[Closed] MIPS helmets - snake oil or worth it ?

A mate who crashes often (a LOT) has changed to mips and swears that he doesn't get a headache after crashing when he would of in his previous lid.

Although the state his brain must be in needs to be taken into account 👿

I've got one.
I've not crashed on it (yet) but in terms of fit/comfort/air flow/etc, I don't notice any difference at all.

I've got a bell super 2r, great lid
With MIPS, the MIPS moving bit broke and bell said crash replacement only ( same as chain reaction price )
Wouldn't bother if I ordered another.

wiggles - Member
A mate who crashes often (a LOT) has changed to mips and swears that he doesn't get a headache after crashing when he would of in his previous lid

Has he been breaking the tabs that let it float every time? Must be getting expensive

I've obviously been living under a rock - MIPS?? Educate me!

Mips or other ways of reducing rotation are based on good science. However there is an argument that its not hugely relevant to bike crashes and it adds weight which is not good.

I think rotational injury is relevant to bikes - and that many current helmets are not as good as they might be. TRL agree that helmet design can alter rotational forces but dispute the relevance. Others find differently.

Personally when I wear a helmet I wear one that fits well, that has a smooth outer shell with no stupid aero bits or peak and a shiny finish and I do the straps up properly 😉

Don't know about all the marketing BS but its the best fitting and comfiest helmet I've ever owned in 25 years.

tjagain - member

I think rotational injury is relevant to bikes

I wondered before, that's confirmed it. Welcome back.

While I don't think it's snake oil, not sure I'll be too bothered if my next one doesn't come with it.

Great, thanks for info, useful.

Have ordered a Giro Hex (without) and a Montaro (with) from Wiggle as none in LBS and will see which fits best.

I've just replaced my Giro Athlon without mips for a montaro with mips. Mips wasn't the deciding factor, fit was. I rejected the poc tectal as my racing rackets didn't fit with it. Seems I've just got a giro head.

I assume if mips doesn't work, having it isn't going to make things worse, just not as "better" as they claim. It does pull on the hair at the back of my head occasionally though.

I also think fit above all else is what matters. I'm now on my third Giro Air Attack this year after putting one through a road sign at 30mph and the other into the tarmac at 20. I'm sure in lab tests MIPS can show reductions that are measurable in some forces, but my experience tells me that a well-fitting and well-adjusted helmet offers the sort of protection I'm in need off!

Definitely a Giro shaped head. Kask and the others are just not as comfortable on my head. My Hex has been in a few crashes, but nothing compared with my road helmets. I view it more as branch protection, and something to protect from a slow speed mincing off. The road helmets seem to have a much harder time!

Have ordered a Giro Hex (without) and a Montaro (with) from Wiggle as none in LBS and will see which fits best.

My montaro is much better than my old hex but I'm not sure the MIPS has a lot to do with that.

The Hex must be around a 10 year old design now? It was always the budget option too so would expect the Montaro to be in a different league

Read somewhere that "it's coming", in a few years the only normal helmets will be at the very bottom of the ranges, presumably because the added cost is probably not much more than it costs to run two sets of tooling to make a non-mips version.

Although an obviously visible set of tabs that break up inside the lid forcing replacement probably hasn't escaped the view of the accountants either......

Mips article in cycling weekly mag I browsed in Sainsburys whilst waiting for the missus.

Confirms what I'd read elsewhere, that many 'Mips' lids don't follow the actual full Mips specification for the low friction sliding/separation?

A mention that some helmet had less rear protection because of fitting Mips around the helmet retention (rear) system

And that current Mips offering have been retrofitted into existing helmet shells - they interviewed one of the POC engineer about this.

Can't see it doing any harm as long as the fit is good and the Mips harness is robust enough to withstand day to day use.

Guess when new helmet models come out design around full Mips specification then the safety benefits can only increase

I've got mips in my new roadie helmet, it wasn't much more and thought it was worth a try.

I've got a normal mtb helmet, and my average speeds are much lower. Therefore I can confirm mips helmets make you go considerably faster. 😉

Great info. Aye, the Hex was a wildcard and not really thinking it will be a keeper. My head fits Giro lids and have had nowt else for last 10 years. Monza on road and track and seeing Xar for MTB, hence time for a new one. Wiggle and CollectPlus for the win !

I have a monster size head and I cant get a mips helmet to fit. Tried on a few in my LBS it none fit!

My other Giro lids are all medium so have gone medium with Montaro, hopefully it fits though some reviews say it's a bit more snug.

From Giro website.

Through our extensive trials, we believe that helmets equipped with this technology may provide an additional measure of protection in some impacts.

'May' 'Some'

So it's all bollox then?

