Ekoï Aerodinamica Aero Road Helmet and Twenty Glasses – Classic Italian Flare From the French Brand

About a year ago, we were talking about a new helmet coming from French brand, Ekoï. It was sleek, with few frontal openings, but was also a bit of a mystery due to it’s dazzle camo wrapping. Just before the Tour, Ekoï lifted that curtain, and introduced the Aerodinamica, a collaboration with famed Italian design house, Pininfarina, designer of some of the most iconic cars in history. The new aero helmet blends aerodynamic design with a classic aesthetic that you don’t always see these days. With the addition of Koroyd inserts for absorbing energy in an impact, how does the helmet stack up? And how about the Twenty glasses?

Aerodinamica

The Aerodinamica is fairly straight forward in construction. It uses a fully wrapping polycarbonate shell for durability, with an EPS liner and multiple Koroyd inserts on the front and side portions of the helmet. These fit between the front three vents and along the sides stretching towards the back of the helmet. Those tall front ports guide air in and through channels in the EPS to a single exhaust port in the back. An x-shaped splitter adds support and guides the air out smoothly over your back.

Inside, it features Ekoï’s height adjustable cage with an ATOP dial to snug things up. Just like on their shoes, it spins right to tighten, and with a quarter turn back, it unlocks and allows you to pull the cable out. We used it on the AR14 helmet and R4 Light in the past, and found it works well. The Aerodinamica comes with three sets of pads, thin, medium, and thick, which allows you to customize the fit to your liking. The side splitters are adjustable, with a plastic back piece guiding the straps around your ears and to the clasp, which can be unlocked to adjust the straps to your liking. At the bottom, the FidLock clasp makes securing the strap at your chin easy, even with one hand. Overall, it leads to very adjustable fit to allow you to find just the right setup.

The Aerodinamica is available in two colors, unless you are a sponsored pro rider. For the rest of us, you get black with a red Pininfarina stripe along the top and red trim, or a classic white, red, and black that harkens back to the sports cars of the 1960’s. I went with the black for a more stealthy look from the front.

Twenty

Before I talk more about the experience, I wanted to give some background on the Twenty sunglasses too. The Twenty is part of Ekoï’s Race line up, the top of the range. It’s named for the brand’s 20th anniversary. Originally released in 2021, they saw an upgrade in 2023 to include stronger temples that now attach with a screw and an updated two tone color scheme. They have been worn by many riders on Ekoï’s sponsored teams, including Israel-Premier Tech’s Chris Froom.

The Italian made frame is made from Grilamid, a pretty standard material these days. It features an upper frame section, with two adjustable length temples (short and long) that can be easily swapped. While the execution is different, think Oakley Jawbreakers in the adjustability. On the temples, there is also a customizable insert that provides a little bit of side shielding from the sun and wind. The nose piece clips onto the bottom of the lens, and both the nose and temples have a rubber gripper for comfort.

Ekoï uses French made lenses from Dalloz Creations, which provide full protection from UVA, UVB, and UVC rays. The base is a polycarbonate high definition lens, and features an anti-scratch coating front and back. On the front, Ekoï also adds a mirror coating and X’TREM Hydroilo coating to repel water, oil, and dirt, helping keep them clean and looking great. The High Definition base lens increases contrast, amplifies color, and enhances details, allowing you to see all of the details of the road.

Different Types of Aero Road Helmets

One last thing before I jump into the review. When it comes to aero road helmets, I feel there are a few different categories. You have the ventilated aero road helmets that are trying to be more aero than a traditional ventilated road helmet, but not as aero as the next two categories. Then you have the aero road helmet that is properly aero, with a small concession for ventilation to make it easy to live with on all but the hottest of days. And finally, you have the new wave of time trail helmets masquerading as aero road helmets (looking at you POC Procen Air) that are debatable whether or not they really should be considered a true road helmet. I would consider something like the KASK Protone Icon or the Ekoï AR14 as a ventilated aero road helmet, and the Aerodinamica a solid aero road helmet.

On The Road

So let’s get to it. After getting the Aerodinamica dialed in for fit, it is extremely comfortable from hour one through hour seven. I used it for a 135 mile, 6:48 ride time (7:09 total time), and comfort was never an issue. No hot spots, comfortable straps that stayed flat against my head, plenty of adjustment of the placement of the cage and the ATOP dial was easy to dial in. The two biggest issues I typically have is a long enough chin strap and a port to pull my hair through on the back. Both boxes checked.

