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Took new helmet out today for its first spin. Smith Session with MIPS at RRP of £139, not exactly low end. Really been drawn in to all the MIPS claims / marketing to replace my old non MIPS MET Parachute full face. Two main aims were safety and cooling.
Have no idea how but the full face Parachute is cooler than the half face session. MIPS seems to be the culprit boiling my head on what was not exactly a summer day.
What’s more I’m really not convinced adding a layer of plastic is safer or worth the extra £30 or so charged. pretty sure I’d fare better in the MET in a real world crash.
Now is it actually the MIPS or just the session? Thinking of dumping it for an open face MET. Next decision is MIPS or no MIPS.
Im thinking I’d rather have some nice padding to protect my head. The POC spin pads look like a nice middle ground.
Anyone else got experience of the Session and other MIPS vs Non MIPS, or the new super MIPS helmets?
https://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/mips-is-it-just-me/
Come to the conclusion MIPS is not for me
I like my Bell helmet with MIPS.
I like the way it feels secure but can also move about a bit during a crash. I don't think the MIPS bit makes it any warmer.
For me it doesn't much matter, i swap between a Mips and non-mips and they're both just helmets, that's as good/bad as it gets for me.
What’s more I’m really not convinced adding a layer of plastic is safer
Have you read up on what that layer of plastic is trying to do? It's not trying to do the job of a pad
However, MIPs doesn't really seem to work for me either. I always seem to be right at the very top end of medium helmet sizing, but larges are too big. So MIPs just seems to eat into the little space i have, but in a larger size the whole thing ends up bouncing around my head
Maybe you can have both. There are similar/ competing technologies that are implemented of different ways that might not boil your head.
Guess I’ve got Kali, Leatt and POC to try.
I have read the research. I’m just not 100% convinced the lab equates to real life, especially with minimised padding, in a big crash your head is basically hitting plastic and EPS. The next gen geo mips looks more well thought out with dual density shells but is currently £££.
I’m more worried that it’s so hot if wearing it for say an Enduro I’d be tempted to take it off for transitions.
im still on an old Giro Hex, though my 4yr old has a nice MIPS helmet, just the job for crashing around the playground 🙄
My understanding is that the MIPS component is the little elastic rubber connectors, allowing the shell to rotate separately from the net that holds it onto your head. The logic seems solid to me, and i can envisage how that would be a benefit in a crash.
Point i have is, Is the hot-head net related to MIPS, or rather just a design of the net. Bert's helmet looks like any other helmet to me, save for the addition of the elastic fittings.
It looks to me impossible to create a helmet with MIPS V1 that doesn’t boil your head for anything more than a quaint bimble. It’s literally a thin layer of plastic covering your head at close proximity.
Two other things I don’t understand.
* None of the helmet reviews really mention the heat issue just bla bla ing away saying how they are all amazing. Looks to me a fundamental design issue that should be noted in every review of a MIPS helmet.
* Only 10% of helmet reviews or store photos actually show the inside of helmets in any detail.
Is this why so many Roadies where Kask helmets?
Happy Monday All 😂
Had a crash with my MIPS helmet on a month ago, it was a really hard smack straight to the head on a compacted dirt/rock landing, pretty much tarmac hardness
I have had similar but less severe impacts with my previous normal lids and always remember feeling a bit rough afterwards, headaches and a feeling a bit like dehydration. This time I had absolutely zero issues
Completely anecdotal but considering the severity of repeated head trauma I’ll be spending the extra cash on MIPS again
MIPS is a system that is trying to increase protection via that plastic insert, pads work in a different way, but it's down to preference, the reality is it potentially reduces the outcome of a crash through the design, but as always, there are many parameters in this, i use MIPS as i've had concussion a few times, and even just reducing the chance or outcome a few percent is worthwhile for me, but i also don't find it uncomfortable as i always wear a cap as well.
The point of MIPs is that it acts as slip plane, it is nothing to do with the plastic acting as a pad or as impact protection in the manner of the rest of the helmet. This is important as your brain's neurones are vulnerable to twisting forces...the MIPS takes some of the force out of the oblique impact of your head hitting the ground at a less than 90 degree angle.
NB 'Concussion' = mild traumatic brain injury.
RE that Smith Session being hot, compared to your parachute, I'd say that's more likely to be due to the Koroyd, than the MIPS. Although the Koroyd is hollow tubes, I'm pretty certain that their oblique angle to the direction of airflow will distrub the airflow compared to a big 'normal' vent.
RE MIPS itself, its designed to reduce the rotational forces transferred to your brain in an impact, but reducing the severity of the deceleration of your brain slopping about in your skull. There's numbers out there that show proof of it - though it's all from MIPS themselves. Even if you don't trust numbers from the manufacturer themselves, there's lots of solutions to address the same issue, so I wouldn't say it's smoke and mirrors. Got 2 helmets with it in now, and 2 without, though one of those has the Leatt Turbine solution which addresses the same problem.
Having had four MIPS helmets - I’m not sure they are any hotter. A poorly-designed helmet will be more compromised. My old Giro Xen was a bit hot, my POC Trabec was cooler, my Bell Super 2R is about the same and my Troy Lee A2 is considerably cooler…
Koroyd will impact but it’s only on the sides. The main vents are totally open.
I believe in the theory behind MIPS and am 100% behind trying to reduce rotational impact. I just don’t buy a slippy bit of plastic being able to alter outcomes by more than a few percent or so. Even taking into account I’d say it’s still worth it if it didn’t boil your head.
Check out the latest Giro Helmets. They have gen 2 MIPS and look a lot better at both heat and rotational force reduction but for MTB I think the RRP is sitting around £300 right now.
Maybe it’s a poor design helmet but why the 8.5-9/10 reviews across the board?
So any super ventilated mips or mips alternate recommendations under £150 that can take a whole day riding at 30 degrees.
My POC Kortal MIPS has a system called MIPS Integra. No slippy plastic liner, just normal pads. I believe the shell is supposed to be more slippy allowing the pads to slide. Anyway it has no impact on ventilation at all, it’s like a helmet without MIPS in that regard.
2 TLD A1 helmets here. One with MIPS and one without. No real difference in insulation AFAICT and I live in the sunny SW where it's always 30 degrees even when it's snowing. 😉 I think your conclusion based on one helmet feeling a bit warmer to you on a given day compared to another totally different helmet on another day might be subjective. I'm not saying you're wrong but I'd want more data.
Also, reviews don't always contain all the information one might like. For instance i spent somewhere north of 100 quid on a pair of spesh boots thinking they'd do me for the autumn/spring to find they had huge mesh panels across the front. My evoc bumbag is not, in my view, suitable for carrying 1.5L of water despite being massively fêted in the general MTB press. Live and learn. 🙄