There was a good article with the guys from urge a while back on pinkbike where they said they don't really believe the science associated with mips but because the whole industry was going that way they had to introduce it. Isn't some of the argument against it based on your hair doing an equally good job and therefore it is unnecessary. When I tried a giro mips helmet on I found that it sat noticeably higher on my head than a non mips giro helmet.

Read somewhere that MIPS was not really required.

What was more important was the shape of your helmet i.e. the more rounded it was the less likely rotational forces were to cause injury as on impact the helmet was more likely to slide than catch on something.

With a more edged helmet MIPS may be beneficial as the helmet may catch on something & then the MIPS liner inside the helmet can reduce the rotational forces by breaking away.

A good & healthy barnet was also touted as being as effective as any MIPS liner too.

FWIW I wouldn't buy a MIPS helmet again.

A good & healthy barnet was also touted as being as effective as any MIPS liner too.

🙁

*Googles MIPS skiing helmets

Worth a read about MIPS:

[url= http://www.bhsi.org/mips.htm ]Link[/url]

"The scalp (nature's MIPS) ensures that, and skin does not stick to EPS much, given sweat, hair, hair products and sunscreen."

Hair? What's that then? 😆

I bought a Montaro because I wanted a new lid and it felt comfy when I first tried it on.

It's super comfy on long rides, and the pads are pretty good to, keeping the sweat out of my eyes.

It replaced a Hex.

I'm not convinced by the benefits of MIPS other than to make a big lid a bit smaller on the inside.

Worth a read about MIPS:

Link

"The scalp (nature's MIPS) ensures that, and skin does not stick to EPS much, given sweat, hair, hair products and sunscreen."

TBH, I think that website talks some bollocks on occasion - my MIPS helmet definitely rotates on it's slip plane around my head. Just forwards and backwards and side to side though, my square head stops it from twisting. The EPS needs to be split in half like the 6D helmet - and instead of using the rubber grommets like 6D do - they need to put a full MIPS liner in. This will take away the variables in head shape, hair, sweat etc interacting with the design.

I think Kali and Leatt are onto something with their cone shaped dual EPS designs.

my MIPS helmet definitely rotates on it's slip plane around my head

It shouldn't be doing that unless the tabs are broken

jimdubleyou - Member
I bought a Montaro because I wanted a new lid and it felt comfy when I first tried it on.

It's super comfy on long rides, and the pads are pretty good to, keeping the sweat out of my eyes.

It replaced a Hex.

Out of interest, is it same size as Hex or did you have to go up a size ?

If it helps, my Athlon was a medium and so is my montaro. However, I'm a 57cm head so at the lower end of what fits in a giro bmedium. I've not found the montaro to be smaller and I can adjust it to be too small to fit.

Out of interest, is it same size as Hex or did you have to go up a size ?

Both large. Hex is looser than the Montaro.

Thanks, I have a medium Xar and have ordered same size Montaro. Xar has a fair amount of space so hopefully Montaro will fit !

It shouldn't be doing that unless the tabs are broken

I'm not sure that is true - I will check that, there is definately half a cm of movement in the mips liner and every other helmet that I've ever tried with MIPS.

Tabs don't appear to have sheared (if you mean the silicone attachments that hold it to the helmet).

The tabs are so elastic that you'd have to rip the helmet off your head to tear them.

That makes more sense, the way I read your initial post it was like the shell flopped about all over the place!

I've looked at a few MIPS lids & 5mm of free movement is something I've never come across. It's only supposed to move once the it's sheered or so I've always experienced.

Are you sure yours hasn't sheered?

Yup - the design must have changed since the early POC iterations - because the only attachment points are elastic/silicone retainers. There ae no plastic tabs that shear.

Which makes sense to me because elasticated attachment points mean that in an impact the helmet will rebound back to its neutral position.

Yeah mine's a Sweet one, three stretchy tabs that allow movement

Giro Montaro arrived and seems ideal, thanks for advice. Fit is a little neat in my usual Giro medium unless I ditch the buff i usually wear, so have ordered a large aswell, TGF Wiggle and CollectPlus 😀

Yup - the design must have changed since the early POC iterations - because the only attachment points are elastic/silicone retainers. There ae no plastic tabs that shear.

Ah didn't realise that, though still not convinced..

Giro Montaro arrived and seems ideal, thanks for advice. Fit is a little neat in my usual Giro medium unless I ditch the buff i usually wear, so have ordered a large aswell, TGF Wiggle and CollectPlus

If the buff is for sweat, the pads are so good in the montaro you won't need it.

Be careful, Wiggle are now using Yodel too 😯

If the buff is for sweat, the pads are so good in the montaro you won't need it.

largely, so good point thanks

I do quite like the insulating benefit in winter, being rather thin on top 🙂