The Specialized Evade 4 is no faster, but it is cooler

The Specialized S-Works Evade 4, with fog flowing through its vents from front to back of the helmet to depict its new 2.4% increase in ventilation improvement. — (Image credit: Specialized Bicycles)

Specialized has lifted the lid on the fourth-generation Evade, and the brand says it’s achieved a 2.4 per cent reduction in heat build-up, without giving away any watts.

The Evade has long been the brand’s best aero bike helmet offering, but in this iteration, 100 hours of aerodynamic and thermal testing went into increasing ventilation, without an aero penalty.

Interestingly, the Evade 3 - released in June 2022 - also aimed to build on comfort and ventilation, with the headline claim being 10% better airflow vs the outgoing iteration. That means the Evade hasn’t got any faster since the 2018 launch of the Evade 2, which made a claim of six seconds - over 40 kilometres - vs the original, out in 2014.

Still, the Evade has always been popular in the CW office, with its wearability and aesthetics often championed over the claimed speed boost anyway.

Side on and front profile collage of the 4th generation of the Specialized S-Works Evade

(Image credit: Specialized Bicycles)

Addressing the particular focus on ventilation in this launch, a spokesperson for the US brand told Cycling Weekly that the goals were driven by rising global temperatures. “Temperatures above 90 degrees Fahrenheit are now the rule, not the exception,” our rep told us. Therefore, the brief was to make the Evade something riders would want to wear on a hot day, rather than reaching for the Prevail 3.

The physical changes back that up. There are now seven vents, up from five, plus a slotted exhaust on each side of the rear shell. The internal headform has been rounded to suit a broader spread of skull shapes, and the retention cradle is new. The padding is integrated into the MIPS Airnode Pro system, which features COOLMAX® fabric. The tail, now reminiscent of Specialized's best time trial helmet, the TT5, has been truncated so that head-down sprints don’t bleed too many watts.

Remco wearing the new Specialized S-Works Evade 4 in a hot desert like landscape

While there’s no aero penalty for all this extra fresh air, the Evade 4 is a smidge heavier at 290g, versus 272g for the outgoing model. Price-wise, it comes in at £279 / $350 / €329, with six colours available at launch, including Root Beer and Multi Aurora.

The wider question, with the UCI having shut the door on visors in mass-start racing, is whether anyone has any aero gains left to find. The Evade 4 suggests that, for now, Specialized thinks the answer is no.

We’ve got an Evade 4 on the way to the Cycling Weekly office, and will be bringing you a full review soon.

In the meantime, you can find all the best deals on the outgoing Specialized Evade 3 below in your region. Including this one, direct with Specialized in the US, where the Evade 3 is now $70 off.

Andy Carr is the tech editor at Cycling Weekly. He was founder of Spoon Customs, where for ten years, him and his team designed and built some of the world's most coveted custom bikes. The company also created Gun Control Custom Paint. Together the brands championed the highest standards in fit, fabrication and finishing.

Nowadays, Andy is based in Norfolk, where he loves riding almost anything with two-wheels. He was an alpine ride guide for a time, and gets back to the Southern Alps as often as possible.