sdmc530

My 9 year old had outgrown his old helmet was a nutcase brand. After reading about helmets and such I was all in on finding a MIPS helmet for him. So our local bike shop had kid size Giro helmets with MIPS tech. Had a bunch of them actually. The shop guy said they don't sell a lot for kids because of the price. I usually don't think twice about spending money on my sons safety so for $55 it was a deal. Liked these colors a lot.

Question is when you buy a helmet do you go for a MIPS or the bont wave type helmets with superior safety tech or just get whatever knowing they are all DOT approved for cycling. My curret lid is 4 years old and every 5 years or so get a new one. I liked the wave tech from bont but Its $200? Where do you draw the line on price for a helmet?

Jr. with his new lid!

bpcyclist

Uh boy, now you've gone and done it...

sdmc530

I didn't mean to start anything. I really didn't I just never put much thought into this before. Actually if this thread is going to be another "lube" or "kickstand" type thread then just close it now.

I thought I was safe in the safety section actually.

bpcyclist

I was just giving you a hard time--I wouldn't close it. This topic engenders a lot of strong feelings, for a variety of reasons, one being that a good number of people seem to disagree about the quailty, usefulness, and real-world applicability of the "data" that are often presented in support of one of these designs or the other. Trek, for example, has gotten a lot of flak over relying so heavily on a single study that some people feel may not have actually been all that well done. But they chose to run with it and market it like crazy. Others feel that MIPS and SPIN (the current poc iteration) offer no safety advantage to a real-world cyclist in a crash, for a variety of reasons. Lastly, there are folks who feel that even the Virginia Tech numbers should not be relied on as some sort of rank list and how-to for buying a new helmet, that here is much more to brain injuries from cycling crashes than they are taking into account.

I am not a helmet expert or a neurosurgeon. I was a trauma general surgoen in my youth. Saw tons of catastrophic head injuries. Often in young people. I have just bought what I thought was a good quality helmet that fit and have taken good care of it. It's two years old. Not sure when I will replace it. Controversial, like everything else. It is not MIPS, SPIN, or WaveCel.

Good luck to you!! My best advice? Wear a helmet.

Russ Roth

2 of my kids have mips, the third was dead set on a color. Personally I don't like to spend much more then 60.00 on a kid's helmet, mostly because it anything questionable happens we replace it. Doesn't help the number of times I've yelled at them for throwing them in the back of the car or on the ground, means I replace them annually or more often. My daughter when she was 7 crashed at 24mph according to the speedometer on the bike, probably a little less due to her hitting the brakes helping to cause the crash so a good helmet is worth it and mips does show up in this range especially since I bargain hunt. I've never know someone who ended up mentally damaged while wearing a helmet, wife has a cousin who did end up slightly brain damaged due to an endo on pavement in the 80s, so even a basic helmet probably does the job well enough. But better is better, budget is my big restriction.

sdmc530

My helmet was $75 a while back so that was enough at that time. But I do feel better knowing his head has a "better" lid though.

I see crashes all the time at work (LEO) but they are mostly at high speeds. When a motorcycle is involved the helmet wearing folks usually always do better. I will say that too in motorcycles a higher prices lid does improve safety though. Not the same a cycling per se but still....

livedarklions

I just wore this for the first time on a 77 mile ride yesterday. I like it:

amazon.com/gp/product/B075RSZV9N/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

OldTryGuy

Some say yes and others say no way. It is left up to the individual except for State mandated children requirements. Wife and I were rear ended with me coming out smelling like a rose and her in the ER with a TBI (without having an impact), a seat belt compression injury and other smaller issues.


I've bounced off pavement and ground numerous times while wearing a helmet and nothing happened but then one time I broke my neck. I've also FACE PLANTED when tripping during marathon training AND during events with no resulting "brain issues".


6 of 1, half dozen of the other

Korina

I noticed last week that Costco got their bicycling stuff in, including helmets that claim to be MIPS (forget the brand). I think they're around $35, which sounds suspicious to me, considering the prices of every other brand of MIPS helmet I've seen. On the other hand, there's a see-me red blinkie built into the back of it. Comes in black, white, and slate blue; real hi-viz colors.

livedarklions

The MIPS helmet I linked to above on Amazon was $30 and it's a Bell. No doo-dads, but it's a nice small helmet.

