POC Ventral Air Spin Helmet

Kate Agathon

POC has long been a favorite helmet among my mountain bike friends and the Swedish brand is a familiar sight on local trails. However, what I have not seen much of around here are POC helmets worn by cyclists for road biking (as of writing this, I have yet to discover a compelling reason other than availability). 


POC | Ventral Air SPIN Cycling Helmet

 

 

When the opportunity arrived to use a POC helmet for road biking, I seized it; especially because I’d been following the Tour de France and all the other pro cycling team events more closely than previous years.

 

For 2020, Team EF Pro Cycling wore POC helmets (most of them featuring RFID technology to store health information in case of accidents- and let’s face it, the brutal crashes in this year’s Criterium du Dauphine exemplified why RFID is necessary). I mean, if Tejay van Garderen wears a POC to protect his head, I have to try it, because I’ve been a Tejay fan ever since his BMC days.

 

This was my first time wearing a POC helmet for road biking. Due to its unique shape designed to minimize drag and maximize ventilation, the POC Ventral Air Spin helmet (MSRP $275) is the lightest helmet I have worn yet.

 

When it first arrived, I was skeptical. My roommate said I looked like a mushroom character from Super Mario Brothers. OK- that wasn’t a great start. And compared to other road cycling-specific helmets I’ve used (Bontrager and Smith), the POC one felt almost too light. 

 

Ten miles into my first ride, I began to appreciate the POC Ventral Air Spin helmet because my head wasn’t super sweaty, when normally it would have been. Also, I learned soon after that the deliberate lightness of the helmet was to showcase its precision ventilation design that features ports and internal channels that control air intake and release at high and low speeds for extreme cooling and ventilation.

 

From an aesthetic perspective, what I really liked was the white interior showing through the black shell. It just really stood out and drew out white details from my black kits. As far as the “mushroom” comment my roommate made, I forgot about it once I was able to see how it performed. Instead, I’d look at it and think to myself, “How pro!”

 

I preferred wearing the POC Ventral Air Spin helmet for endurance rides with long stretches of sun exposure. I most recently wore it on a century ride in Eagle County, where I was grateful for the extra ventilation. It would totally be appropriate for Moab’s Skinny Tire festival or any number of century rides (Santa Fe, Pedal the Plains, etc.) in geographically flat plains areas.

 

Key features:

 

• Shearing Pad INside (SPIN) silicone pad system
• NFC Medical ID tag stores easily accessible medical profile 
• Specifically designed for aerodynamic performance

• High-performance EPS liner with targeted and optimized density to provide the ideal balance of low weight and crash protection
• Eye garage to secure sunglasses
• Adjustable straps for better fit

One word to describe POC Ventral Air Spin helmet: aerodynamic. Thanks to its thoughtfully designed ventilation, POC Ventral Air Spin helmet is a good choice for long endurance rides, or aggressive, punchy hill climbs.

Kate Agathon

Dr. Of Stoke

Freelance writer, bicyclist, outdoor recreation enthusiast, social justice advocate, and mom to her furbaby, Utah the Adventure Dog.

 

A Colorado native, Kate considers the outdoors her mother ship. She brings her passion for bicycling, the environment, and issues of diversity to her writing. Her primary outdoor recreation activities are mountain biking, fat biking, snowshoeing, camping, peak bagging Colorado’s 14ers, road cycling, and Nordic skiing. After suffering two major knee injuries within four years, Kate hopes to return to alpine skiing next season.

 

Kate earned a bachelor’s degree in History from Colorado State University and later an MSEd and Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction from Purdue University. In addition to her education, Kate’s background serving on the Mayor’s Bicycle Advisory Committee and experience working for non-profits and bicycle sales well position her to bring depth and understanding to the complex changes currently taking place in the outdoor recreation industry.

We also heard she has a (slight) obsession for blue heelers.