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Cycling Weekly
Cycling Weekly
Sport
Michelle Arthurs-Brennan

I know it's an aero helmet but I've worn the Specialized Evade for racing, commuting, gravel riding, mountain biking and more - and it's price slashed this Black Friday

Michelle wearing the Specialized Evade on gravel rides, road roads and commuting.

Specialized kit is being heavily discounted in the Black Friday deals, and among the reductions is the S-Works Evade 3 helmet.

This lid is now in its third generation; you'll find my colleague Rook's review of the most recent Evade model here. I've had a few over the years, as the selfie collage above demonstrates.

The Specialized Evade Black Friday Deal

What I use the Evade for

(Image credit: Future)

The primary use case for the Evade is as an aero race helmet. I would have liked to include more racing images in the collage above, but of course I don't own the rights to any of them. So you'll have to take my word that I've raced this lid on the road and track. As an aero race helmet, the Evade excels.

It's not marketed as a 'breathable, climbing helmet', but, I've worn it on training camps in the mountains in temperatures in excess of 30°C/86°F.

It's not marketed as a 'commuter' lid, but I've worn it to run errands.

It's not marketed as a 'gravel helmet', but I've worn it on chilled evening spins on rough stuff.

It's not a mountain bike helmet. Mountain bike helmets offer greater protection, which is definitely not a feature out of the marketing playbook for the Evade; if you ride hard and fast off-road, the Evade isn't suited. But, I've used it for my own off-roading, because I'm not that talented over roots and rocks and therefore I modulate my speed accordingly.

As Cycling Weekly's digital editor and former tech editor, I've got quite a few helmets to choose from knocking around the house - but I always come back to the Evade.

The newest S-Works Evade 3

North American Editor Rook wears the S-Works Evade 3 (Image credit: Anne-Marije Rook)

I've yet to don the 'generation 3' model, however, in this iteration, the brand opted for thinner straps and integrated the MIPS safety feature to improve comfort and ventilation. 

MIPS, the system designed to reduce rotational forces in the event of a crash, is usually added to a helmet as an additional layer. However, the MIPS 'Air Node' creation used here, it's integrated into the padding. 

(Image credit: Anne-Marije Rook))

On launch, Specialized claimed that the third generation Evade has 10% better airflow, whilst maintaining its position as the "most aero road helmet" in the peloton.

This latest model of the Evade is also compatible with the brand's own ANGi Crash Sensor, which will detect an incident and notify your emergency contact. 

Our North American Editor Rook wrote in her review: "Specialized’s third gen Evade is surprisingly cool for an aero lid and provides all-day comfort, turning this staff-favorite into the fastest choice for even more rides."

The price was her main criticism, so the 30% off deal may go down nicely.

Black Friday deals across Specialized

It's not just the S-Works Evade that's been reduced - other deals at Specialized across Black Friday include:

US

UK

Over the Black Friday weekend we are trawling the web for all the best cycling deals.

Check out our main Black Friday bike deals hub page for all the latest discounts and deals as we find them.

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