Bmach

I just bought a Bontrager wave cell helmet, most comfortable one I ever owned.

sdmc530

I too really like the wave I tried on....it was pretty sweet

06VistaBlueGT

When I ordered my DS 3 from my LBS, I search around the net for the color I wanted, and found it in a big store in Lancaster, PA. Giro, Montaro MIPS. Really comfortable helmet. I like the MTB helmet with the lower drop in the back.

Was going to post a picture, but my post count isn't at 10 (joined recently). Bummer.

fastbikes

Mips costs more but I say safety first

Leisesturm

The link is dead. It doesn't matter to me, but you might help folks out and do it over ...

livedarklions

https://www.amazon.com/Bell-Formula-.../dp/B075RTKM75

Prices went up a bit.

That link was over 3 months old. I won't be updating it further.

billridesbikes

The problem with any crash on your bike is that your brain is traveling at the speed you fell. You brain has to slow down and come to a stop so the energy involved to do that is the same whether you have a helmet on or not. The helmet is supposed to slow down the stopping process reducing the accelerative forces. Either way you probably sustain some degree of brain injury. Fall of your bike a lot and the cumulative effect may cause some permanent brain damage no matter what helmet you have. The data on MIPS is inconclusive, but if it makes you ride in a more risky way because you think you’re more protected it probably isn’t doing you any favors.

Wear a helmet, but ride like you don’t have one and your skull has a thin spot.

70sSanO

I think the bigger issue is where you buy a helmet.

When you see a $200 helmet going for $75 new online and coming from overseas, it doesn’t really matter if it says MIPS or not. The thing probably is less safe than a $25 Bell from Walmart. At least the a Walmart helmet has met some standard.

John

Iride01 

Whether MIPS is significantly better or not really isn't a big deal. Like any helmet before MIPS, there are expensive and inexpensive helmets. There are plenty of inexpensive MIPS helmets. Even MIPS can't guaranty every possible type of hit from every possible angle. My non-MIPS almost ten year old helmet saved me last year. I hope my MIPS will do at least the same. Might not go ten years before getting a new one though.

And which ever you buy, if here in the USA, it will at least have the CSPC standards. Or should unless you found a really disreputable source that scammed you.

tcs

...and 6D's ODS and 100%'s Smartshock and Bontrager's WaveCel and Fox' Fluid Inside and Kali's LDL and Leatt's 360 and O'Neal's IPX ACells and Shred's RES and Smith's Koroyd...

tcs

...a smooth, rounded, slick exterior with no snag points. Extended occipital lobe coverage. A strap/harness system that's comfortable even when worn as tight as you're supposed to cinch them down. A comfortable interior with no 'hot spots' - and, in the case of MIPS, no sharp edges.

If you pony up for MIPS or one of the other anti-rotational force technologies, make sure it covers the entire crown. I've seen helmet models where the MIPS only covers the front 2/3rds of the helmet.

You haven't crashed in decades, but the week after you buy your spiffy new helmet you smack the ground pretty hard. If you of course without pause replace that helmet before your next ride, you didn't pay too much for it. If you look at that helmet, shrug and say, 'I dunno. Seems okay. Hmph. I bet it's okay.' you paid too much.

Bmach

I was concerned that my bontranger wave cell might to hot when temps got in the 90’s but that was not the case it was fine. But if you get an itch there are no holes to use to scratch it.

JayKay3000

A helmet is like a bicycle lock. You hope its never going to be called upon to do it's job, but you buy the best you can afford so when the times comes there is more chance that things will turn out OK.

greatscott

https://www.pinkbike.com/news/mips-s...is%20better%20

https://cyclingtips.com/2019/05/wave...test-rankings/

https://road.cc/content/tech-news/26...safety-test-us

According to those 3 sites MIPS beats the Wave technology.

sdmc530

I have been reading on helmets a bunch lately and it seems MIPS is in fact the way to go. Wave is a good design but not to the same as MIPS.