Lazer Victor KinetiCore review: tangible performance gains but not without compromise

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The Lazer Victor KinetiCore is a short-tail aero helmet designed for road, track and time trial use.

It is undoubtedly one of the fastest helmets I’ve used on a road bike, and at £269.99 / $369.99 is likely one of the cheapest upgrades you can make to substantially lower your drag on a road bike.

However, that speed comes with significant compromises in terms of practicality and comfort, which makes it somewhat impractical for everyday use.

For some riders and scenarios, the gains will be worth the sacrifices, but recent and incoming bans by some of cycling’s various governing bodies will narrow its appeal.

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Lazer Victor KinetiCore specification and details

The Lazer Victor KinetiCore comprises a truncated, teardrop-shaped helmet alongside a huge, panoramic visor that covers your ears for an even greater aero advantage.

While it was originally intended for track, time trial and triathlon use, the Victor KinetiCore has nevertheless been employed in road races – Casper van Uden of Picnic-PostNL used it to take a sprint stage victory at the 2025 Giro d’Italia, for example (albeit with a custom visor).

On paper, its claimed weight of only 340g for a size medium seems very impressive considering its size and lack of ventilation holes, but this doesn’t include the panoramic visor.

On my scales, though, the helmet alone weighed 375g, with the visor adding an additional 136g, for a total of 511g.

That gives it a distinct weight disadvantage of 156g compared to POC’s hybrid road/TT helmet, the Procen Air (355g, size medium), and is almost double what Kask’s Nirvana weighs (265g, size medium).

You might think that’s simply a natural trade-off for this style of helmet – the increased size and lack of ventilation holes naturally mean an increased weight, after all – but 511g is heavy even by TT helmet standards.

Kask’s original short-tail Bambino helmet (popularised by the likes of Bradley Wiggins and Team Sky, during their heyday) weighed only 380g back in 2014, for example, although it's fair to say that doesn’t include the same “enhanced impact protection” that Lazer’s KinetiCore technology is claimed to provide on the Victor.

Likewise, the Victor KinetiCore can be worn without the visor and with a set of lightweight cycling sunglasses if preferred, which saves considerable weight and improves ventilation substantially (providing you don’t mind how it looks, of course).

The included smokey visor also negates the need for a separate set of cycling sunglasses, which helps in the value stakes.

At £269.99 / $369.99, the Victor KinetiCore costs a little more than a typical high-end aero road helmet such as the Specialized Evade 3 (£250 / $299.99 / €290) or Trek Ballista MIPS (£199.99 / $329.99 / €249.99), but is a decent chunk cheaper than the POC Procen Air (£370 / $450 / €400).

Although there isn’t MIPS in the helmet, Lazer says its KenitiCore technology enhances the helmet's impact protection and helps reduce rotational forces in the event of a crash. It hasn’t been tested by Virginia Tech’s helmet lab, though.

Will the Lazer Victor KinetiCore be UCI-legal in 2026?

Before we dive into how the Lazer Victor KinetiCore performs, it’s worth noting the UCI is set to ban time trial helmets in mass-start road races (among other things) from January 2026.

The UCI recently announced more details about how a distinction between ‘aero road’ and ‘time trial’ helmets will be drawn, and it seems almost certain the Victor KinetiCore will fall into the latter category.

Likewise, in the UK, Cycling Time Trials' latest regulations for road bike TTs prohibit helmets that cover the ears or “have a tear drop/pointy style tail”, so it’s unlikely to be allowed there either, even without the visor.

These bans are things only racers need worry about, but it’s also fair to say few others would be likely to put up with the compromises inherent in a helmet like this, so they’re worth taking into consideration.

Lazer Victor KinetiCore performance

Out on the bike, the unhindered view of the road provided by the panoramic visor is obvious immediately.

With nothing to obscure your view, the enormous field of view is absolutely fantastic, offering excellent clarity and peripheral vision.

While using the Victor KinetiCore, I felt tangibly faster on fast flat or downhill sections, with far less wind noise. Normally, a change of helmet isn’t noticeable in terms of aerodynamics, but wearing the Lazer Victor KinetiCore felt like riding with a more aerodynamic frame or wheelset.

Heat management aside, it’s also very comfortable, and I didn’t feel I was carrying around a great deal of weight on my head.

Predictably, though, things start falling apart when talking about ventilation. While riding at speed on flat or rolling roads, the air being forced up underneath the visor makes the Victor tolerable on all but the hottest days.

On extended climbs, however, when you’re often working hard yet moving slowly, it can get very uncomfortable very quickly, because there’s no air being sucked across your head and only the exhaust port at the rear for heat to escape.

Making matters worse, the visor can’t realistically be removed and stowed away while climbing because it’s too big. Unlike on the POC Procen Air, it also can’t be reversed and attached to the rear of the helmet while riding.

Your only options, then, are to discard the visor at some point or simply put up with it – neither of which are ideal solutions for amateur riders.

The visor, which is made from fairly thick plastic, also covers your ear canals entirely and blocks your hearing somewhat. This isn’t ideal for use on open roads because it means quieter vehicles can sneak up on you.

The lower section of the visor also interfered with drinking from water bottles, especially when trying to squeeze out the last few swigs.

Picnic-PostNL appears to be aware of these faults too, because van Uden’s custom visor was shorter (top to bottom) and drilled with ventilation holes.

It’s not clear exactly how much difference a few small holes make to ventilation, but I expect they’re better than nothing, and the shorter length should prevent it interfering with your water bottles while drinking.

Lazer Victor KinetiCore bottom line

Despite its obvious compromises, the Lazer Victor KinetiCore offers some enticing performance gains.

Were I still regularly pinning numbers on my jersey, I would absolutely want a helmet such as the Victor KinetiCore in my arsenal for cooler and flatter races – provided I had other options to turn to for hotter days with climbs.

It’s a shame, then, that existing and incoming bans from cycling’s various governing bodies will significantly dampen its appeal to racers, although Lazer can hardly be blamed for that.

Looking elsewhere, the compromises to ventilation, hearing and weight will likely be deal breakers for all but the most fervent chain-gang competitors.

That leaves the Lazer Victor KinetiCore back where it started – a good, if heavy, short-tailed helmet for time trial, track and triathlon use.

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