Originally Posted by
noisebeam
The top one has few poorly designed vents, the bottom a lot and therefore it looks like the bottom one would provide better cooling, but no?
Yup, the bottom two helmets both provide good cooling. The ventilation of the one in the top three pics is marginal despite its exterior appearance. None of its vents are connected with air passages. It has rear quarter vents (not pictured) that are basically conical, as much as two or three inches across at the surface but narrow down to those little oval holes you see that are smaller than my thumbnail.
In contrast, the bottom two helmets, a Specialized Prevail and a Catlike Whisper, both have multiple air passages that are raised above the scalp by longitudinal ribs. The front vents are all connected to rear vents to let wind exit.