Last year when I was looking for a new helmet I tried on a lower end Specialized Propero, it fit nice, very comfortable and the Specialized's have a great little grill like vent system in the front. Now when I say I can really judge ventilation I mean it, first of all I shave my head so I can really feel the air flow and I live in steamy South Florida. So after trying on the Propero the sales guy hands me another helmet and says try this. I tried it on and since it felt better and more comfortable than the Propero I thought for sure it was the next model up and was a lot more $. I was wrong, it was the middle tier Echelon for about $79 I believe it was. It had better padding and again it has great ventilation. The only thing I will say negative about the Spesh's is the shell seems to look larger than other brands.