seems too focused on the center of the forehead, but if you’re after a sleek, comfortable helmet with a well-executed integrated face shield, the Bullet 2.0 should be on your list.