An Urge mountain bike helmet is one of those products that, due to its unconventional design, provokes strong opinion by just looking at it. I dare you to take a glance at Urge’s full line up and try to prevent extreme feelings of either “oh lá lá” or “eww!” Love or hate an Urge, their stuff is different, and even Urge admits their audacious design can be disturbing to some. I, for one, have always been a fan, and while the French helmet maker has mostly stuck to its pistolets, it seems as though they’ve recently trickled in some mainstream features and design into some of their line up to appease the haters–one of those helmets being the Urge Supatrail.

The Supatrail comes in the most color options (6) offered in any Urge lid, an XXL size, and has a ratcheted retention system (a feature not present on every Urge), making the Supatrail Urge’s most user-friendly mountain bike helmet and likely their most popular one, too.

Bottom Line: the Supatrail is for those who’ve always yearned for an Urge, but couldn’t achieve an optimum fit due to the absence of adjusting mechanisms (until now), want or need a good, lightweight, all-rounder trail helmet, or for those who just want something different as long as you don’t mind the stares and inquiries as to what the holes are for.

The Specs

CE1078 CPSC Certification
Custom ring system
Recycled EPS shell and PET straps
Crash replacement: 50% off new helmet up to 3 years
Sizes: S/M (53-57cm), L/XL (57-59cm), XXL (59-62cm)
Additional pads of different thickness
Colors: blue, black, red, white, yellow, gold/brown
Weight: 268g
MSRP: $129.95 USD

Per Urge fit guidelines, at 59cm, I’m between a L/XL and XXL, so I opted for the smaller size, which fit no problem. Initially, I thought the fit was too small, but realized this was due to the Supatrail’s inherently sleek, low profile that may appeal to some who are turned off by the mushroom look. The rear ratcheting mechanism is small-ish, but easy to use even with gloves on. The Supatrail comes with extra pads of varying thickness to tune in the exact fit, but as I was bordering on the edge of sizing, I did not need additional padding.

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The Supatrail’s visor is on the smaller side, non-adjustable (no biggie), paper thin, and very flexible, leading me to believe that there’s probably little more than style the visor adds to helmet. I would like to, however, commend Urge for using metal hardware requiring actual tools to secure the visor. Nothing is more frustrating than plastic, tool-free crapola that either breaks or works its way out, sometimes leaving you S.O.L. for a replacement. Oh, and there are two brass bolts by the way! Just beef up that visor a bit and it’d be perfect.

Out on the trail, the Supatrail is one of those helmets that seems to disappear rather quickly over the course of a ride. I could not find anything remotely cumbersome in regards to construction or fit, as it continuously allowed for complete free range of motion. The Supatrail sports 14 ventilating ports in addition to foam-molded channels. Add that to its light weightiness and you have yourself a legit lid for any distance, race, or condition.

As for the pink elephant in the room… Is it a speaker? Is it a cup holder for post-ride libations? Is it a Princess Leia tribute helmet? While these were actual suppositions posed to me by others during my time with the Supatrail, the large side scuttles are simply vents. Urge believes that while holes in helmets do vent, if not strategically placed, they do nothing more than weaken the helmet. In other words, more is not always better. With no actual rationales from Urge regarding this design, who’s to say the portholes are better than the competition? The Supatrail is certainly not worse at cooling heads.

Urge Helmets Supatrail Helmet
$129.95 Tree Fort Bikes AD

Some mention should be made in regards to Urge’s eco-friendly approach. So, while you roll your eyes, at least appreciate the fact that one more company out there cares enough to get creative in shrinking their carbon footprint, even though it may not appear to be a significant difference. It is to Urge.

Urge manufactures all of their helmets using recycled EPS foam and PET (polyethylene from plastic water bottles) in designing the EPS liner and helmet straps, respectively. In addition, Urge takes part in the 1% For the Planet movement, giving back 1% of their turnover to associations that help protect the very land that gives so much to us.