Coalition Spherical: Behind the Design with Emmy Lan and Rhys Verner

Rhys Verner and Emmy Lan of Forbidden Synthesis are two of the fastest enduro racers on the planet. In 2023, Rhys won his first World Cup at Leogang and Emmy won the U21 overall title, with first place finishes in five of her seven UCI EDR races.

Before the 2024 season got underway, we invited them to take a break from the Vancouver winter and visit Giro HQ in Irvine, CA to learn a little more about the Coalition Spherical. Industrial Designer Garrett Tollette, himself a former enduro racer, gave them the deep dive on the helmet, including a look inside the patent-pending Halo System chinbar. And then all three riders hit the local trails in Laguna.

Giro’s mission is to design the equipment that helps world-class athletes like Emmy and Rhys succeed on the toughest terrain. It’s inspiring to share our design rationale and engineering innovations and hear first-hand which course they think Coalition is perfect for. And it’s pretty motivating to try and hang with them on our backyard trails.

In The Media: Coalition Spherical

The new Coalition Spherical helmet also received reviews from the media that speaks volumes to its design, quality, and features.

“The new Coalition helmet is an excellent addition to Giro's lineup. It's comfortable, well ventilated, and comes in at a reasonable weight for this category.” - Pinkbike

The inspiration behind the design was to both pay homage to Giro’s MTB heritage and utilize signature Giro design language and increase its aggressiveness. Our designers collaborated with MTB team riders whose valuable insights helped develop a helmet that could be worn by the world’s best enduro racers.

“The goal is to provide anyone who is wearing an injected full-face downhill helmet a lighter option without sacrificing safety while also providing them with more airflow, which in turn may provide less fatigue and better thermoregulation,” says Tollette.

“Giro hits a homerun with their entry into the lightweight full face helmet market.” - VitalMTB

The Halo System is an injected plastic skeleton that lives inside the inner foam spherical body that allows it more rigidity during impact. This inner ribcage design also allows for bigger vents that promote more airflow.

“Advanced protection without the weight.” - BikeRumor!

The Coalition Spherical exceeds ASTM DH chinbar deflection certification testing by almost 2x. With best-in-class ventilation and our DryCore™ sweat management brow pad the helmet will keep you cool and dry on your ride.

“It’s one of the more light and airy full face helmets I’ve ridden in...it’s quiet and comfortable, with a weight that’s right in line with the rest of this class.” - Bikemag

To ensure the helmet is comfortable for the end user this helmet comes with two thicknesses of cheek pads and neck pads for a fantastic fit. Tollette said “we tested many different padding designs and tried to achieve one that could accommodate the most diverse head and face shapes without interfering with good airflow and ventilation.”

“The Coalition Spherical is a full-featured contender at the top end of the spectrum.” - NSMB