The Oakley Velo Mach is the fastest road helmet we've ever tested, but can it justify the hefty price tag?

The Oakley Velo Mach road helmet has been on the market for over a year now and has created waves in that time. Developed with the Tudor Pro Cycling WorldTour team, this is Oakley’s most aerodynamic road helmet.

Oakley says it was ‘designed for real-world riding positions and sprint stage dominance’ and its minimal venting and ‘flow conditioners’ – small fins on the helmet shell to reduce drag and increase airflow attachment – hint that it could be a competitive model at first glance, and it slots in alongside the best road helmets.

It’s a nice-looking lid too, which is always important if you're spending your own cash on kit. The Velo Mach even came out on top in our last CN Labs helmet aero test, beating the until now undisputed top dog when it comes to 'normal' fast road helmets, the Specialized Evade III (the old one, at least).

This is another very competitive road option if you are looking for a quick road helmet. Oakley offers it in two versions, a non-MIPS and a MIPS-equipped version. I’ve been riding in the non-MIPS version pretty much all year, using it for all of my riding, training, and for a road race. The non-MIPS version carries a RRP of £255 / $310 / €300.

We have the data from our own wind tunnel test, and months of real-world testing to pair with it now. If you care about how competitive your helmet is and are on the lookout for a new one, this review should help with your decision-making.

Image 1 of 2

Design and aesthetics

The Velo Mach is a part of Oakley’s ‘helmet eyewear system’; the helmet was designed to pair with the brand's Velo Kato sunglasses. A concept that makes sense, given this is an Oakley helmet.

The brand will probably say you will be fastest when wearing the helmet with a pair of Velo Kato sunglasses, but not everyone is going to wear it with them. I haven’t, and you certainly don’t have to.

Oakley sponsors the Tudor Pro Cycling squad, and the Velo Mach was designed with extensive input from the team, with the overall goal of developing the fastest helmet possible. The brand doesn't however offer up any specific aero claims regarding the helmet.

Oakley cites over 1000 wind tunnel runs as well as CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) in the development of the helmet. Some team riders were scanned, and wind tunnel test mannequins were then produced from these scans for more accurate testing. Incidentally, Tudor Pro Cycling has an office at the SilverStone Sports Engineering hub, the venue where we carry out our own wind tunnel testing.

The result of the collaboration is a sleek helmet which uses three front vents, one large main one, and two side vents, which also double as sunglasses storage. Externally, three vents in the middle rear of the helmet are where internal airflow exits.

Two small rubber fins protrude from either side of the helmet in the back quarter. These 'flow conditioners' reduce drag and increase airflow attachment, helping the air passing over the helmet's outer shell to stick to it for longer. It’s a feature that doesn’t feature on many helmets, and I wonder if we will see more of it in the future.

The physical shape of the Velo Mach does remind me of the Evade III in places, with its narrow profile, shallow edges, and slightly squared off rear. It certainly strikes me as being physically a little narrower than some helmets I've worn, like my go-to Scott Cadence Plus.

Image 1 of 4

Details-wise, the helmet comes with a soft bag, which is always handy, and the branding is subtle enough, with two Oakley ‘O’s on either side of the helmet and an ‘Oakley’ wordmark on the rear of the helmet.

Black, white and Red colours are available, and like the Van Rysel FCR, the helmet is available in MIPS and non-MIPS versions. The MIPS version costs slightly more, and it seems slightly odd to sell two versions of the helmet. Surely, MIPS is better for everyone on paper?

I questioned this, and Oakley responded on the choice to offer two versions, explaining;

"The Velo Mach is offered both with and without MIPS (Multi-directional Impact Protection System) to give riders the freedom to choose the helmet that best fits their riding style and personal priorities. By offering both versions, we want to ensure that every cyclist can make an informed, conscious choice based on what they feel is most relevant to their riding experience, while maintaining consistent standards in design, fit, comfort, and construction across the entire Velo Mach range.”

You can get into the weeds on the effectiveness of rotational impact reduction in helmets and head injuries. No rider wants to have to test their helmets' safety capabilities in the real world; it seems Oakley is just happy to give people the choice.

