Having first kicked off the Bluegrass brand back in 2010, MET Helmets has been steadily increasing its range of protective gear, full-face helmets and lightweight XC/trail helmets. They had a bunch of new colour options, sizes and helmet shapes on show at the Birmingham Cycle Show last week, so we took a look at two lids that caught our attention while wandering around the halls of the NEC.
The Lupo is a premium trail lid from Italian brand MET, with massive ventilation and a shapely profile that increases coverage where it’s required, while stripping away material where it isn’t. The result is a high quality sub-300 gram helmet that offers incredible ventilation and decent coverage for trail riders.
The Lupo features an EPS foam core with a polycarbonate construction. The helmet has an adjustable visor, which can be tilted upwards to make way for goggles. The rear of the helmet is profiled to snug down goggle straps, though MET have designed the Lupo so it works just as well with regular riding glasses too.
MET’s Safe-T Advanced adjustment system is present on the Lupo, with an easily adjustable dial that can be activated with one hand. The helmet uses generous Kevlar straps, which feel a lot thicker than some of the super-thin straps being used on competitors helmets.
Another nice feature of the Lupo is the water-based gel padding for the front of the harness, which helps to cushion your forehead while channelling away sweat. Despite all of the top-end features, the MET Lupo helmet still only retails for £99, which makes it solid value for money on paper. The Lupo is available in Small, Medium and Large sizes, with the Large going up to a 62cm circumference for the big noggins out there.
Another top-value lid from the MET family is the Bluegrass Golden Eyes. The Bluegrass Golden Eyes helmet was first introduced in 2014 as a high-coverage trail lid designed to offer riders a little more protection than an average XC helmet. The Golden Eyes helmet carries on into 2017, but receives some updates and adds another size to the range to make it three in total (Small, Medium & Large).
Selling for £89, the Golden Eyes helmet is impressive value for money given its high-tech construction. Using a Homothetic Embedded Skeleton (HES) construction, the Golden Eyes helmet partially embeds two shells into each other, reducing the weight of the helmet while increasing its ability to absorb shock. Plus, it looks sweet.
Providing deep coverage over the entire head, the Golden Eyes helmet extends further down the back of the skull to protect you in the event of a crash. Additional protection around the temples also ensures that you’ve got plenty of cushioning if you’re sent sideways on the trail.