Wibble.

I don’t need one (I’ve already got one) but if you’re after a road helmet then get this one. It’s sooooo comfortable and easy to adjust. The chin strap is barely necessary because the ‘back of the head’ strap thing is so good at adjusting and holding on.

How are they for the small headed amongst us?

Owned one for two years and love it. Pity it’s in BSkyB colours or I’d pick up a second one.

Curiousyellow – they size up pretty close to Giro lids…but not as long through the centre line.

Excellent helmets.. also worth noting the top of the range Vertigo has a trade-in offer on at the moment – making it £100 (from £165).

Thanks for posting. Just ordered one as I was in the market for a new road helmet.

Dammit Jamie, that’s a Bambino ordered 😳

Shame its black/blue.

I just went to Cycle Surgery at lunch and bought a white/blue Vertigo. £65 off with the trade in, but didnt need to trade in anything (I said on their website it just says to send in a photo).

what’s the trade-in offer?
I hate buying helmets without trying them on first but this is tempting.

http://www.cyclesurgery.com/road-helmets/helmets-protection/fcp-category/list

Good luck to anyone buying a Kask helmet from Ribble.

NO WARRANTY, NO CRASH REPLACEMENT

Kask have announced Ribble are not an authorised dealer and therefore any helmets purchased from them are as is with no warranty or aftersales to kask at all.

Although these are great helmets!

NO WARRANTY, NO CRASH REPLACEMENT

Never had to use warranty or (thankfully) crash replacement on any road helmet I’ve owned. And crash replacement is only 50% off a new one, which is roughly the Ribble saving anyway.

If it’s not right out the box then I’ll just send it back to Ribble.

wiggle are doing the offer too.
Need to replace my giro… are Kask the currently best as I also like the look of the Catlike.

Good luck to anyone buying a Kask helmet from Ribble.

NO WARRANTY, NO CRASH REPLACEMENT

Kask have announced Ribble are not an authorised dealer and therefore any helmets purchased from them are as is with no warranty or aftersales to kask at all.

Probably a good job that your warranty is with the retailer then, not Kask.

I bought a sale Giro Atmos and promptly fell off on sheet ice. Crazh replacement was 50% of RRP **** OFF!!

Warranty? You still have your consumer rights. Ribble can claim what they like.

I don’t think Ribble are claiming anything, it’s Kask. As has been said though, if it’s not right it’s going back to Ribble, not Kask.

Bambino arrived, and very nice it is too 🙂

Picked up a Bambino yesterday, rode it last night for a PB in a club 10.

Quality is very nice, love the leather strap… Only problem is that I’ve just blown 55 quid on a mirrored visor for the full pro look!

Vertigo sizing is a bit hit or miss. Only two sizes im bang in the middle so went for a large so i could get a cap under it but it does mean its a bit of a mushroom head fit.

Kudos, top effort there!

Where did you find the mirrored visor for 55 quid? Oh and how do you find the magnets on the visor work? Heard a few people complain that they are a bit rubbish.

The official email from KASK to the trade…

Dear Partner,

We would like to inform you that we acknowledge that RibbleCycles (co.uk) is selling Kask helmets without our permission.

Once again, we take this opportunity to confirm to you that Kask policy towards on-line sales has not changed and we will take immediate action to stop the sales of our products through the above mentioned website.

Furthermore we would like to communicate that:
– Kask and Velobrands have no business relationship with Ribblecycles (co.uk) or Cyclesport North Ltd.
– Kask dissociates itself from any sales coming from Ribblecycles (co.uk)
– Kask is already working on this matter to protect your business
– Kask will not support after sales service on products not purchased through our official dealers

For any further information please contact directly VeloBrands Ltd.

Thank you for supporting Kask.

Kind Regards,

Mr Diego Zambon
KASK General Manager

Read into that what you will, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re either (very genuine looking) knock offs, or they’re far eastern market products that don’t have to meet the same safety standards so they won’t be Kite Marked etc…

Just given it a good comparison with one a mate has, and seems pretty genuine to me. Identical as far as I can tell, even down to the labels it came attached with. Only difference is his came with a visor and cost twice as much. Happy to have gotten in_before_the_lock!

Also the wording of the above email certainly implies that they are genuine, just being sold without permission.

Read into that what you will, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re either (very genuine looking) knock offs, or they’re far eastern market products that don’t have to meet the same safety standards so they won’t be Kite Marked etc…

Or just grey imports from a legit source?

Yep, my Bam is 100% legit, safety-stickered etc. In retail packaging with helmet bag. Sounds like Kask are trying to protect their pricing using bully boy tactics.

Read into that what you will, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re either (very genuine looking) knock offs, or they’re far eastern market products that don’t have to meet the same safety standards so they won’t be Kite Marked etc…

Why on earth would a company develop a product that meets the highest safety specifications and then tool up to produce an inferior model that uses identical materials but isn’t as safe??? 🙄

Where did you find the mirrored visor for 55 quid? Oh and how do you find the magnets on the visor work? Heard a few people complain that they are a bit rubbish.

I’ve ordered it from Bike24 in Germany – works out at 57 quid including shipping. Only ordered it this morning, but I borrowed one of a guy last night to try. It seems to locate really easily against the magnets which are pretty strong. There were some reports of magnets coming off which is supposed to be better with more recent ones.

They can be prone to steaming up under certain conditions but an effective fix is to buy some 3mm thick rare-earth magnets (cheap as chips off ebay) and use them to space the visor very slightly. Some people drill them but I’m not about to do that after I’ve paid so much for it!