As of yet, the helmet hasn't been tested by Virginia Tech, which carries out independent helmet safety testing. A Virginia Tech score is a useful gauge when shopping for helmets, and whilst it's certainly not a deal breaker, it's a useful metric when comparing and reviewing things.

Performance

I’ve had an issue-free test period with the Velo Mach. I chose to size down from my normal medium size in helmets and went with a small for my test sample. I was somewhat between sizes and only have a small head, but the small has fitted me fine.

The helmet has been perfectly comfortable for me, though of course, everyone's head is different. Having no hair, I tend to be sensitive to uncomfortable helmet interiors, but there haven’t been any. I haven’t noticed the helmet in use for a single second. I can’t say fairer than that. Its padding and overall fit are very comfortable. There are no hidden surprises here.

I’ve kept riding into the warmer weather with the helmet to test its performance in muggier, hotter temperatures here in the UK, and it receives a big tick there. That large front vent does the trick, and the helmet does well in warmer temperatures, as does the 'TurboDry' pad fabric. I haven't used it in anything over thirty degrees Celsius, but it’s certainly a stronger performer than the Fizik Kudo Aero I tested when the temperatures rise.

The sleek retention system dial and adjustable helmet straps all do the job; the Oakley adjuster dial has a nice grippy rubber coating and offers plenty of fine adjustment, although the helmet cradle isn't height adjustable. It’s all been fit and forget for me, and I was happy riding in the helmet from the off.

Glasses storage has been solid for me on a range of glasses. I personally prefer to stick my glasses behind my head if I take them off, so storage is never a key concern for me, but the angle and spacing of the two side vents seem to hold the arms of the glasses very well.

Speed-wise, the Velo Mach came out top of the 'normal' road helmets in our last CN Labs helmet aero test. By 'normal' road helmets, I mean dedicated road lids without integrated visors, or models that were road-going time-trial helmets.

The full results are behind our paywall. We pay top dollar for wind tunnel time, so do think about subscribing if you want to get stuck into the full data set, and you will get access to all of our other tests too. To sum up, though, the Velo Mach was marginally fastest at 40 and 50 km/h in our testing, beating its closest rivals, the Trek Ballista, Canyon Stinger and Evade 3 by less than a watt overall.

It's good to know I've been wearing one of the fastest road helmets around, and I felt confident I was lining up in a competitive helmet for the road race I rode last month. The difference between helmets can be a decent handful of watts, and if you want to put yourself at least in the ballpark of the quickest lids out there, the Velo Mach will get you there.

I haven't crashed in the helmet, and the fact that it is a non-MIPS version hasn't bothered me, though I think I would spend a few extra dollars and get the MIPS one if I were buying (and go for a white one, as is my taste).

Image 1 of 2

Value

The Velo Mach has an RRP of £255 / $310 / €300 for the non-MIPS version I have tested; if you want the MIPS-equipped version, it will set you back £280 / $340 / €330.

That price makes the $20 cheaper (in the MIPS version) than one of its closest aero competitors and generally fast road helmet benchmark model, the Specialized S-Works Evade 3, which I think it’s fair to say is a top choice for racers buying their own helmets who want a fast model.

We are into top-tier pricing here, and a number of helmets, such as the Kask Elemento and Giro Aries Spherical, all occupy this price bracket. The helmet's padding, retention system and dial, for example, are all fairly unexciting. They all work exactly as they should, and the padding is comfortable, but there's no real luxury or super high-end feel in the Velo Mach construction for the price.

I think the draw overall is the aero performance and fit and forget user experience over any luxury details or bonus features. If you want a fast helmet and like the design, you will need to decide if the cost is worth it for you.

Image 1 of 2

Verdict

The Velo Mach is a good road helmet. It's lightweight and comfortable, the styling and overall design is good, it's been developed by Oakley and a WorldTour team and in our testing it came out on top against nearly fifty other helmets.

There's not much to dislike really, and it hasn't given me a second of discomfort or any other issues in months of regular use. If you are shopping for a new performance road helmet the Velo Mach should at the very least be one of the models you consider.