Delight Your Dome

Exploring the woods of this great country has always been in my blood. Perhaps it’s because I’m restless. Perhaps its because I’m 10% Native American. Or perhaps it’s because my other 90% is French, Dutch and English. Either way, I’ve scouted my way through sundry forests, a handful of deserts, and an occasional cave (literal and Freudian) and always felt more manly for it. Look at me, I’d think, roughin’ it like a mountain fella. Just a few days without a shower and I can pass for a caveman. And if I ever grow a beard, I can pretend I’m from Vermont.

As I’m sure it does for all of us, mountain biking does a lot to buttress that outdoorsy pride. And it always has. Until I started riding with the Louis Garneau OZ-ZY. The fact is, strapping the OZ-ZY to my skull before hitting the trails feels akin to donning a Ritz-Carlton bathrobe for a court date. At 297grams, its superb fit and weightless feel make it almost inappropriately comfortable for the occasion.

Although helmet fit is obviously different for everyone, I found the Louis Garneau does one thing notably better than most helmets: the closure system. Like most, it leaves the back end to be tailor-sized with a closure device which the company refers to as Spiderlock. But at the front, it is snug enough that dialing the device at the rear gives the sensation of adjusting the entire circumference of the helmet—not just pushing it forward.

While plenty of helmet makers have discovered the utility of these adjustable closure devices, few of them feel as substantial and well-integrated as this one. With almost absurd precision (one click too many and you need an Advil) the Spiderlock closes and opens with a nice positive ratcheting noise, and the padding on the device has a memory-foam feel that makes the fit snug but comfortable.

The helmet’s strap system is simple but equally well-executed and trouble-free, if a little unglorious. Bottom line: this is a helmet that stays glued to your head, even on the most tumultuous of descents.

Great attention to shape and fit has allowed Louis Garneau to use very scant padding without any sacrifice in comfort. For all-day riders and hardcore racers alike, less padding means less perspiration getting soaked into your helmet, and more evaporating. More evaporation means the polystyrene material that protects your noggin lasts longer. It also means less sweat ends up dripping all over your face.

The OZ-ZY’s laudable ability to make sweat disappear isn’t just a function of its sparse and quick-drying pads. It’s also a product of its 16-vent design. With five big scoops at the front to channel air to your precious bean, and several massive openings at the top, its design is so airy that you could practically watch an entire Kevin Costner movie looking through it. Sure, you’d miss a thing or two. But you’d catch enough to know it sucked.

For as carefully-designed as the OZ-ZY feels, it is also obvious that Louis Garneau paid attention to aesthetics. Now, it takes a lot for me to wear a helmet without a visor, because I think they look damn cool. But this helmet won me over with its hi-tech, but not ostentatious, appearance. The back of the OZ-ZY is its most distinctive feature; under flame-like ridges angled to a point, you’ll find an opening in the center that looks like something out of a Rorschach ink blot test. Personally I think it looks like the Bacardi bat logo. Regardless, it’s cool.

Though the color options are varied and a little strange (our test helmet was orange and two-tone silver), the helmet also comes in a glossy gray or white for a more demure look. Thankfully, the construction of the OZ-ZY is nearly as impressive as its unique color scheme. The Canadian-made lid sports a polystyrene core with neat seams and a shell that seems bonded into the foam—not just glued cheaply over it. Of course, most reasonable consumers would expect this kind of helmet for $150.

However, for a helmet at this price point I was a little disappointed with some of the details. The Spiderlock, anchored at just two small points on either side of the helmet, seems like it would be easy to break off if thrown in the mix with the rest of my gear. Making the attachment of the Spiderlock seem even more precarious are two sets of Velcro pads serving as auxiliary anchors to the inside of the helmet—pads that quickly came unstuck. Although its clear that a helmet of this caliber deserves to be treated well (it comes with a protective baggy), I tend to think that the device protecting my head on the trail should at least be able to hold its own when faced with an errant water bottle or shoe while riding in the trunk of my car.

Those quips aside, the OZ-ZY has stood up to almost daily abuse without a hitch for a month, so I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it. Especially if you can find an orange and two-tone silver bike to match.