I recently reviewed the Pluto R Electric Bicycle right here on the Best Buy Canada Blog. But what good is a bicycle without a proper helmet? If you want to be safe when cruising the streets on your bike, you absolutely need a quality helmet, so today I examine the Safe-Tec Smart Helmet and let you know all about it.
Safe-Tec Smart Helmet Features
The Safe-Tec Smart Helmet is unlike any other bicycle helmet I’ve ever seen. By that I mean it’s absolutely packed with useful features and unique capabilities.
For example, it has built-in Bluetooth speakers (utilizing bone conduction technology) so that riders can enjoy their music while riding (or talk on the phone, as it also has a built-in microphone) without having to deal with earphones. After all, earphones could not only slip out of your ears and get tangled in your clothing or tires, but they could also prevent you from hearing the environment around you while riding, such as the sound of oncoming traffic—a potentially deadly scenario.
Other features of the Safe-Tec Helmet include mesh lining in the front vents to prevent bugs (such as bees and wasps) from getting into your hair, a magnetic (Fidlock) clasp for quick and easy fastening and release, and integrated LED signal lights to let other vehicle operators know when and where you’re turning (there’s actually a small remote control that mounts to your bike’s handlebars for this purpose).
The Safe-Tec Helmet also features a moulded polycarbonate shell exterior with protective foam underneath, a dial-to-fit retention system that helps the inside of the helmet to conform to the shape of your head, and it’s fully compliant with all CPSC (US Consumer Product Safety Commission) safety standards.
Finally, the Safe-Tec Helmet is available in both medium and large sizes (covering heads ranging between 55-58cm and 58-61cm) and is extremely lightweight (weighing just 0.6 pounds, so it doesn’t feel like you’re carrying a bowling ball on your head). All in all, this is by far the most full-featured bicycle helmet I’ve ever seen!
Testing the Safe-Tec Smart Helmet
I don’t own a bicycle myself. However, in testing the Safe-Tec Smart Helmet, it just so happens that I was reviewing a bike at the exact same time, so I had a great opportunity to see what this helmet could do.
The first thing I’d like to say about this helmet is that I really enjoyed its Bluetooth speaker! In fact, I might have enjoyed it a little bit too much … I kept wearing the helmet around the house just so I could listen to music without having to use earphones as I moved from room to room. This both served as a good test for the Bluetooth’s range (which was pretty much as expected) and kept me in a positive mood as I listened to my favourite tunes.
I also found the helmet to be extremely comfortable to wear, and its snug fit and light weight assured me that it would do its job well in a crash (although I didn’t feel like doing a proper crash test by throwing myself off my bike and onto a big rock head first).
One problem I did have with the helmet, however, was that I couldn’t get the small remote control (shown above) to power on. Try as I might (and I charged it multiple times via the included USB charging cord just to make sure it had power), I just couldn’t get it to work.
This meant that I couldn’t test how well the signal light function works, which is a bit of a disappointment in terms of doing this review, although I don’t much care about that feature personally and probably wouldn’t use it much (if ever) if I actually owned one of these helmets.
As cool as signal lights on a helmet sound in theory, I prefer the standard arm signals when actually riding on the streets as I think it’s a lot easier for cars to see and understand those familiar signals than a strangely flashing helmet.
In any case, I suspect I just got a defective remote unit, which is unfortunate but not a total disaster as the helmet’s own electronics not only worked but worked very well (and this does include the lights, which flashed on when I first turned the helmet on).
Aside from the defective remote, my only other complaint about this helmet is that its magnetic clasp (great in theory) was actually a bit fiddly to clasp and unclasp when I was wearing the helmet and couldn’t actually see which way to align both sides so that the magnet would take effect. This is, admittedly, a fairly minor complaint.
As for the experience of actually using this helmet while riding, it’s not only comfortable in terms of its fit and weight, but I also greatly appreciated how well ventilated it was. With 33 air holes all over the helmet, my head was always cool during riding, and about as aerodynamic as one’s head can get. I certainly prefer that to sweating from wearing a poorly ventilated helmet.
All in all, I really liked this helmet a lot and enjoyed my time testing it.
Examining the Video Evidence
I made a brief video overview of the Safe-Tec Smart Helmet to give you a better idea both of what it looks like up close and also in action. Please take a couple of minutes to view the video and see what you think of it:
Final Thoughts
Although I had a bit of trouble with one aspect of this helmet (the defective remote), I don’t expect for most people to encounter the same issue, and I liked the Safe-Tec Helmet well enough to recommend it based on its many other attributes anyway. If you’d like to give this or any of Best Buy’s other Protective Sports Gear a try, just follow the link to see what’s available.
