[Closed] New helmet time. MIPS worth it?

Its still a plastic coat that wraps round some polystyrene.

Strip away the marketing and then think about it. Marketing is great, it will make you buy things.

Am rather skeptical about MIPS lids tbh

Some manufacturers seem to incorporate the MIPS layer better than others but personally I can't see how it can work unless your head is 100% attached to the MIPS layer

Can you move your helmet about on your head even with the cradle and straps tight? If you can there's your MIPS layer right there

Oh go on Trimix explain why it's rubbish

Can you move your helmet about on your head even with the cradle and straps tight? Thought so.

That's what I was thinking.

I tried on a Super 2R MIPS whilst mooching through Evans the other day - it was uncomfortably tight in size "Large".
But, I don't know if that's something to do with MIPS or Bell making small helmets.

Will try on a few more before I pull the trigger I think.

For £20 the On One lids look great

Yea, it was Evans where I tried it. The medium was very very tight on the temples. The large looked huge but fitted my much better.

I'm not overly bothered if MIPS works or not, just putting the question out there. The none MIPS version is about £25 cheaper anyway.

I had a bell gage, broke it and replaced it with the mips version i cant see itdoing anything in real life. Looks loke a tiny bit of plastic. Not simething id pay more for.

Legend, I cant explain it owing to falling off my bike and banging my head, so now I'm unable to mount an objective rational argument 🙂

Actually it does look nice, and the marketing is slick. But years ago I worked for a company making safety equipment. They also made cycle helmets and I spent some time in the R&D dept. where they tested them to the required standards. The tests were very unrealistic and no way represented real life. I also saw them made, once you strip off the shiny paint and stickers and stuff, they really seem to be more hope than substance.

I do think they make you feel way safer than you actually are, which could be a bad thing. I'm not sure if expensive ones are better than cheap ones. Most riders I see don't even have the straps done up properly.

The scalp moves around your skull about the same amount the MIPS device does. Not to mention the helmet, which is not attached to your scalp.

So MIPS gives double the movement then?

In order to reduce the angular momentum on your noggin, the MIPS stuff should have a way of absorbing the shock by way of friction; as it is, you just end up with a tilted helmet. The heads they're testing with don't have neither hair, nor scalp and/or helmet undies.

I am rather cynical about MIPS. I remember a colleague earlier last year, excitedly telling me all about how his new MIPS lid worked in an impact, merrily reciting the all the speil...

I simply asked "So is that actually any better than a regular helmet at preventing injuries?" I'll admit I was being an obtuse tosser about it, but he really couldn't give me an answer... He did tell me how much it cost him several times though...

TBH It's probably no worse than a normal lid, but has anyone been proven to have died or sustained worse injuries for the lack of a MIPS helmet yet?

TJ to the forum, TJ to the forum!

Oh wait....

I don't know how much if at all MIPS helps but rotational injuries and the way helmets can increase them has been researched. In fact it is often cited as a reason not to wear a helmet at all

TJ to the forum

He did have some valid points on this subject they just sometimes got a little lost in the argument

There is good science behind what MIPS achieves, and they are not the only ones that think it's important - [url= http://singletrackworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/sea-otter-2016-6d-helmets/ ]http://singletrackworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/sea-otter-2016-6d-helmets/[/url]

I for one will believe the scientists (not the marketing blerb) and protect my brain in any way possible. This is just a sensible option for me, if you don't want to spend the extra there are a lot of good helmets without MIPS. The critical point is you are wearing a helmet!

What the hell is MIPS ? Is my helmet I have had for the last 2 yrs now useless ?

FunkyDunc - Member
What the hell is MIPS ? Is my helmet I have had for the last 2 yrs now useless ?

[url= http://www.mips.technology ]http://www.mips.technology[/url]

Doesn't mean your helmet is useless, just something else to consider when the time comes to get a new one. This technology started in the equestrian world before moving into the snow then bikes industries.

In order to reduce the angular momentum on your noggin, the MIPS stuff should have a way of absorbing the shock by way of friction; as it is, you just end up with a tilted helmet. The heads they're testing with don't have neither hair, nor scalp and/or helmet undies.

