Ridley Helium SL Review

Something very special that happens when you ride really light bike. The new Ridley Helium SL built with SRAM Red is so damn light that this something really special is magnified. So damn light you just feel like attacking any incline you come across. 

The Ridley Helium has been around for some time but the Helium SL is a all new machine and takes everything good about the original Helium and spices it up. I had read this in the propaganda Ridley had put out about the new Helium SL but riding was believing and the new SL was for me the perfect combination of light, stiff, comfortable and in control. In my opinion it's the perfect race bike. Long miles or a crit it's good at everything. 

Although it's plain looking the Helium SL is quite different to the original Helium. The ISP is replaced with a  27.2mm regular seatpost which reduces weight and makes for a more comfortable ride. Press Fit BB30 reduces frame weight and makes for a stiffer BB. Carbon drop outs with a reinforced steel plate, again lighter and stiffer. Oversized headset and tapered steerer for the all carbon fork. Dual mechanical or electrical cable routing keeps everything internal and heightens the sleek look of the Ridley. The Helium SL is built using a higher modules carbon than the original and a more advanced nano resin that saves weight  again. On paper all the features point to a bike that's got it all, in practice the Helium really does have it all.

With SRAM Red an alloy bar and stem and mid weight Fulcrum Racing 3 clinchers(1550 g) the size Medium came in just over 14lbs. SRAM Red is perhaps the most appropriate choice for the Helium SL as it shares many of the same characteristics, light, snappy and ready to race but also a excellent companion on the long road. With a pair of light tubular wheels like the Zipp 303(1255 g) or the new Mavic R-SYS SLR tubular (1275 g) the bike would be even more impressive and downright addictive to ride.

One color only in the USA for 2013. Sleek looking and very trendy but maybe not everyone's cup of tea and perhaps a little too trendy for it's own good. I can't help but feel I might look at in some time in 2014 and think it was so 2013. Helium SL is such an impressive ride I would not care if it was not painted at all.