Overall whichwearable rating 

Value 

“Wearing the Lumos helmet I feel safer”  whichwearable

Available to buy at around $179 from the Lumos website at this link.

Safety   Now with MIPS built in. Very solid build.

Fit  Fits big and small heads.

Comfort  A very comfortable fit with a rear dial adjuster.

Design   With a decent App and new innovative downloadable features coming regularly this is a good investment.

App  A simple interface that allows ease of access to features. Apple watch gestures now supported.

Why buy it?

• You want to be seen whilst cycling during the day and night.
• You are worried about being hit by vehicles.
• You want a good quality product.
• You cycle daily in busy areas such as cities or large towns.

What could be improved?

• Having a  new “day mode” where you can have a small number of lights flashing (Adjustable by the user) to preserve battery life but keeping you seen to others.

Unboxing

The Lumos helmet comes in a very attractive yellow box . Inside the contents are well laid out. You get :

1. The helmet (I chose a nice lime green one that really stands out)
2. The “Wireless Handlebar Remote” This is the unit that has left right buttons on it and fits onto your bike to make the helmet flash right/left.
3. Tough rubber bands ( 2 needed + 2 spare) to fit the wireless unit to your handlebars.
4. Charging cable . USB to Water-resistant 4 pin proprietary connector ( To provide some water resistance for connector on helmet)
5. Instructions in detail.
6. Getting started quick guide (Includes how to use the brake mode)

The phone App

 

The App connects very well to Android Smartphones and provides some customisation. The App helps you pair the helmet to the wireless handlebar remote (To be fitted on the handlebars). It also allows you to switch on and off the braking “beta” feature . This feature makes the red LEDS come on when you brake quickly on the bicycle. One main feature of the App is that updates the software on the helmet.

If you have an iPhone the App integrates with Apple Health

 

1st ride out at dusk, roads quiet

You can read about my first ride out first impressions at this blog.

2nd ride out at noon Saturday, roads busy

I’m cycling to the village centre up a busy road. A day ride with plenty of light, cars are giving me more birth as they pass. This is good news. I’m thinking do I need to use hand signals as I use the turn indicators and I decide to use both. Coming up to the roundabout, people are aware of me and the flashing helmet, not sure they have clicked that the orange lights are me turning. I’m certainly feeling more “visible” . Another car passes and gives me more room.

3rd ride out Sunday, roads quiet

The front LEDs give off good bright light even when its 10.30 a.m in the morning. The weather is cloudy. I’m popping down to the shop for a paper. A car is rushing behind me and slows down quickly, I wonder if the flashing red light on my head is so visible he is preparing to let me get to the junction I can’t tell, I’m happy that he has slowed down.

I indicate to the left and get the audio confirmation single beep in the helmet. I have to cancel the right turn after turning and I get the single beep again. This “confirmation” of the OFF tone could be improved by giving a two beep audio noise to say “Yeah I’m off no need to take off your helmet to check”.

Once inside the shop I see my reflection in the shop mirror. Ok I need to switch the lights off, I’m look like a light house in Tesco Express. One press of the ON/OFF button gives a beep and a change of the flashing modes but I want the lights OFF WITHOUT taking the helmet off. Again I want the button to give me a confident TWO BEEP audio signal to say “Brian this helmet is now OFF, you don’t need to take it off to check”.

Safety

The product now supports MIPS. See my blog on this here.

Turning with remote gestures and using an Apple watch 

Once paired pressing the L button on the remote makes the left lights on the helmet flash and the same for the R button. See the back of the helmets working below. The remote may become redundant if you have an Apple watch . Please read the updated blog as the helmet now supports Apple gestures.

Drawing attention to yourself verses fashion (Phycology)

The challenge with this helmet is that draws attention to yourself and certain people may not be too comfortable with this. I’ll give you a good example. If I wear pink trousers as a man as in the image above I certainly will get comments in the office. I can take that but some people wouldn’t be seen dead in them. That’s an extreme example but lets discuss what is the most popular colour for helmets and cycling gear, black, black, black! This is because black is conspicuous and if you are overweight it makes you less fat looking. So the thought of wearing a bright green helmet that acts like a lighthouse may put off some people. Let me give you the counter thought for you. I fell off my bike last year and nearly split my head open. If I didn’t have my helmet on I wouldn’t be tying out this blog. That’s it in a nutshell (Or helmet!) .

Fit comfort and feature comparison (Kask helmet )

 

 

One of the world’s best selling cycling helmets is the Kask Mojito. I compared the two and the results are below. Overall the Kask is a great benchmark and the Lumos wasn’t far off the comfort of the Kask helmet.

Strap

Lumos : nice fit  a little uncomfortable but not bad.

Kask : beautiful white leather, don’t know its there on long rides.

Weight 

Lumos : 432g, heavier.

Kask : 271g, lighter.

Airflow

Lumos : Good.

Kask : Excellent.

Adjustable dial 

Lumos : Good.

Kask : Excellent, just works so well.

Battery Life Test

I left the helmet flashing on full power on the floor having charged it fully and got more than 6 hours out of the charge. I was very impressed with that and it meets the battery life claim.

Brake feature (Beta) 

 

whichwearable highlight : The stares of drivers looking at you at night. You can be seen.

whichwearable lowlight : One of the LEDs went when the helmet arrived. The LEDs are under warranty so this won’t be an issue.