While Ekoï does not provide any test data on the shape and performance of the helmet, it looks rather streamlined from the front and the sides. From the front, it uses a round profile with only the front three vents upsetting the smooth surface. From the side, it smooths into small tail to guide the air across your back, but shouldn’t pose much of a penalty for looking down, though it isn’t quite as trim as something like the Ekoï AR14 we previously reviewed. The bottom of the helmet has a smooth flow over the ears and then drops back down a little, providing plenty of protection.

Though we don’t have any data, the helmet feels fast. Out on my typical test route, I set multiple PR’s on Strava segments, even when the wind wasn’t completely in my favor. Most of these segments were on the flatter side with a slight increase in elevation, but there were also some improvements on some segments that included a small amount of climbing. I attribute this to being able to make up some time on the flats to put me ahead at the climb.

As for ventilation, it’s average to a little above average for a true aero road helmet. During my long ride, temps hit just into the 80’s, and it stayed pretty comfortable, not enough that I was dripping much down the front. On other rides that temps climbed a little higher, it was definitely a hotter helmet. Compared to something like the KASK Protone Icon, it can’t keep up, but they are two different categories. On the hottest of days that I want to go fast, the AR16 might be a slightly better option for more ventilation, but at the Tour, you’ll see the Ekoï sponsored sprinters using the Aerodinamica on any day they are looking to go for a win.

As for protection, I happily didn’t have the chance to test this out. You never want to find out how well a helmet protects you, as long as it does the job when the time comes. The big feature here is the Koroyd inserts on the front and sides of the helmet. These straw like structures act as lightweight crumple zones to absorb impact energy before it gets to your head. Knowing it is there with the EPS foam, full polycarbonate shell, and the coverage around the head that the Aerodinamica offers, I’m comfortable that it will keep me safe if ever needed.

The Twenty sunglasses paired well with the Aerodinamica. The curve to the frame and lens matches well with the curve of the helmet. The Dalloz Creations black mirror lens of the black and white option was clear and dark for sunny days, but not too dark when riding through shadows or when the sun dipped behind the clouds. When sweat dripped onto the lens, especially inside, it took a little more to clean than on the outside of the lens, showing how well the hydro/oleophobic properties of the coatings, which would be nice to have on both sides of the lens. In the end though, the included bag did a decent job cleaning the lens, but spray was needed to fully clean it. You can also get a white and red, or red and white option with a red lens, with options to buy the silver, blue, or gold lenses as spares. Unfortunately, there is no clear or low light lens available.

I tried both temple lengths, and I can go either way. The shorter temple barely made it past my ears, but comfortably stayed in place. They are a great option for helmets with larger cages on them. The longer temples were what I used more often, and added a little bit longer fit. I used them with the Aerodinamica and the AR14, and didn’t have an issue with either temple on either helmet.

My only real complaint about the Twenty was the nose piece. It didn’t seem to be adjustable and felt pretty wide over my nose. Everything stayed in place as it should, but I wish there was some adjustability as seen on the Premium I reviewed with the AR14. It’s not a major issue, but if you are a bit more particular at the nose, keep that in mind.

Verdict

With not having any aero claims or maybe testing from Virginia Tech, it’s hard to say whether the Aerodinamica is better than other helmets on the market. Based on my personal experience on the road and just looking at the helmet, I think there is a lot of positives that would push me towards it. Aero road helmets can be dividing when it comes to looks, but the classic, smooth shape and curves from Pininfarina give it a look that many will love. And as much as performance maters to me, if it doesn’t look good, it will take more for it to catch my eye. Comfort is also highly important, and while it might be a little more on the heavier side due to the ticker straps, plastic splitter and FidLock clasp, all of that, along with the padding options and ATOP dial come together to give it a luxurious fit and feel that makes up for any weight it all adds. With having a range of aero road helmets at home to chose from, the only reason I’d leave the Aerodinamica at home is if it is really hot (90’s), or I’m going out for a chill ride or a commute. Even then, there is enough ventilation that I don’t feel like I’m over heating on the hot days.

The Twenty sunglasses on the other hand, due to the fit on the nose, they wouldn’t be my top choice. With a different nose piece design and options for lower light conditions, that opinion would quickly change. But if you don’t need the lens choices and are okay at the nose, they make a great option with the choices for temples to provide fit options.

The Aerodinamica retails at $349.99 and the Twenty comes in at $174.99 with spare lenses running from $59.99-69.99. Ekoï often has sales through their website, so you can usually find a pretty good deal, even if it is a relatively new product.

Even with the summer heating up, the Aerodinamica will continue on as one of my go-to helmets for when speed matters. Be sure to keep an eye on the fast men at the Tour de France as it will be a helmet of choice for the Israel-Premier Tech, Arkea-B&B Hotels, Lotto-DSTNY, and Cofidis sprinters.

www.ekoi.com