A few months ago we received the new Oakley helmet, the DRT5. It is an open face helmet with a particular feature that seems to be very closely in line with eyewear manufacturers: glass storage. Smith was the first to introduce such a system in 2014 with Forefront.
What you see in the photos above is part of the Greg Minnaar Signature Series, the DRT5 is also available in other colors without the signature of the South African champion ( click here to see them ).
As usual, I found myself halfway between two sizes, the M and the L. This goes for bikes as well as for helmets, because the circumference of my head is 58cm. I opted for the M because I don’t like the huge helmets in which I look like a bobblehead. Once removed from the box and worn, I saw that the DRT5 Medium suited me well. Its shape is rather elongated, and it does not go well with the shape of my forehead when it comes to sweat management, which I will come back to later.
The Boa 360 tension system runs around the whole head, and avoids annoying pressure points, despite the complete lack of side padding. In addition, the Boa wheel is easy to adjust with one hand, even when wearing gloves. The height at the nape of the neck is set through the classic three holes. Speaking of “classic” things, this helmet does not use any wildly innovative materials or structures, apart from MIPS, as you can see from the photos.
Even the straps that are hooked under the chin have a normal buckle, while their distance from the ears is fixed, not adjustable.
On the forehead there is a silicone band that would have the function of bringing sweat to the sides, to prevent it from falling into your glasses. In practice it did not help because, as I said above, the shape of the helmet is rather oval and sweat managed to pass between my forehead and the band. I tried to see if the problem was solved by replacing the silicone with the classic material (there are two bands in the pack, in fact), but nothing really changed. Perhaps this is why Oakley thought of equipping the DRT5 with a practical glass holder?
This is the most practical and interesting detail of the whole helmet: the two retractable fins (in plastic) that firmly fix the glasses’ arms when not needed, for example on the uphills. It’s a system that works with every brand of eywear, not just Oakley, and is very stable. For the duration of the test, about three months, I never crashed. When pedaling it is not easy to put the glasses on the helmet because with one hand it is necessary to fix one arm first and then the other, with the risk of dropping them. With two hands, thus leaving the handlebars, it takes just a moment to do it.
Downhill, even when the terrain is rough, the DRT5 stays nicely in its place, does not touch the backpack (which sometimes happens with other products when it is steep and the backpack tends to rise) or the glasses, even if they are not Oakley. It is not the lightest, but the weight wasn’t a bother even during long laps. By the way, being able to put the glasses on the helmet uphill and using various tricks to leave the backpack at home , it is always better to travel light if you can.
The Oakley DRT5 fits well and is held perfectly in position by the Boa 360 system. The eyeglass housing system is very practical, certainly a detail that doesn’t always work very well with the other helmets. Its sweat management is leaves something to be desired due to the elongated shape of the DRT5 which leaves space between the forehead and the silicone band, allowing sweat to drip into the glasses. Hard to say if this is a problem due to the shape of my head (even if with other helmets it doesn’t show up). If you have a DRT5, chime in with your experience in this regard in the comment section.
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