Poc Ventral Air Mips

The Poc Ventral Air Mips helmet is very comfortable, light and well vented. The fit is excellent and easily adjustable, and it also works well with a variety of sunglasses. I'd say it's challenging for a place in our best cycling helmets buyer's guide. You'll also see this in the pro peloton on the heads of EF Education Easy Post.

While the Ventral Air Mips is designed to be aerodynamic, it incorporates much better ventilation than a straight aero road lid. It achieves this with lots of vents at the front and rear to aid airflow and keep your head cool. I found it great – my head was noticeably drier than when wearing my usual helmet. I didn't feel like it was holding excess sweat, even when I was riding on the limit trying (and failing) to hold on to the superfast guys on the club rides.

The vents are quite large and sometimes my hair would stick through, but it didn't really bother me as I often wear a cycling cap. With such large vents, you'd definitely need some suntan lotion or a cycling cap in summer if you have a closer haircut.

I found the padding very comfortable, even after hours in the saddle. It is absorbent enough to soak up excess sweat, and also easy to remove for washing (which I should really do more often).

Poc says the helmet has an aero optimised design. I clearly couldn't test the aero performance, and wouldn't say it felt any faster than my usual helmet, but that is going to be very hard to test in the real world.

I enjoy cycling in warm weather and doing hard training rides outdoors, so I prefer the balance of ventilation and aerodynamics of the Ventral Air to a specific aero road helmet.

Fit & adjustability

The fit is optimised through the cradle and dial system at the rear. The cradle runs all the way round and is easy to adjust and dial in the perfect fit. I often wore it with a headband, cycling cap or nothing and it was easy to adjust the fit quickly and accurately when switching between them.

I found it didn't interfere with my Oakley Sutros at all, and they worked well together. I have also been testing Poc's Propel sunglasses, and as you'd expect the interaction between the brand's helmet and glasses is seamless.

If you want to take your glasses off then you can store them in the helmet. The 'eyewear garage' is essentially some high-friction pads so that the glasses don't move around. It works really well and I was never worried about my sunglasses falling out.

The straps are the conventional Y-style with a standard buckle closure, which worked as expected for a premium helmet.

Safety

As the name suggests, the helmet features the latest Mips technology. Mips stands for Multi-directional Impact Protection and is a rotational management system designed to reduce rotational energies in the event of an impact, energies that would otherwise be transferred to your head. (Read our feature, All you need to know about Mips, to find out more.) The latest iteration of the technology is light and hardly noticeable.

At 260g the Ventral Air Mips is slightly lighter than some of its rivals, and I found it comfortable on rides of all durations.

I tested the 'Himalayan Salt Matt' option, which I think looks good, and the helmet is available in a wide range of colours so you should be able to find one that matches your kit/bike.

It also comes in three different sizes and also a wide-fit option designed for round head shapes.

Value

Though not cheap, at £230 the Poc Ventral Air Mips isn't as expensive as some we've tested here at road.cc.

The S-Works Prevail 3 got a good review from Stu, and comes in at 273g, but is £45 more at £275. And the Met Trenta 3K Carbon Mips is £290, though it is very light at 223g, and Jamie thought it was excellent.

You can spend less, though: the Bell XR Spherical Road Helmet is £209.99, though slightly heavier at 294g, and George thought it was excellent.

And the Rudy Project Egos Helmet received a 9/10 review from Stu and looks well vented for warm weather riding. It is priced at £169.99.

You can find much cheaper Mips helmets, too: the Met Estro Mips received a good review and costs £120, weighing 270g.

Conclusion

Overall, the Poc Ventral Air Mips is a bit on the pricey side, but it's an excellent helmet, ideal for warm days when its great airflow keeps you cool. It's comfortable, quick and easy to adjust, and worked well with different pairs of sunglasses. It looks great, too.

Verdict

Great ventilation, light, comfortable and looks good