I was wondering about the benefits of a MIPS helmet. I have had three concussions in the last year, don’t ask how, and I was wondering if I should consider buying a MIPS helmet. Would a MIPS helmet help reduce the likihood of a concussion if/when I crash or does an ordinary helmet offer the same benefits? I am trying to justify a Giro Aerohead and wondering if MIPS would be enough of a reason to upgrade.
Hello rs1852 and All,
Check out the section on MIPS.
Do we all need MIPS helmets?
I ordered a Giro Arrowhead a couple of days ago … and would also like to know more about how functional the MIPS will be.
According to the Bicycle Helmet Safety Institute the primary quality of a helmet is to be round and smooth and slide easily when you hit the pavement … and be thick enough with padding to allow time and distance for your head to slow down … sort of like jumping off a 10 story building on an air bag instead of on the concrete.
For what it’s worth I find the “Bike Helmet Safety Institute” to be a fairly opaque site. It’s not really an “Institute.” It appears to be essentially one guy who reads research papers and writes his opinion on them, with, in my opinion, sometimes fairly biased opinions. It’s basically a blog.
IMO it’s worth it, but it’s just my opinion.
I haven’t given too much thought to my race helmet, but when i was buying a commuting helmet I made sure the one I bought had MIPs. It wasn’t a big difference in price between the non-MIPS and the MIPS, and if the worst should happen, anything that could mitigate the result seems worth it to me.
This. The incremental cost is pretty low. Some people may say the data is not conclusive but even so it’s worth the small premium for me. I had one concussion and it was a miserable experience. Anything to not go through that again.
Hello Trail and All,
BHSI has a nice curated collection of references … for bicycle helmets.
Perhaps your criticism of the site is a bit sharp … the site provides a central ‘CliffsNotes’ quick overview for helmets before you dig into pubmed and the other venues.
What alternative site do you recommend?
You can find individual studies at pubmed and other venues … but it takes a long time to collect and wade through them … finding the ones that are pertinent.
Before he passed away Prof. Harry Hurt had a good crash study going at USC… “The Hurt Report” for motorcycle helmets and motorcycle crashes and some bicycle information and later the Head Protection Research Lab of Southern California.
http://www.soundrider.com/archive/safety-skills/harry_hurt_interview.aspx
Professor Hurt was well know in the aviation world authoring the bible of Naval Aviation Training that was used for many years …
‘Aerodynamic for Naval Aviators’. (It has a new author now)
I remember visiting Professor Hurt at USC and he had a large building filled with crashed motorcycles … and smashed helmets.
He introduced me to the chief pilot at Douglas when I was promoting angle of attack systems for aircraft approaches and I thanked him for that.
Perhaps your criticism of the site is a bit sharp … the site provides a central ‘CliffsNotes’ quick overview for helmets before you dig into pubmed and the other venues.
The site is a good collection of links, if a bit haphazardly organized. I’m just criticizing the title of “research institute.” Research institutes perform…research. This one doesn’t. It’s just a Web site that aggregates links to helmet information and and one guy forming some opinions on that research. Which is fine. Just think they should pick a less grandiose title, like “Swart’s Helmet Blog.” It’s not as bad as the “Bicycle Helmet Research Foundation” (not apparently defunct, not having been updated in 4 years), which is another grandiose title for another blog.
What alternative site do you recommend?
PudMed. 
Honestly, it’s tough to find unbiased information on helmets.
If you want to justify a new helmet, MIPS protects at more cases of harm, if you can’t choose how to hit the ground with the head …