Thanks Kudos. What’s the mirrored one like? How much light does it transmit? Can’t really find much info.

What’s the mirrored one like? How much light does it transmit?

That was the reason for borrowing one – it’s very lightly tinted so not too dark even in poor conditions (I used it in fading light after a TT last night). I’d say it’s probably as light as you could possibly make a mirror finished visor.

It’ll stick in my craw having to fork out that amount for a flimsy piece of polycarbonate, but they look the dogs bollocks and you need th visor to get the optimum aero benefit.

PS, have you tried yours yet?

Thanks again kudos. Not tried mine on the bike yet, only got it this morning!

I can’t fault it, it’s comfier than any TT helmet I’ve tried before, dead light and you don’t get that wagging feeling you get with long-tailed designs. I was surprised how well vented it feels in use too.

Why on earth would a company develop a product that meets the highest safety specifications and then tool up to produce an inferior model that uses identical materials but isn’t as safe???

Wouldn’t perhaps have worded it like that myself, but yeah, beats me too, but they do it!

Remember a couple of years ago or so, Planet X had a whole load of Giro lids that weren’t from the official source, that they knocked out for silly money. Well I saw a few, and many of them were obviously inferior to their official UK stock counterparts, and most of them weren’t a ticketed up with any safety standards… It happens! Why? I’m gonna guess that somewhere along the line it’s cheaper to cut a few corners for less stringent markets… But it’s just that, a guess.

Sounds like Kask are trying to protect their pricing using bully boy tactics.

If you’ve spent millions investing in a Pro Tour team, new models, cutting edge designs etc only for someone who’s managed to get hold of a load of your product from a dodgy source, who sells them for less than cost price to the trade out the back door on his website, you’d be pretty annoyed too! It damages brands so badly many of them never recover. Where are Giro in the UK now that Madison got fed up of the grey market lids in the UK, so dropped them. Well almost every bike shop that used to stock Giro, now stocks something else instead! Halfords had similar effects on the GT AND Kona brands many years ago, and they certainly took an age to recover.

KASK helmets are expensive, but then they’re a premium product. If someone somewhere is selling them for cheaper than the cost to the trade, then you’ve got to ask yourself the question… How? The answer is that somewhere along the line, something dodgy has happened, and it won’t help the brands success long term sadly!

KASK helmets are expensive, but then they’re a premium product. If someone somewhere is selling them for cheaper than the cost to the trade, then you’ve got to ask yourself the question… How?

I would have thought it’s more likely that UK retailers are getting shafted by Kask on wholesale prices and they’ve done a deal with a European retailer who’s managed to get a far better price.

As for inferior products, I’m afraid I’m very skeptical that Giro produce a shoddy version for less affluent markets.

I would have thought it’s more likely that UK retailers are getting shafted by Kask on wholesale prices and they’ve done a deal with a European retailer who’s managed to get a far better price.

My guess would be some of last years stock being sold off from some Euro retailer.

Euro retail doesn’t seem too bad compared to uk. Bambino’s seem to be going for £300 here and E310 over in Germany, so only a little bit of a shafting at about 50 quid cheaper over there.

Where are Giro in the UK now that Madison got fed up of the grey market lids in the UK, so dropped them.

Aren’t they still everywhere? I mean, Wiggle, Rutland, CRC, Merlin etc all sell them, no?

Aren’t they still everywhere? I mean, Wiggle, Rutland, CRC, Merlin etc all sell them, no?

Yeah, Zyro distributing, who most LBS deal with.

KASK helmets are expensive, but then they’re a premium product

twisted logic, they are priced high to define them as a premium product. The fact they can be sourced so much more cheaply shows the price is set by marketing not by recouping the “millions spent” on R+D and sponsorship.

Halfords didnt kill GT, corporate financial mismanagement killed GT, and when they were re-born their buyers originally said they were going to be a sub $500 budget brand aimed at chains. Thankfully they realised the brand still had value and continued to develop high end bikes.

Kask are trying to protect their market and their suppliers, but I’d go with the LBS’s being given poor margins through official channels. Look at Easton, you can buy a Haven alloy bar with a £70 retail price from CRC for £23, it comes in retail packaging, and cost from the importer/distributor + VAT was ~£33 last time I spoke to someone in the trade.

Trek did something similar by restricting mail order – you could ‘buy’ a bike online but it has to be collected from a B+M store, it couldnt be delivered.

I’m happy to support the grey market. Sure, officially sanctioned dealers are missing out, bit Ribble is a local business, employing local people, and I’m more than happy to let them have my business if it means getting the product at a lower price.

I hope a few of the official stockists revise their product lines on the basis of this sort of thing happening – it’s ultimately the only way to stop us consumers being shafted by manufacturers and distributors.

Kask will not support after sales service on products not purchased through our official dealers

Is that legal ? it is still their product.

Agree it is premium because they charge loads – ribble were making money at that price

As a consumer I’m not sure what difference that would make to me anyway, if I had a problem I’d be going back to Ribble, not to Kask.

BTW MrBlobby, that link for visors is a duff… They’re one of those disreputable websites that take money off people for products that aren’t in stock. DON’T ORDER FROM BIKE24!

Thanks Kudos, I was tentatively hovering over the buy button earlier but their site does say “delivery time unknown” which I assume means they don’t know when they’ll next get stock.