I've also eyed the Bell urban helmet, with its more commuter-friendly features, but, alas, cannot seem to get one in a size that fits my head any more.
I was poking around in a vendor's catalog at work a while back, and was intrigued by the Lazer Urbanize model. The idea of integrated lights appealed to me, as did their claims of better rain shedding. I've not tested this last claim--yet--but I will soon, I'm sure.
It also looks quite different than the typical helmets we see. I ordered one recently, and received it a couple days ago.
As with any helmet, the most important thing to me, after ascertaining that there is a CPSC label, is that it fit me. The Lazer Urbanize has their Rollsys (tm) fitting adjustment, which uses a nifty cable arrangement that allows quick adjustment to the circumference to allow for under-the-helmet things like balaclavas or hats. The ear/chin straps adjust in the manner common to better-quality helmets.
Ventilation is another big issue for me, especially when moving slowly in town compared to "smartly down the back road," as I do on my club ride bike. This one has HUGE internal vent channels that feed from under the molded-in bill and the external vents shown in the pictures linked below. During my errand-running today, I tried to pay attention to the airflow through the helmet, and could tell it was venting. Whether it's as cool as my Trek helmet I've been using for commuting of late is hard to tell, as today was not the hottest day I've ridden in a long time. However, it seems to do well enough for commute distances.
The lights are powered by nickel-sized watch batteries, and are thus probably going to need replacement batteries often. Given that I've not seen rechargeable batteries in this size (CR 2032, I think), some on this list will eschew them. They are most certainly not going to be "see where you are going" lights, but do fairly well at being "see where I am" lights. I, of course, have already augmented the lights with some reflective vinyl from my stash. The photos linked below were taken with enough ambient light that my camera refused to use its flash setting, so the reflective stuff doesn't show very well. It's visible as a slight color change on the white of the helmet. I'll probably add a shot or two later in the day to get the flash to do its thing. The lights are readily removable to allow for battery changing or if you want the extra ventilation through their holes in the helmet. Replacement lights are available, too.
It's not a bargain-priced helmet, at about $100 retail, but our heads are important to us. There is limited availability without the lights, at $80 or so.
Just about any bike shop should be able to get you one of these, especially if your bike shop of choice is Bluegrass Bicycle in Crestwood or a shop that buys stuff from QBP, the domestic distributor for Lazer Helmets.
Each of these pictures are "clickable," meaning that if you want to see the entire image, you can click on them. I don't know why this blog cuts off the sides of the images, aside from that the images are too big for the format. They are not huge images in other formats.
The helmet mirror shown is one from Buddy, here in town. He, like a few others around the region, re-uses old stainless steel spokes to make them. If you want one, drop me a line off-list and I'll forward contact information for his wife, Laura, who does most of the sales stuff.
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