Oakley’s first ever mountain bike helmet has been unveiled and with the help of world-class downhill racer, Greg Minnaar, the DRT 5 is as stylish as it is safe and practical.
After years of being known primarily as a sunglasses brand, it makes sense that Oakley has to ensure the DRT 5 is compatible with all of their own glasses, regardless of shape or size.
Like any other $200 mountain bike helmet the, DRT 5 comes with a MIPS system to protect the wearer against twisting forces in the result of a crash, and there’s a high-end BOA retention system in place too.
BOA is already in use on a number of products front shoes to helmets and offers a fast and simple method of adjusting the DRT 5 and ensure a perfect fit. In addition, the thin BOA cables are less likely to interfere with glasses.
Similarly, Oakley and Minnaar were wise enough to design the main helmet straps of the DRT 5 to be worm over the top of glasses arms. There’s nothing worse than whipping your helmet off after a sweaty climb only to launch your expensive glasses into the dirt. With the DRT 5 this should never be a problem.
Another issue Oakley also wanted to address with the DRT 5 was a method of holding glasses on to a helmet when they aren’t being worn. Other helmets get around this by offing specially designed vents which the glasses arms sit in. The problem with this though is the arms can poke your head and it’s still quite easy to knock them free.
To solve this problem, Oakley has designed the “Eyewear Landing Zone”, basically to arms that pop out and grip your glasses in place. The clamps have soft silicon pads for a secure fit, and when clamped into position, they will keep your glasses in place even over rough terrain.
For Enduro riders who like to ride in goggles, Oakley has thought about you too. The visor has plenty of indexed positions and in it’s highest there’s enough space for goggles to be stowed out of the way.
Keeping you as cool as you look are a generous amount of large air channels, and attached to the MIPS system there’s a silicone sweat guard designed to channel sweat away from your forehead. Other than this channel there’s only one other small pad that sits on the very top of your head.
Oakley will offer the DRT 5 in 5 colour options, Dark Brush, Matte Blackout, Matte White, Matte Balsam and Minnaar Grey although the production version will be a slightly lighter grey to the one shown here.