Living in the Riviera gives you the freedom (and weather) to do many more outdoor activities by day or night than in other European destinations. One activity perfectly suited to being enjoyed at any time of the day in the city of Nice is to take its dedicated bike lanes and cycle tracks.
One important thing to bear in mind, particularly when riding during the evening or night time (which seems like all the time at the moment!), is having a good set of lights to keep you safe from motorists, other bikers and pedestrians who might be in your way. Because we like to ride with the latest tech, we’d recommend the T1 Helmet by Torch Apparel with integrated LED lights.
When you look at the helmet you might have thought it would be too hot to wear it, but in fact is lightweight and designed with humid temperatures such as that of Nice in mind. It is comfortable to wear and has a very performs well in the heat – while you don’t get the typical airflow that you will get with a racing type helmet, the T1 will do the job just fine.
The main feature about this helmet as we mentioned before is the integrated lights, so let’s get down to the technical specifications.
The helmet has five lights in both the front and rear protected by a frosted polycarbonate lens, which does a good job of diffusing the light across the entire lens area. The four modes (high and low steady, slow and fast flash) are accessed by a button on the side of the lens. You’ll feel the button click on or off even when you’re wearing gloves. The lights are individually powered and run times are estimated from about two hours in the high steady mode to up to 12 hours for the slow flash. I have been running the front on low steady, and have been getting between four and five hours. The front and rear have their own power supply, so one will not affect the run time of the other.
In terms of brightness and said frankly, even on the high setting, this helmet doesn’t throw a lot of lumens in either direction, and the light is very diffused, with no apparent beam. I have seen no manufacturer indication of lumens, lux, or anything like that.
That being said, for enhancing rider visibility, it is a great addition in active lighting. Being at your head height, especially in traffic when a row of cars may be overtaking you, the helmet light can be visible when your frame mounted taillamp may be obscured to other drivers by a car that’s alongside you.
There are separate batteries front and rear, each with its own recharging port. AY cable is supplied so both can be charged simultaneously from a single USB outlet.
Build-wise, the helmet has what I would call a ‘handcrafted’ look to it, meaning some of the lines for the various cutouts aren’t perfectly straight, but it appears that this is due to a type of bleeding over from the foam as it’s molded to the shell. It’s not unappealing and considering the helmet comes from a start-up company, I will say it’s a very good product.
I can do better than that… I love this helmet. It’s the ideal option for early morning/late night commuting where any extra visibility is a plus. If you are a regular bike rider, I would definitely recommend you give it a try.
For more information on the helmet, take a look at the website by clicking: T1 Bicycle Helmet | Torch Apparel.
