Rudy Project Nytron helmet review

The eagle-eyed pro cycling fans amongst you may have spotted the Nytron on the heads of the Team Bahrain Victorious WorldTour outfit, who have had input on the helmet’s construction and aerodynamic appeal.

Also involved with the construction were Swiss Side, themselves no slouches in the aerodynamic arena.

The wind-tunnel development is evident in the aero tail and 15 stealthy exhaust ports.

There’s also a minimally-vented Nytron Pro that ups the aerodynamic appeal even further, the downside being the lack of ventilation channels.

Aerodynamic performance

The Nytron’s aerodynamic focus played out in 220 Triathlon’s independent wind-tunnel test of 11 aero road helmets at the Silverstone Sports Engineering Hub with The Bike Tailor.

Its performance over our baseline Decathlon helmet at a 7.5° yaw angle (simply, the amount of crosswind on your bike) with the rider on tri-bars was a mighty 30.7secs faster over a 40km bike leg at 30km/h, and 15.3secs swifter when riding at 40km/h.

The result at the lower speed places it fifth in the placings, with the result at 40km/h seeing it come third out of the 11 helmets tested.

Impressive stuff, especially given the Nytron’s £189/$324 price tag makes it one of the cheaper aero road helmets around (in the UK, at least).

Build quality and comfort

And yet, £189 is still a lot of money to splash out on a bike helmet when there are serious contenders at half that price, which makes the Nytron’s cheap plastic casing on the rear retention system an unwelcome surprise that’s already showing signs of wear.

The padding, straps and buckle are all unflashy but functional, while the internal adjustment adaptor is easy to adjust and feels durable.

Likewise, the ratchet tightening is secure and offers an assured click.

The Nytron comes in five colours (blue; pink; black; white; red), with our picks being the blue here and the striking red version.

Safety

The ubiquitous MIPS safety tech is absent, in its place is Rudy Project’s WG11 testing protocol (also used by Kask on its helmets, including the Elemento, which we reviewed recently).

This is a European body that acknowledges the MIPS concept is valid but disagrees with how helmets with MIPS are tested, with the difference largely coming down to the head form used.

In terms of the testing by the Virginia Tech Institute, the Rudy Project Nytron has yet to be assessed, with the brand’s Pacemaster MIPS their only helmet rated by the institute’s influential evaluation system.

Weight and ventilation

Helped by the lack of MIPS, which tends to add between 20-25g, weight is a competitive 268g (S-M, 55-58cm) for an aero road helmet with a limited number of sizeable vents (six forward facing, nine at the rear).

Ventilation is effective, however, making the Nytron one of the most versatile lids here for a variety of triathlon racing situations, and I also used it on a hot and hilly seven-hour gran fondo without overheating issues.

I’d only switch to a fully vented lid for the mountainous likes of the Alpe D’Huez Triathlon.

For more reviews and an overview of our recent wind tunnel testing, see our full list of the best aero road helmets.

Rudy Project Nytron helmet specs

Price:	£189/$324
Available from:	Amazon
Weight:	268g
MIPS?	No
Vents:	15