I replaced my Casco Speedairo 2 RS with this helmet, so those are some pretty big shoes to fill, and in terms of comfort and security, the Fend pulls it off. The Speedairo is a 250€ helmet, so, I am mostly happy with the helmet aspect of it all. Høvding was another option for me, but I mostly wear rucksacks on my bike rides, which more or less incapacitates that air-baggy helmet. Can't beat the size and weight, though ;-)
Now, it is _very_ solid but, same reason as folding bikes are inherently heavier than normal bikes, there is a price. It is noticeably heavier, even though it would be apples to oranges comparison to the Speedairo, since that one is more of a time trial / triathlon helmet and costs more than double. I can live with the additional grams, it's not prohibitively heavy, just, as I wrote: solid. And solidity is a good side to err on when it comes to helmets.
Next, the lights. They do their job. I am always a bit concerned they might one day fall out of their holes, but, other than me being sloppy with pushing them all in, this hasn't been a problem so far. They are very easy to charge and bright enough. The front light is purely a visibility light, you won't see very far with it, nor does it light up the night, but that's not what I expected from them. I've got other lights to do that, you don't want anything this high up to be strong enough to blind oncoming traffic I feel a bit like a christmas tree with all the shiny blinky things on my bike, but I can live with that.
However, they last a maximum of less than 1 hour (the rear light on blinking, the front one on solid), and that is not enough, especially since they are a bit out of sight for yourself, so there is no direct control for you if they are still working if you are not cycling in complete darkness. I have a feeling the rear light right now is giving out after max half an hour. After my 15 km evening ride back from the pool, the rear light is empty. no glimmering, just plain out. The front light gave out a bit later, but still well within the 45 minutes this commute takes me at a later hour. I have been using this helmet for almost a year now, probably 2-3 times / week with the lights on at least for part of the ride. I don't feel that the endurance of the lights should already be taxed by that. So: nice proof of concept, but the lights have to be better.
Still, I feel it is an upgrade over my Casco for my use cases. I am not aiming to win any gold medals in my triathlons, so I am perfectly ok with the weight. As a frequent traveller, it's a bit of a bummer, but, every time I can fold the helmet before packing it, I still brings a smile to my face, so the 100 g or so difference in my weight allowance are ok. And can't beat the utility. I am considering bringing it on those late night outings (I play life music and currently live across town in Tallinn, Estonia, where it gets dark pretty early in summer, after a short period where it stays almost twilight-ish for the whole night, because of the proximity to the North Pole) and after midnight bus traffic makes not much sense anymore. But e-scooters are widely available (Bolt is from Tallinn, in case you didn't know, and their home turf is also their lab experiment) and I'd rather protect my noggin', since falling on my head at 25 km/h can get ugly, so throwing the helmet in my guitar case or my rucksack is always a good idea.
On the could-be-better front, I am still waiting for the version with indicator lights and maybe a brake light function for the rear lights. Bluetooth connectivity would also be high up on the list, since that would precisely allow you to see if the rear (and front) lights are still on and set an alarm on your smart phone on the handle bars in case they go out. An integrated camera in front might also be nice. For the rear, the Cyclic Fly 6 gives better utility, but for the front, seeing what I see, one such camera would make sense. Oh, and a magnetically attachable visor should not be too hard to implement. I bought the Speedairo mainly because of the visor (make it photochromic, while we are at it, as Casco also does), and it was almost worth it ;-)
And to keep all of this juiced up, maybe it makes sense to have one central battery pack running inside of the helmet and hook up everything to it? The cabling need not be excessive, and that way, you only have one thing to charge, can pack a battery with more oomph unrestricted by the restraints of having to fit it all into a light, and it is easier to obtain information about remaining capacity. Just an idea.
Well done, Fend, but the 5 stars are still conditional on the lights staying on for at least two hours.
