At a glance A good value, cool-looking, comfy and well vented mountain biking, snowsports and skate helmet with sun visor and warm fluffly hat attachments that could do with a better, more durable adjustment system at the back of the head
Tested by
Claire Maxted, gear tester for The Bike List
Performance
Whomfph! And I'm down again. I thought falling off your bike was relegated to 6 year olds, dirt jumpers and crazy down hillers, but no, however careful you are, slippery leaves can gang up on you and slip your wheels skyward when you least expect it. As usual, I picked myself up and inspected the damage. An elbow graze and a shin bruise, but this time, nothing hideous enough to send to MBR magazine's hall if injury shame.
I was glad that my
helmet hadn't taken a knock because I have rather fallen in love
with this cool Bern number which has been protecting my silly old
bonce not only when I'm mountain biking, but for my first time
snowboarding too. The Berkley has proved itself to be a very
reasonably priced, light weight (355g) and low-profile Zipmold
helmet perfect for biking and snowsports. You can also use it for
skateboarding, but roller blading is my limit, so I haven't tested
it in this arena.
Zipmold is Bern's exclusive, patent pending technology where they use liquid injected high impact foam fused to a PVC shell. This makes it seamless, tapered, thinner and lower profile. This is the women's version, so not only is it shaped for a slightly smaller head, it also has a cute little butterfly design on the side which definitely enhances its big plastic head-casing appeal. If you must put something boring and safe on your head that meets the EN 1078, CPSC, and ASTM F 2040 Standard Specifications for Helmets, at least it can look pretty.
I remember my first bike helmet, and don't we all. If you're in your late 20's and upwards you'll be familiar with that solid mass of polystyrene that your parents absolutely insisted you wear out in public (oh the horror!) on your first two-wheeled excursions. I am so glad technology has moved on.
The Berkeley is positively a joy to wear and feels unbelievably comfy. It's ventilated with five petal-shaped holes at the top, four at the rear and two at the front so you can even hear a bit better too. And what's more, it comes with some groovy attachments. For summer mountain biking you can clip in the peak to shade your eyes from the sun, and for your winter snowboarding trips you can popper in a big furry hat. It saves you wearing a real hat that's never quite the right fit for your head once a helmet is on top of it.
The only downside to this helmet is the very flimsy tightener at
the back. Helmets have either a slider or dial to increase or
decrease the side of your helmet round the back of your head, and
this helmet's slider is very flimsy. It is hard to operate with big
gloves on when you're boarding, only alters by a tiny 3.5cm and
just feels l
ike it might break at any moment. I would swap
this arrangement for a nice secure and easy to use dial any day,
and next time would pay a bit extra for a better slider.
I have yet to fall on it while mountain biking (thankfully, as I'd have to fork out for a new one!), but snowboarding is a totally different story. I was told that falling over is all part of the excitement of learning this sport so I'm glad invested in head protection. This helmet not only saved my head from a couple of almighty whacks on hard packed snow and icy sections, but also made me feel confident enough to really go for it down the slopes.
Just as I wouldn't ever mountain bike without the safety of a helmet, I now wouldn't even think about trusting my naked head to a snowslope. And these days helmets can be comfy, ventilated and pretty, so you could do a lot worse than choose this one for at least trying to look cool while you fall over.
Buy from www.evanscycles.com
Bern says:
Bern's most popular women's bike helmet provides superior protection for those of you who don't want a Styrofoam planet on your head. Whether commuting to work in traffic or riding for a cause, we can't promise zero helmet head when you reach your destination, but we can promise to keep you safe and stylin' on your journey.
Bern's exclusive Zipmold® foam is a liquid foam injection process that provides a better weight to strength ratio so Bern can provide customers with a lighter, lower profile helmet. Zipmold® hard foam meets ASTM F 2040, CPSC and EN 1078 standards for bike and skate.
Sizes: XS-L Weight: XS-S 14.8 oz. | M-L 15.5 oz.
Find out more www.bernunlimited.com
