Lifting the lid on Shark's sporty new Aeron helmet and how it was developed in MotoGP

French helmet brand Shark have launched a new Aeron model for 2025, designed to attract the sportier end of the road riding market, and available in a range of colours harking back to the superbike golden era of the 1990s.

Although targeted at B-road blasters that fancy taking on the occasional trackday, it’s actually based on the FIM-homologated Aeron GP introduced in 2023 – featuring the same shell and visor design but foregoing its large rear wing.

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“We wanted to have something less radical – a helmet more for the road that’s easy to use every day,” Shark’s R&D Manager, Christophe Fontana told MCN. “If you take a passenger on the back with an Aeron GP then you can hit the spoiler against another helmet.”

That spoiler on the GP protrudes from the rear of the carbon shell – designed to form an aerodynamic line from the rear of the head to the racing hump of a rider’s leathers.

Adapted from the previous Race R Pro GP, it features an adaptive flap system on either side to deflect airflow at high speed, and is used by current top-class riders, including Johann Zarco, in the MotoGP world championship.

Shark themselves say these flaps reduce something called flag effect by 80% (the side-to-side movement of your head at high speed), turbulence by 50% and drag by 5%.

This has been swapped out on the Aeron for a more subtle spoiler design, devised using Computational Fluid Dynamics (a use of computers and algorithms to assess airflow) in a bid to reduce turbulence.

“For the Aeron GP, we would like to have something for the pilots that are riding at more than 300kph (186mph),” Fontana continued. “It’s very efficient because everything is aligned – the hump on your leathers is aligned with the spoiler – so it’s really efficient and when you turn your head to the left and right, flaps are moving. 

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“This is not the same case for the Aeron, which is half for the track and half for the road. The riders don’t have a leather hump, and the riders aren’t taking curves at the limit. 

“We kept the flag effect efficiency on the Aeron – when your head is shaking – something we saw on the old Race R Pro. Riders were complaining of neck pain at 300kph because their heads were shaking from left to right.”

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Starting at £679.99 for basic colours, the standard Aeron shares the same Carbon On View and Aramid (COVA) shell as the GP variant, featuring an exposed weave on many of its designs – as well as a bold choice of colours. It also gets the same Optical Class 1 visor system – said to create no distortion for your vision.

Like the look of the Aeron? You can buy one here or read our review

“This is the only one on the market that has 4mm thickness,” the R&D boss added. “It’s not bullet proof, but it’s really, really strong.”

On top of this, they are equipped with an anti-scratch and anti-fog coating from the factory, meaning no need for a Pinlock.

“That’s why we’ve equipped this visor for the Aeron and the Aeron GP, as it’s the same shape, and all the other features like the ventilation have been optimised for the street.”

Despite sharing the same shell, the two lids will actually sit on your head slightly differently, thanks to alterations to the internal padding. As you might expect, the GP is geared towards a tucked in racing position, with the newer model designed for comfort – plus space for a pair of glasses.

The lower cheeks of the GP are designed to allow greater air to the rider, and the Aeron has cut outs to incorporate a choice of two Sena intercoms.

“It’s a little bit noisier on the Aeron GP, because of the mesh design,” he continued. “We changed this and now have something a little bit less noisy and when you put on your helmet the feeling is a little bit different also – it’s more comfortable.”

Sylvain Guintoli discusses using the Aeron GP

“For me, the first thing I noticed when I tried the Aeron GP, was the aero element. It has the flexible elements on the spoiler, so when you turn your head to the side in the fast corners, the flexible sides move around and adapt to the forces of the wind,” Guintoli said.

“It just felt that little bit easier on the neck and for World Endurance it was really good. You can get the best speed in the straights, but you could also get a little bit of comfort when you were cornering – especially in the fast corners.

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“The ventilation was better as well and for endurance that’s really important, because can encounter many different conditions. We race in Le Mans where it’s cold and you can get fog, but you also go to the Suzuka Eight Hours where it’s like 40-degrees and 95% humidity where you can get too hot, and dehydration is a big issue there.

“For that, the Aeron GP was a really strong step up.”

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