Giro Stylus helmet

The Giro stylus sits toward the lower mid section of Giro's range. Tested as a road helmet it actually appears on the leisure or casual helmet section of a fair few websites so beware of this if you go looking for one and cant initially find it.

For £50 this is at a very competitive price point, placing it amongst the Met Estros and Specialized Echelons of this world. We tested this as a road helmet but again remember that in all of Giro's blurb it talks about "serious road performance with a relaxed attitude". What does that mean? Giro say that this helmet is aimed at those for whom enjoying the ride is as important as pace: can't we have both?

Anyway, I digress. The helmet itself has 26 large vents to promote airflow accross the head and ultimately do its best to keep you cool when riding, it weighs in at 275g which is comparable to those that rival the Stylus and with Giro's refined RocLoc fitting system this lid should tick all the boxes.

Giro claim to be able to get a perfect fit every time with their RocLoc 3 and super fit sizing, however I found the helmet itself to a little loose despite being my size and that I couldnt get a perfect fit with the RocLoc system. Everybody has a different head shape and perhaps I have fallen victim of this but other Giro helmets I own and have previously used have been great, so the Stylus was somewhat of a let down in this department.

This didnt detract from the rest of the performance too much however, the 'in mold technology' that Giro uses accross its helmet line up basically fuses the liner to the helmet itself which helps with durability and strength, both supporting each other. The helmet felt very sturdy and as you would expect meets CE EN1078 certification. At the end of the day a helmet is a product for protecting your head in the event of a crash; it's extremely difficult to test its worth in that respect without being some sort of maniac so reviews are largely about fit, feel and comfort. The Giro scores highly in comfort as my head was kept cool over three metric century rides at a brisk pace which included some sharp climbs. My own helmet is a Giro Ionos which does keep my head extremely cool but the stylus doesnt appear to give away much in terms of quality and development. The vents are large but not large enough to really force the air through the helmet and control temperatures when the going gets tough but at a slightly more sedate pace it does the job well.

Verdict

A very able helmet for those who want to commute, cycle at a comfortable pace or ride for leisure. Usual Giro refinements and confidence in build quality make this a smart choice but I cant help thinking about their £50-£60 road offering, the Ares, or the Rift mountain bike helmet. Where does the Stylus fit in, is there space for it? A very good helmet yes, but I'd be tempted to spend the extra tenner for the next lid up.