A basic all-round trail-riding helmet that won't break the bank.

Product Overview

Overall rating:

Score 7

Kali Pace

Pros:

  • Great value with decent safety features

Cons:

  • Build quality is on the basic side

Product:

Kali Pace helmet review

Manufacturer:

Price as reviewed:

£59.99

Kali Protectives splits its range in Enduro and Trail and the Pace sits in the latter category. At just under £60 it’s at the lower end of the price range for a decent trail helmet, but it does boast some susprisingly high-tech features and technology.

Read more: Buyer’s guide to the best mountain bike helmets

Kali Protectives prides itself on making some of the safest helmets on the planet, and the Pace features it’s LDL (Low Density Liner) technology. Kali Protectives worked out that big impacts are usually dealt with by the helmet, but all the low-G, smaller impacts, just pushed the helmet into the head. Hence Kali came up with LDL; a softer, more flexible padding. If you look inside you’ll see the sweat pad is suspended on honeycomb foam pads. They do two things – they absorb those smaller rotational impacts and improve breathability. A residual benefit is they add comfort, and the Pace is up there with some of the best we’ve tested.
To keep the helmet locked down, it features a very basic retention device. This has a dial to adjust the fit but the device is only anchored halfway along the sides of the helmet and, while it has a two-position height adjustment, the difference is minimal. It has a good size range but it does squeeze your head a bit too much.
The visor on the Pace is pretty basic too. It’s just black, lacks any form of height or tilt adjust, so you definitely can’t stash a set of goggles underneath, and it’s a pretty flimsy plastic. Kali Protectives does say it has a breakaway feature, but we think this just means it will break off in a crash. We were really surprised and pleased to see that the Pace shell is bottom-wrapped to help prevent damege to the EPS foam.

Verdict

There’s good and bad about the Pace – we really like the finish of the Fusion in-moulding and the LDL is a neat and affordable, but everything else feels a bit tacked on. The visor and retention device are really basic and even the venting is not that good. However, for the money you get some unique technology that can make a difference to your safety.

Details

Weight:338g
Sizes:S/M, L/XL
Contact:kaliprotectives.com