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Limar’s newest lightweight Air Atlas aero road helmet is being raced for its third Grand Tour of the season with the Astana Qazaqstan Team, but now for the first time with an extra clip-on at the Vuelta for free speed gains. The team’s new helmet now includes a unique mini UFO tail cone that can be clipped on to smooth airflow & lower drag, or off for increased airflow & more crosswind stability…
Limar Air Atlas vented aero road helmet
From the front and even side, this new Limar Air Atlas looks a lot like a refined evolution of their older Air Speed aero road helmet. But the new helmet steps up performance quite a bit getting faster, boosting ventilation, shedding considerable weight, and improving versatility with its newfound UFO powers. So, what’s new?
NACA duct ventilation
racing photos c. Astana Qazaqstan Team
Across the mid-section of the aerodynamic shell, both on the sides and top, many modern aero helmets use closed surfaces to keep airflow smooth over the widest & highest points of a helmet.
photos c. Limar
But the new Air Atlas places 4 new NACA duct vent inlets here (1 on each side, 2 on top) where the inset ramps draw fast-moving air into the shell without disturbing boundary air movement over the helmet.
The new vents connect to 6 internal airflow channels to dramatically improve ventilation over conventional aero helmets, without increasing drag.
UFO clip-on tail cone
But then to make the Air Atlas even faster, a new unidentified faster(?) 0bject clips onto the back to morphs this aero road helmet in the direction of a time trial helmet. The clip-on UFO tail cone only appears to extend the overall length of the new Air Atlas by a few centimeters at most, but it extends the teardrop shape behind the riders head where turbulence is known to create a lot of extra drag.
The short design is a compromise in smoothing out turbulence, while limiting potential tail cone downsides like: crosswinds instability, increased drag from riders moving their heads around, extra weight, or limiting ventilation. We’re maybe most curious what the UCI rules will have to say about it though, as they aren’t fans of removable aerodynamic cowls or really any non-integral component added just for improved aerodynamics.
For now, it looks like the UFOs the team is using are 3D-printed parts, so maybe they are racing under a development technical exception and would have to use fixed elements in the future?
Tech details
Beyond the new aero shape, new aero NACA vents & completely new UFO cone, the Limar Air Atlas is also a super light helmet at a claimed 220g (S), 235g (M) & 260g (L). That comes from a pretty complex 3-part in-mold polycarbonate shell over hollowed-out EPS construction.
The 17 vent helmet (7 front + 4 NACA + 6 rear) sticks with conventional washable inner pads, a new even more adjustable Air Fit Evo dial retention system, light webbing straps & a Fidlock magnetic buckle.
Limar Air Atlas helmet – Pricing, options & availability
The new aero road helmet is officially a MY23 product and isn’t on Limar’s website yet, so we expect it to be available no earlier than this coming winter, or even into early spring 2023. But when it does come soon, the Limar Air Atlas will sell for 260€ in three sizes (S 52-56cm, M 54-58cm & L 57-62cm) and in six standard colors.
c. Astana Qazaqstan Team
Plus, most likely an Astana-replica, maybe in the new subdued white & blue the team are racing at La Vuelta a España now.
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