Errrr

http://www.bhsi.org/mips.htm

The first POC helmet with MIPS has two concentric layers, held in place by a pin that breaks and lets the shells slip for about 15 mm upon impact. The layer interface is coated with Teflon. All subsequent helmets we have seen have just a thin layer of uncoated polycarbonate plastic inside the normal helmet liner. It slips, but hold it down hard with your thumb and you can hear it creak against the EPS liner, indicating friction. Your skin does not do that. MIPS says that the helmet is supposed to have a layer of slippery fabric between the foam and the polycarbonate insert, but that turns out to be just small fabric pads on some point. We saw MIPS models from nine manufacturers at the September 2014 Interbike show. None of them had a full layer of sliding enabler fabric, and we found spots on all of them where the polycarbonate MIPS layer contacted bare EPS. In addition, the inserts are sliced up to avoid blocking vents in most helmets. The MIPS layer cuts down on ventilation where it impinges on vents.

The models that I have tried, had small rubber elastic bands holding two low friction slip planes together that gave the damping characteristics. Unfortunately, as above, MIPS is not implemented in it's original design. Friction will cause a spike in the g-forces imparted on the head, you want as little break away force as possible. Which is why, IMO the 6D helmets are a better design.

The 6D helmets have two eps liners, seperated by what looks like elastomer dampers that can twist in any direction and also compress in a better fashion than EPS to supposedly limit g-force spiking during an impact. The issue with EPS is that when it's good at stopping your skull from being split in two, it is bad in comparison to other materials at limiting the g-forces imparted to your brain.

Personally, whilst it's all snake oil until I see some studies - I would place a bet that both the 6D and Smith Helmets offer better impact absorption in a crash. Helmets can and do very wildly in the performance that they offer in terms of crash absorption.

Hmm I didn't realise that in an mtb crash the brain decelerated at a massive rate !

I won't be chucking my helmet away just yet !

Why don't motorbike helmets have this built in?

I'll have a quick two penn'orth. As I understand it the issue is that in a normal fall, when head strikes the ground the skin around the skull "slips" a bit, meaning that the impact of any rotational forces on the brain are reduced. Traditional cycle helmets can lock onto the head in a way that reduces, or entirely negates, this slippage which - in certain types of crashes - can lead to greater brain injuries being suffered. MIPS helmets are designed to mimic the action of the skin. They are no better than traditional helmets when it comes to protecting your skull from being cracked like an egg (and having had two crashes where my bog standard, cheapo helmet has been crushed and fractured I can attest to their effectiveness in that department).

I'm sure the science is good (MIPS was developed by two academics researching rotational brain injuries and then licensed out to manufacturers), though whether the actual implementation of it is up to standard is another question entirely.

An interesting piece of research to see would be the number of injuries amongst cyclists that are attributable to rotational injuries, but I'm not sure if that exists.

On a lighter note, an ex-colleague was a fanatical non-helmet wearer (picking arguments with fellow colleagues who commuted by bike with a helmet on). This continued even after he knocked himself unconscious and fractured his skull after smashing his head into a low bridge whilst cycling along the canal... 😀

At least your ex college showed commitment to his cause, top bloke 🙂

Manufactures can and will find science to back up their products and its probably got some truth in it. Then this is dumbed down by marketing slogans and then removed by lowering the budget as no one can afford to by expensive helmets.

Real life that involves mounting biking and falling off is so varied, random and full of trees/rocks/bikes/arms and legs it is unlikely to repeat a scientific test.

In the end you spend what you can justify and ride around with a dose of polystyrene placebo on your head.

On a lighter note, an ex-colleague was a fanatical non-helmet wearer (picking arguments with fellow colleagues who commuted by bike with a helmet on). This continued even after he knocked himself unconscious and fractured his skull after smashing his head into a low bridge whilst cycling along the canal...

in that case, maybe new glasses would have been a better investment...

Not MIPS, but I like the idea of the Kali protectives dual density foam, seems like it would be more useful in a normal crash in disipating energy