The 2023 Tour de France had us on the edge of our seats with the battle between the Fishmonger and Gachako. In the end, it was the Fishmonger who stood on the top step of the podium.
Yes, by "the Fishmonger" I mean Jonas Vingegaard, and by "Gachako" I mean Tadej Pogačar. Some of you might be offended by this, but there is a reason for it.
It was last year that my partner, who had absolutely zero interest in bicycle racing, got hooked on the Netflix original series "Tour de France: Unchained." (The video above is a separate compilation of Vingegaard's 2023 highlights.)
Thanks to this show, we ended up watching the highlights of the 2023 season almost every night together. However, she’s not great at remembering names—she often gives people random nicknames in our personal life, and it's even more true for non-Japanese people—so because of the anecdote about him working in a fish market/processing plant, Vingegaard became "The Fishmonger," and Pogačar became "Gachako," I guess because it was easier to say? I thought it was a bit much, but hey, at least she was interested, and we started having conversations like "How do you think today's race will go?" which had never happened before, so I have nothing but gratitude for "Tour de France: Unchained." I myself am not really connected to racing, and I wasn't the type to get absorbed in race broadcasts, but thanks to this show, I ended up watching the highlights every single day without fail.
Since I mostly head for "the mountains" when I go out for a ride, mountain stages are naturally more exciting. I find myself admiring the riders who power through with their rugged yet beautiful form. Indeed, the way Jonas Vingegaard dances on the bike is just gorgeous...
This year, following the departure of Jumbo as a sponsor and the arrival of Lease a Bike, the new team started as Visma-Lease a Bike and has already achieved incredible results. And to top it off, GIRO has decided to support the team starting this season. I’m surely not the only GIRO user who got excited thinking, "Oh! Vingegaard is going to be wearing a GIRO helmet!" And I suspect there will be many others starting to wear GIRO as well.
(Actually, I’m a little surprised at how much I feel that way myself.)
Those GIRO helmets have arrived, so I’d like to introduce them. (My apologies for the rather long introduction.)
Before that, there’s one more thing I want to share. The GIRO lineup includes **AF / Asian Fit** models. As someone with a wider head and prominent parietal bones, this is the series I find most comfortable to wear. Since everyone’s head shape is different, I’m sure people’s experiences will vary, but for me, there’s no doubt that the GIRO AF series is the most stress-free and natural-feeling fit.
And the one I’m currently wearing is the first model I’d like to introduce, the **GIRO Aries Spherical AF**.
GIRO Aries Spherical AF
Color : Matte Black, Matte White
Size : M, L
Weight : 275g（M Size）
Price : 48,840 yen (tax included)
The Aries™ Spherical AF is GIRO’s newest and flagship model. It’s packed with excellent features, and the translucent "AURA II reinforcement arch" creates a twin bridge that cuts weight without sacrificing strength. It connects the deeply cut-out shell without obstructing air resistance or airflow.
To keep up with the increasing speed of road racing, GIRO challenged themselves to go even faster while maintaining safety. They reduced the surface area of the front, beveled the AURA II arch, and precisely engineered the design to guide airflow to the rear for exhaust and rectification, successfully reducing air resistance thoroughly.
The deep internal air channel system connects to larger, wider ventilation holes that have been cut out vertically. Combined with several horizontally placed grooves efficiently arranged inside, it draws away excess heat from the head, maintaining a comfortable state at all times.
This is also the model worn by Wout van Aert and many other pro riders.
GIRO Helios Spherical AF
Color : Matte White/Silver, Matte Sharkskin, Matte Black
Size : M, L
Weight : 270g（M Size）
Price : 39,600 yen (tax included)
The HELIOS Spherical AF is a brand-new all-road adventure riding helmet that achieves high performance through its innovative safety structure (impact protection system), "SPHERICAL TECHNOLOGY," along with excellent breathability/cooling performance and a comfortable fit due to its simple internal structure.
Designed with inspiration from dirt-style helmets, it has a slightly deeper fit to offer broader protection. It is compact, lightweight, durable, and remarkably cool, achieving all of these at a high level.
Combined with 15 ventilation holes, lateral grooves built inside the helmet efficiently channel air from outside to the head, delivering high cooling effects. Furthermore, it keeps pads inside to a minimum to effectively exhaust heat.
GIRO Eclipse Spherical AF
Color : Matte Black/Gloss Black, Matte White/Silver
Size : M, L
Weight : 270g（M Size）
Price : 39,600 yen (tax included)
The Eclipse Spherical AF is the most refined, stylish, and lightweight aero road helmet GIRO has ever made. It adds the essential element for road racing, **"speed,"** to the three core features: **lightweight, cool, and comfortable.**
It can be called the fastest helmet GIRO has ever released to the world, and it is equipped with everything needed to win a race.
Additionally, it features 14 wind tunnel ventilation holes, ensuring breathability that rivals other lightweight road helmets. Lateral grooves built inside, paired with those ventilation holes, efficiently channel air from outside to the head, delivering high cooling effects.
And, by minimizing the internal padding, it exhausts heat efficiently.
By the way, this is the Eclipse Spherical you can see Vingegaard wearing.
These helmets all share the AF / Asian Fit designation as well as Spherical. This is a technology jointly developed by MIPS and GIRO, known as Spherical Technology, which ensures an exceptionally high level of safety.
Spherical Technology
The unique design characteristic of this Spherical Technology is that the helmet itself is built as a two-layer structure. These two separate liners are optimized in terms of material and density, and by using different materials, they absorb various types of impact forces. Impact forces involve many factors, such as speed, shape, temperature, and number of impacts. By varying the outer and inner liners, the structure becomes much safer.
Combined with the MIPS® system, which mitigates rotational motion impacts, this two-layer structure provides brain protection against an even wider range of impacts.
You might wonder if such a mechanism is really necessary, but as long as you're riding a bike, you never know what might happen—and you can never be too safe.
In addition, although it doesn't feature Spherical technology, I would also like to introduce this one, which is equipped with the standard MIPS system.
GIRO Synthe MIPS AF
Color : Matte Black/Gloss Black, Matte White/Silver
Size : M, L
Weight : 250g（M Size）
Price : 29,920 yen (tax included)
The Synthe MIPS AF is a helmet that achieves high aerodynamics in a compact form. It features ventilation holes all around the helmet to enhance cooling, keeping your head cool and comfortable even during summer training and races.
There is a grip on the front for storing sunglasses, allowing you to stash them safely when not needed. Equipped with MIPS technology, it mitigates impact in the event of an accident and reduces damage to the rider's head. It’s a high-performance bicycle helmet that combines beautiful form and functionality.
It has continued to receive strong support since its introduction in 2014.
Of course, this is also available as an ASIAN FIT model, which fits the Japanese head shape perfectly, based on years of research into Asian head sizes.
By the way, this was also my favorite model that I used for several years in the past.
Additionally, new colors have arrived for the Syntax MIPS AF, and the Cormick Mips for urban riding has also been restocked, so be sure to check those out as well!
