HJC Furion helmet review

Korean brand HJC has debuted on the cycling scene with the HJC Furion aero helmet and the HJC Ibex vented helmet worn by the Lotto-Soudal pro team this year. Both helmets are available in team replica colours, with the HJC Furion available in a total of 10 colour combos.

Like the HJC Ibex, the HJC Furion helmet has been aero tested by HJC, which specialises in motorcycle helmets and has only recently branched out into cycling helmets. Its motorcycle experience means that it has the expertise and facilities to design an efficient cycling helmet and there’s an extensive analysis of the Furion’s aerodynamics on HJC’s website. HJC claims superior ventilation and drag for its helmets relative to three unnamed competitors.

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The HJC Furion helmet is certainly lightweight, with a size XL/XXL weighing only 234g and smaller sizes below 200g. That’s achieved in part by reducing the padding relative to the HJC Ibex vented helmet. The padding sits on raised sections on the inside of the helmet shell, allowing pretty good airflow from the five front vents to the six rear vents through the channels in between. There are a couple more vents on the top rear of the helmet.

There are two further slot vents towards the rear at the sides of the helmet shell, for a total of 15 vents. These side vents don’t seem to direct much air onto the head, but seem to have been designed more to smooth the airflow over the rear of the HJC Furion.

HJC has also performed extensive analysis of head shapes to ensure a good fit. The HJC Furion helmet is comfortable, although I didn’t find it quite such a good fit as the HJC Ibex. It's only 5mm shorter front to rear, but I did find this resulted in it sitting more on my forehead and the back of my head rather than the pressure being more evenly distributed.

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It’s designed to be a unisex helmet and to fit people from all ethnic groups. The padding is treated with silver ions to help keep odours at bay too. There’s no MIPS option available in HJC’s helmets, if that’s something you’re looking for.

At £150, the HJC Furion is reasonably priced for an aero road helmet used by a WorldTour team, many of which head up well over £200.