MET Helmets Corso and Grancorso review

The conclusion

Tempo di lettura: 11 minuti

The conclusions

When I contacted Met Helmets to request an urban helmet to test, I specified only the Corso model; I thought it was useless for the company to entrust me with the Grancorso, considering that I don’t deal in this blog with pedal assisted bikes, and so I would not have the reference audience.

Ulysee, PR of the Company, convinced me to put under the magnifying glass the big brother too, precisely asking for an opinion on the validity of a helmet designed for electric bikes, pedaling only with your muscles.

I was puzzled at first, I didn’t know how to set up the test. Yes, Ok, I had an e-bike loaned to me, but more to test the validity of the visors than the helmet itself. Because, let’s face it, on the head there is no difference if a helmet is for e-bikes or not.

I was looking for an interpretation, something that would allow me to do a good job; because I want to publish good and useful articles, and not to publish just to fill a space.

Until I realized that they were all useless fixations; a helmet is a helmet, if you pedal with your legs or with an engine, at the end it must do its duty.

To protect first of all, and if the Grancorso is safer than the Corso, I could tell it only by banging my head in the wall, literally. It’s not the case.

To be comfortable and light, because the comfort is an important element to pedal well; and its lightness invites you to keep it on your head, without leaving it, like a fool, at home.

To ensure a sufficient airflow and do not allow the condensation to form, because when you pedal you sweat and because you pedal even on an e-bike.

Possibly to have those plus that increase passive safety: i.e. lighting systems and high visibility, easily operated and reliable.

In short, the Grancorso is a helmet for e-bikes, but it remains a bike helmet for all purposes; so yes, I could test it anyway and I did it.

And I am glad I didi it, because it was an interesting test. Very laborious, it was not easy to join and divide, jumping from one to another trying not to overlap; both in the impressions on the road and here with my words.

First of all I promote the lightness, between the two helmets I have detected just 30 grams of difference (290 the Corso, 320 the Grancorso), obviously on the scale. Let’s not exaggerate, I am sensitive but it would be just ridiculous if I tried to write I felt 30 grams less on my head.

It may seem a secondary element for a helmet with an urban vocation, where, by definition, you don’t spend so many hours on a saddle. On the contrary, the lightness is one of the parameters, together with the comfort, which must be taken care on a city helmet. Even myself, always a supporter of the utility, or rather the necessity of always using a helmet, I confess that sometimes I leave it at home. Just few kilometers, mostly in the pedestrian area, just a pop round to the grocery store for a couple of things that I forgot: I have to put this thing on my head, sweat, I don’t know where to store it etc. I am definitely a bad example for you 😀

It is a helmet that, once worn, doesn’t weight, doesn’t make you sweat, it’s comfortable and doesn’t irritate, so you wear it with pleasure: and you have no excuses.

More than the lightness of the Corso, I was struck by that of the Grancorso; but how? Is it heavier, isn’t it? Right, but as we saw before, only 30 grams. It has a larger cap, receives a larger amount of inner material, has a very large (and certainly heavier) reflective lower band, the magnets and so on.

The fact that it weighs only few grams more than the brother Corso means they used high quality materials, and not simply more material. And this is not a little thing.

I promote the comfort, very high for the Grancorso, excellent for the Corso. The adjustment of the fitting is more precise on the first, which can boast a more refined system; but the simple one of the Corso perfectly fulfills its duty too.

Besides the comfort, a helmet that does not shake is a safe helmet, that carry out the work it was designed for.

I promote the ventilation system because it’s hot and you sweat in the city too (and even with an e-bike if you work hard or you run down the battery…) and the two frontal inlets proved to be very effective. The proportion of emptiness and fullness and definitely to the advantage to the latter and therefore it was not a predictable conclusion.

I promote the sense of security you feel when you wear a helmet that – you perceive it – wraps you more than a sports model, but it never annoys you.

I promote the look, the classic line, maybe already seen, but interpreted with sobriety and elegance; I really liked the canalizations on the cap, they give that sporty touch that doesn’t do any harm.

I promote the price, excellent for the Corso: only 65 Euros in the price list, including the double visor and the LED lights.

The price of the Grancorso requires some thoughts: 140 Euros in the price list, to which you have to add 29 or 39 Euros depending on the visor you choose (a very useful optional, even for only-muscle cyclers), and another 29 Euros for the rechargeable LED light with the twilight sensor, so the total sum is more or less 200 Euros. By far quite a figure! But apart from that it’s always possible to dilute the expenditure, buying little by little, is it worth all this money?

If I take into account the constructive qualities, the materials, the finishes, the superior comfort, the lightness, the price of the helmet alone is more than justified. It’s even more justified because, paying this price, I am bringing home a helmet with a superior type-approval, more restrictive in the parameters: a safer helmet, in short.

So, as I do care about my own head, I would say that I would make this investment.

Both visors are of an excellent quality, so I image it will be the third one too, the smoked-grey one missing in these pages.

The light has the plus of the sensor, which certainly is not an useless and cheap tinsel; it’s very comfortable not having to stop to turn up the light, pedaling with the security it will do everything by itself.

Here, in this way, the price seeming high if you look at it just as a number of banknotes, becomes acceptable and fair if seen for the quality/price ratio.

Both excellent helmets, both addressed to cyclists who use their bikes every day facing the chaos and the dangers of our metropolis.

However, I would offer the soft visor that is standard for the Corso to the Grancorso too; of course, this would make impossible to connect the shield, but not everyone could opt for its purchase. And I would offer for both, standard or optional, a waterproof cover for those cyclists who are not afraid of the rain.

But this still does not answer to the queen question: is a NTA 8767 helmet suitable for those who don’t own an e-bike?

Sure: it’s a helmet. An excellent helmet, not heavy, hot or anything. Psychologically you feel safer. Difficult to explain, I know it. Let’s say that I found myself pedaling with the knowdelge that the helmet I was wearing was tested and certified for speeds well above those that I, as a modest rider, am able to develop. I felt more protected.

And without giving up anything, if compared to a classic bike helmet, let’s call it that.

But in anycase, if I talk about the Corso, suitable for everyone, or about the Grancorso, equally suitable for everyone, or any other helmet of any other manufacturer, if I am insisting so much on the tests of the helmets (others will follow…) is because I do want (and not I would like) that you all do wear a helmet, all the time. And if with these tests I can help you to find what’s right for you, so my huge work will find its justification.

 

Official link

Met Grancorso

Met Corso

Have a nice pedalling!