Octal. Be sure to check with Redbeard; we get (I believe) 40% off.

Jeffrey White said:

My POC helmet is the nicest piece of kit I've ever owned and the color works perfectly. It would take something very special to get me to switch.

Jeff

those are some stong words of support for a helmet. I'm curious what it is about the POC that earns it such high praise (apart from matching our kits). Id love to hear your thoughts

I'll give you mine, since I own one too.

1. fantastic ventilation
2. fantastic fit (for whatever reason it fits 'lower' at the back of my head and doesn't slosh around on top of my head like the rudy one
3. the contraption for keeping sunglasses in the top is amazing - fits all kinds and they stay put without pinching the arms
4. Garrigan wears one.

My lone "con" is that sadly Michael Barry wears one too. Le Sigh.

Thanks Jules

.

Poc does OK in the aero dept too:
- Giro Synthe 350.6 grams 
- Specialized Evade aero road (359.2g)
- Louis Garneau Corse aero road (360.5g) 
- Poc Octal (378.8g)
- Specialized Prevail road (380.1g)
- Bontrager Oracle (380.5g)
(g=grams of drag — 20 grams of drag equates to about a 20-second advantage over 40 kilometers of riding — 25mph — ‘head-up” head tilt at 30 degrees) 

Marc Bertucco said:

PatrickG said:

Thanks Jules

You might want to take a look at the link I posted. It appears there may be some safety concerns with the POC helmet. It's a little fuzzy, and buried in the text, but it's in there.

Marc,
   Not all the POC's are Mips.  With the Octal there are both a non- and Mips version.    

What I like about the POC Octal:

1. Its sunglasses holder is 10x better than anything I've used (which are Specialized, Giro, and Bell).
2. Its shape and padding fit me perfectly. Just a single turn of the knob snugs it down.
3. It is very light and yet feels extremely solid. It does not feel the least bit fragile.
4. This has been the first helmet that doesn't specifically aim dripping sweat at the inside of my sunglasses lenses. I do not know why this was such an issue before or what POC did to solve it. This alone is reason enough for me to keep using it. In fact, when I start to sweat profusely, I can press the front of the helmet against my forehead and a very orderly stream pours out of the pads. I aim it to the side of my top cap, and that pretty much gets rid of any dripping for a good while. I have finished many 5+ hour rides without a single dried-up salty snail trail on my shades. This is unprecedented.
5. I feel like the protection behind the ears is superior to other helmet shapes because the shell comes down further than most others. I don't have anything to back that up.
6. I like the strap system. They seem really, really light but they are nonetheless comfortable and work as intended.
7. I find it beautiful to look at.

I own the standard POC Octal. I know nothing about this MIPS stuff except that it's too new for my tastes.

P.S.: I liked the Octal so much that I bought an Octal Aero for track/crits/cx.


(Nice photo, Eloy!)

I heard great things about this new Lazer. http://lazersport.com/product/bike-adult-road/blade-mat-black-flash-orange

Pretty cheap at $95

I don't if there is enough orange showing

The Osmo code Kissena15 is not working for me. Has it changed ?

I used it last week when I reupped on some recovery. I don't think that it can be used in combination with their single use buy 1 get 1 promo (because I tried). Hope that helps. 

Yes. New ordering process for OSMO. You'll need to have an account with OSMO and then it'll be programmed for you to get the discount. For those people who have ordered using the discount code before, you can just log in and you'll get the discount. For those who haven't, please send an email to Lisa Hunt at OSMO: lisa@osmonutrition.com and please copy sponsorship@kissenacycling.com. Lisa will get you set up with an account and email you the login info.

I'll get the Sponsor document updated soon.

Vlad - you may have ordered before the system changed or everything was discounted. It will show the discounted price on the product pages.

So I called redbeard, they are talking to POC and are considering becoming a dealer , if they can get 10 kissena riders to "buy in" it would make the decision easier
Im interested 

I'm interested provided we get some kind of team/group discount

Edit: although the standard Redbeard discount might suffice 

I'm in

I am in.

We are working on a helmet deal and there are several people "in" on POC. Just sorting out the program for the club as a whole Appreciate the feedback as it helps confirm we're heading in the right direction. 

Here's my take on the helmet discussion.

1. If the club is purchasing helmets for riders, then they should necessarily, and primarily further the goal of helping us race better, together. To that end...

...they don't necessarily have to be "florescent orange." In fact, if we're honest, the florescent color fades quickly. For example, you can compare mine and JP's helmet. JP's is newer, but he wears his during training and is extremely faded. I made the decision to wear mine only while racing in order to help preserve the orange color. It's worked sort of. It's just not looking that great either. So, I think, a regular orange, all over, would probably actually be better.

2. If you are buying your own helmet, get whichever helmet in whatever color makes you happy.

3. If you are like me, and wear a large helmet, the POC helmets look comically large.

I'm in on POC. Glasses too.

I'm in for POC

Marc, do you know if this is endemic to flouro orange helmets or is it specific to Rudy?

my take...

POC helmets are expensive.  Even when we get a deal.  If access is a goal, price needs to be an important consideration.

jim_nelson said:

I'm in for POC

Marc, do you know if this is endemic to flouro orange helmets or is it specific to Rudy?

Jim,
     All modern helmet colors seem to eventually fade due to sunlight exposure.  It's less apparent with white and black, but those fade as well.  

Thanks JP.

Regarding price, the Rudy Sterling (which is the helmet I think most of us have had) is listed at $249. The POC Octal Raceday is listed at $252. So it all depends on the actual structure of the deal.

The fluro helmets fade more, a lot more. But yeah, I suppose technically JP is right an all will fade someway. It's just the degree of fade and what color they become once they fade. If memory serves, Andy DaSilva said his neon green helmet from Giro came with a warning that they would fade too.

Why does fading matter?

I'm in on any potential POC helmet deal.

I'd be in on a POC deal if the discount was reasonable and if I can fit into a medium. I am afraid a large would make my melon of a head look like Charlie Brown... If he was orange

vlad said:

Why does fading matter?

Fading matters to me, because fading florescent orange ends up looking like pale peach way too soon for my tastes. And ultimately pale peach is harder to see up the road and pick from a crowd. And I personally wouldn't spend money on a lid that is going to look like that so soon after I take it out of the box. That's why fading matters to me. That doesn't or shouldn't mean it matters to you or anyone else.

But it's moot I guess because it sounds like the team is going with POCs. And I don't think they start florescent, so they probably won't fade as dramatically as the Rudy Project lids do.

.