Hot Head? Helmet Hair? You need one of these.
 

Yes, I know that for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere cooling our heads is possibly the last thing on our minds, but hey, for anyone going south, or living south, I thought I'd give this weird looking thing a shout-out.

http://www.tucanourbano.it/App_Images/prodotti/315.jpg

TucanoUrbano - Prodotti and then scroll along.

I know it looks like a strange combination of your gran's dining chair and something with wings, but I was introduced to it the other day by a riding mate who swears by his.

Anyway, it is indeed a bit of basket work you stuff in your helmet, and it's designed to give you a little bit of airspace between the top of your head and your helmet liner. Obviously if you open any vents you've got then it allows air to pass over your sclp giving you a nice cool bonce and reducing sweat and the need for expensive conditioner.

Does it work? Well I tried it for about ten minutes only in my helmet, a Marushin X-Moto, and it didn't feel any different at all to wear. I'd wondered if it would make it feel like my helmet wasn't on properly, but it doesn't lift it up that far at all. Did I feel better ventilated though? Well it was a cold day and opening the vents certainly seemed to make my head seem cooler than it did without. Does it do the same thing on a warm day? Well I couldn't say, but the owner swears by his. In fact he leaves it in year round because he says if anything he feels slightly warmer with it in in winter with the vents shut, something to do he reckons with creating a little pocket of insulating air.

Would I buy one? Well it's €13 so it's not that expensive, so I'm very tempted, Of course it is winter here now, so I'd have to wait months to know its cooling effects, so I might just wait months before buying, but if I was heading somewhere hot, I'd get one now, after all if I found it didn't work for me, I could always ditch it, or use it as a strange novelty fruit basket.

One thing though, I still ended up with helmet hair.

Looks good. I already have Tucano's handlebar muffs and gouchos and they make some great gear.

Tim