Smith Maze Bike Helmet

The Smith Maze Bike Helmet is a good looking, simple urban helmet, although it would be nice to have a little more adjustability to create a more secure fit.

The Maze Bike Helmet is the US company's urban cycling offering, so I took it round the streets of London on my daily commute to see how it fared.

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The rounded shape is like the kind of generic helmets you see for skiing or skateboarding, but it has a couple of nice touches that set it apart from others in this category. For instance, the two small vents at the front, with one being surrounded by silver; it's a simple and understated look that works well.

Ventilation on the helmet is naturally not as good as you get with a road helmet, but the two front vents, combined with six above the crown and four at the base of neck, work better than most I have tried with this kind of helmet design in the past. This is helped thanks to the channels across the top of the head and a nice design on the front vent which splits the air so it flows both over the head and down over the face. It still gets a bit sweatier than road helmets if you're riding fast or uphill, but for easier rides it is more than adequate.

Fit on the helmet is okay, but there are a couple of issues that Smith could look at fixing in future models. The straps work well with nice dividers which keep everything from twisting, and they are simple to adjust and keep in place too. The element that is slightly frustrating is the cradle at the back, which does away with the more commonly seen dial and instead just puts a small length of elastic in its place. This doesn't create a great deal of resistance, so I often found the helmet would slip down at the front, and pushing it back up every five minutes can get very annoying.

The Maze does have a decent set of pads that are relatively thick and comfortable against the head, and haven't started smelling yet...

Weight is a very respectable 282g, which is pretty good for an urban helmet. For instance, compared to the TSG Status I reviewed last year, it's a good 30g lighter. Weight certainly isn't a factor in urban helmets, but regardless, this is definitely a plus point.

> Buyer's Guide: How to choose a cycling helmet

RRP on the helmet is £54.99 which is about what I would expect for a decent quality urban helmet.

Overall this helmet has some really strong points, such as the ventilation and looks, but it is let down by the cradle and lack of adjustability.

Verdict

A decent helmet for urban riding that's slightly let down by the fitting system