Lazer O2 Helmet and a Google Blog Search Win

A few days ago, I started writing a long, detailed post about my decision to purchase a Lazer O2 helmet to replace my cracked Giro Atmos, complete with 7 different photos. This morning, I decided not to post it. I'm not in the free marketing business, but I do want to give my concise analysis and opinion to any readers that care to consider it, so I'm posting a reduced version of the original post.

MY NEW LAZER O2 HELMET, AND WHY I BOUGHT IT

Here is the one sentence reason I bought a Lazer O2:

The Lazer O2 is about 20% cheaper than the best deal I could find on a Giro Atmos, it was sold at a shop for which I already had a $60 gift certificate, and the adjustment mechanism on the Lazer O2 is superior to that on the Giro Atmos.

The adjustment mechanism difference makes the fit of the Lazer O2 much better. The Lazer O2 mechanism uses cables and a screw device to allow the headband to be adjusted, and the adjustment is continuous. On the other hand, the Giro Atmos Roc Loc adjustment has mechanically predefined "clicks" of about 1/8" that do not allow continuous adjustment.

I can't help myself. I must give you a few photos to explain. The first is the Lazer O2 adjustment. The silver spring-like cables at the top of the photo are actually cable housings, and you can see the cables just below them on both sides of the helmet. When you reach up and turn an adjusting screw on the top of the helmet, it changes the overall headband circumference. It allows you to get a really precise, comfortable fit.

What about this goofy, complicated screw mechanism I keep mentioning? It's not goofy at all. I took the close-up photo below, and as you can see, it's simple. I think it works great AS WELL AS looking great.

The Giro Atmos uses Giro's Roc Loc adjustment system. The system is not bad, and for the last 4 years it has been the only fit system I've known, and I liked it. After trying the Lazer O2, I realized that Giro's Roc Loc "click" adjustment just doesn't allow as good a fit. If you're not familar with Roc Loc, I've inserted a photo to show how it works. The two silver half-moonish devices on either side of the lateral-running thin plastic strip engage serrations on the strip, similar to the way a tie wrap works (only adjustable without the use of a jeweler's screwdriver!). Since the serrations have a set gap, this limits the adjustment precision. Additionally, it's easy to asymmetrically adjust the system, pushing one side of the strip in farther than the other, and as a result causing your helmet to get off-center to your noggin.

In summary, I give the coveted 331miles endorsement to the Lazer O2 helmet. Take that to the bank. I did, and they just looked at me funny.

GOOGLE BLOG SEARCH WIN

As most of you know, my blog is famous and widely read. Yesterday afternoon, delliot13, who follows my blog and whose blog I follow, sent me a tweet telling me to have a look at Alltop. It seems that I made the top 5 on their Alltop Cycling Google Blog Search section. Wow! I remembered that BikeNoob had been honored by Alltop in the past, so I was excited to see the link. Here's a screenshot and a close-up:

As I've mentioned, I'm not trying to monetize or publicize or even convert my blog into a way to get free samples of stuff (although that would be nice), so this was just a little bit of icing on my blogging cake. And what sweet, buttery icing it was...but not for long.

The icing went rancid very quickly in the South Texas heat, because about 2 hours later I clicked back to Alltop, and my blog had already fallen out of the Top 5!