Kask Protone

General Reviews
1

Continuing the helmet theme, thought id give my 2c on the Kask Protone i got a few months back

Ive put a few hundred kms on it, regualar loops and a session through the hills.

Purchased from BikeandRunPlanet.com in Italy, $330 delivered in about 4 days. Certainly the pointy end of the field when it comes to price, but if im going to keep it for as long as i kept the catlike i had previously, i dont think its so bad in the grand scheme of things.

So theres plenty of close up pics of the actual lid on the net via bikeradar etc so i wont delve into that too much.

The helmet is certainly as per Kasks known quality, light and fit is excellent. I attribute this to two main things

  1. the leather chin strap, so comfy, and certainly feels more ‘premium’ because of it
  2. the adjustable cradle for the back of your head

Both of these combined make it a really great fitting lid imo, even the small things like the flat straps that dangle around your ears, much appreciated when you go back to say the Giro Air Attack that dosnt have it. The POC also has this feature
Tightening mechanism also good.

So, Aero. Lets be clear, the only thing aero that i (and most i think) would notice is the shape. Thats about it, unless you actually race of course.

The all important sunny holder, i think the positions of the vents make it quite a secure location for sunnies, so a big thumbs up in that regard.

Caps, i have to say, i dont think caps really suit this lid, i dont know, looks kind of weird. Some lids just dont suit having caps underneath them, and i think the Protone is one of them imo.

Temp wise, having only used it in the cooler months i cant comment how hot it gets so will have to get back to that. This mornings loops was a 9deg start and i wasnt wearing a cap like i normally do. Maybe a little cooler than normal but that could be purely on the weather and no cap, so no real controls to compare properly. Its definitely cooler than the AirAttack though!

The all important sunglass arm fouling the cradle, while it dos make contact, i find the tips of the arms sit ‘in’ the cradle so its not an issue at all. Again, this maybe a personal thing as the more wider you adjust the cradle, the more chances of the sunnies making contact with the cradle. For me personally with my radar xls, not an issue. No contact with the helmet itself

Initial summary, im happy. And i think this one is keeper, combination of the small things and some good design make it worthwhile imo.

A quick comparo, AirAttack - max id pay is $200, the visor is probably the biggest selling point and that alone makes it worth it, everything else is a little meh, the POC, if it had the similar leather chin strap i think it would be worth the $300 price tag, but it just loses out imo because it dosnt have it, plus its super mushroom style. Protone, winner all round in my eyes.

Pics below, any questions or paritcular pics you need feel free to ask





2

Sunnies look like they fit a lot better than the mojito also looks like straight arm sunnies fit well as on the mojito they sit on the plastic head craddle.

3

Great work JaseyJase.
Good to read the review of this lid.
Also great is that you provide a comparison to the Air Attack and to the Octal.
Will consider one of these for Steph (also has the Octal).

4

^ cheers dayne, forgot to talk about that, a big issue for previous kasks too

5

cheers luke, not he most indepth of comparisons, but happy to answer anything specific if need be.

6

I love my Mojito.

Keen to check these out if/when they finally get to Aus.

7

Yeah, still don’t have an ETD yet with the distro. I’ll try again this week. I am also needing a new helmet & keen to check one out for sure.

8

Good to know about the sunnies, I don’t have too many problems with my vertigo. The arms do contact but seem to end up slotting in ok. I’ve tried my straight arm bolle’s and oakley razor blades and can live with both. I do like the look of this though, has some more aero etc but not a mushroom like the POC or sperm lid like the evade.

A+ review as always

9

Problematic if you want one for racing duties given the lack of an Aus standards approved sticker.

I would be interested to know what the insurance position would be if you crash and are injured while out riding generally on a foreign imported helmet.

I’m waiting for this to be sold here too as its my personal favourite design out there but I was advised (by Bikebug) that the helmet has to go through a redesign as it didn’t comply with the Aust testing protocol (apparently one of the most rigorous around according to them).

10

Most rigorous testing that has nothing to do with real world situations apparently.

11

Entirely agree. Drapac seem to be perfectly fine with wearing the helmet here notwithstanding.

Its a point of caution for people considering an imported helmet to be aware of that’s all.

12

Kiwi, do you know first hand of someone having an issue when it came time to make a claim?

I think dayne mentioned it as well but it seems more of an urban myth, ie a colleagues friends neighbors workmate etc…

just trying to find an actual example!

13

notsomuch making a claim; but the shortlived Whittlesea CX series weren’t letting ppl race unless they showed the officials their helmet with AS/NZS sticker.

14

The testing is stupid, out dated, and designed around helmet design from the late 80’s/90’s rosebank.
Technically you are not in a roadworthy state if not wearing an approved helmet.
That being said it will be a hard battle for them to prove that a non standard helmet contributed to the accident but be prepared and cashed up for a battle.
Also kiss goodbye any chance of them paying out a head injury.

15

Dayne really hits the point on the head.

Dfunkt’s point about Whittlesea would likely be driven by the club wanting to protect itself if a participant in the race suffered a serious injury and then wanted to make a claim. Their insurers may have required it. If you look at the entry terms of most club races there will be a requirement to abide by CA rules, which will mention the need to wear an approved helmet or this requirement will be mentioned specifically. Most clubs probably take a pragmatic view around the viability of checking.

I’m not comfortable with the legal uncertainty (or at least the uncertainty for my family) if I suffer a serious injury and then the insurer fights a claim made against the insurance policy that all of us that hold race licences have the benefit of because I was wearing a non- approved standards helmet. Let alone any other kind of personal injury/permanent disability insurance a cyclist might also hold separately as part of an employment contract etc.

Yesterday I had a fossick through the AON policy terms that you can find via the Cycling Australia website and none of the exclusions specifically refer to the need to be wearing an Australian standards approved helmet so far as I could see on a cursory review.

I don’t have enough experience and haven’t looked into whether an insurer could successfully resist a claim being made in circumstances where a cyclist is wearing an non-approved standards helmet, but its not a debate I (or like I said my family) would like to have.

That’s why I’ll hold off getting this particular helmet for now - sweet though it is.

16

Jaseyjase, as my reply above notes I’ve not got any direct experience on how an insurer would approach a claim in these circumstances and the question isn’t in my direct area of legal expertise, I’m just conservative in my approach to the issue, as my post makes clear. As a father of 2 I have to consider issues like this from the perspective of the 3 dependants I’m responsible for.

17

Yep, all great points made by Dayne and yourself.

18

I researched a story on this a while back and then decided it was kinda boring. An insurer I spoke said technically they could knock back a claim that involved a non Aus helmet but hadn’t heard of it ever happening or anyone being bothered enough to check. At an accident it would be the last thing on people’s minds.
someone else I spoke to pointed out some outrageous lengths importers have to go through to get certification though. This may have since changed.

19

Nearly two years on and the helmet is going great guns, albeit used only on weekends and not my everyday commuter lid.

20

What’s the everyday commuter lid?