I also have been considering a new helmet because my helmet is 7 years old and came to the following conclusions:

The helmets I am most interested in are not available in the U.S. (MET and ABUS)
I was thinking that the foam in helmets degrades over time and that would be a reason to buy a new one - but it turns out not to be the case so the helmet I have is still good and I do not need to spend money on a new one.
There are no peer reviewed studies that prove MIPs is effective.
The studies that were done was with dummy heads, not real people.
There is no published data from actual accidents that shows that MIPs is effective.
I have no problem with people wanting a helmet with MIPs, but I have seen no proof that it makes a difference.
There are other factors that are probably more important than MIPs.

I have a MIPS Thousand for when I wear a cap, and a MIPS nutcase when I don't

ABUS helmets are available in the US on Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/s?k=ABUS+helm...f=nb_sb_noss_2

I buy a new helmet every 2 years or so. They start to get a little beat up just from banging around in my bags and shelves, etc. Also I don't know about others, but my helmets start to smell a little funky after a while.

My last two helmets have had MIPS. The two helmets I've purchased for my kid have also been MIPS. Does it improve safety? Maybe. I don't really see any downside, other than some models costing a few more dollars.

Helmet recommendations are tough - I've definitely had helmets that didn't fit my head shape very well. I also like to have enough room under my helmet to wear a winter hat or cap. I used to be really worried about having a "mushroom head" kind of look, but after trying a half dozen helmets over the years I think they all basically end up looking the same on my head.

Anyway, I have a Bell Z20 MIPS right now. It's been great. It's going on 2 years old so I'll probably be buying a new one in the next few months. I might just go with the same model but a different color.

This dummy head study was peer reviewed and strongly suggests that MIPs is effective at preventing rotational injury.: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6928098/
I don't know what you would consider to be "proof", but this is pretty good. Using real heads in experiments presents some ethical problems what with injuring the subjects, and I don't think cadaver heads are likely to produce anything significantly different from dummy heads. Data from real-world crashes would be too noisy to be of any use, we really would have no way of knowing what rotational forces any given crash victim might have undergone and, if you think about it for two seconds, the data would be heavily skewed towards reporting failures. The odds are excellent that a helmet success would never get reported as people will simply walk/ride away from most of those crashes. There's also a bit of selection bias possible--people who ride faster/more/harder may be more prone to seek out MIPs helmets than less "intense" riders and so you could see a disproportionately high level of injury among MIPs users even if the helmets were more effective.


Anyway, there's certainly no proof that MIPs does any harm, and it really doesn't cost (much) more at this point.

But, yeah, your 7 year old helmet is probably fine. That's not sarcastic, btw.

They are, but they are expensive compared to elsewhere online. I got my Abus from either Merlin or Lordgun and the models that are on Amazon are available for less at overseas retailers.
Itll be neat to see MET and ABUS have more visibility in the US. I am all for more options in the helmet category.

Latest helmet thread merged into The Helemt Thread 2.

We sell ABUS locks at our shop, so I would imagine their other products should be available to US brick-n-mortar retailers at some point.

I am sure MIPS helps reduce rotational forces on a hairless solid rubber headed dummy that the studies use. But most people already have a slip-plane between their scalp and the helmet, it's called hair. They also have some rotational slippage between their scalp and their scull. The incremental value of MIPS for real people with hair is not clear to me and I find the extra plastic layer unpleasant and prone to catching hair. Some of the other technologies that, in addition to facilitating rotation, crumple to absorb energy seem to make at least some sense to me, but MIPS seems marginal at best.

I still say to the anti helmet people, what is the big deal. Once I put my helmet on, I totally forget about it. And if it prevents even a little road rash on the head, why not?

Same for me , also the helmet saved my life once. So there is not a single reason to not use it

Having recently fallen off my bike and ending up in hospital with a bleed on the brain and fractured cheekbone, I am so glad I was wearing my bone dome.

It made me think about those who don't/refuse to wear one and I am genuinely interested as to why.

This is not meant to be a thread advocating the use or otherwise, but more to try and understand why you wouldn't and, perhaps more crucially, what would make you change your mind.

I've suffered a few high speed crashes, the most recent summer 2020. I completely destroyed the helmet I was wearing, rebook my right humerus (only a crack), and bruised several ribs due to my shoulder being the second point of impact, my head being the primary. No concussion. That was probably the worst solo crash I’ve endured. I’ve also bounced my face off a car door, and hit a tree with my head, no concussions in those instances either. In each instance, I received emergency medical care, and I am confident saying the lack of concussions is due to a properly worn, and high quality helmet.

Thank goodness we have another helmet thread; there just aren't enough of them. OP, start with something a little more deadly, IE

Why do people:
Smoke
Over eat
Use drugs
Refuse to wear seat belts
Have random unprotected sex

The list goes on and on. They choose to do what they want and you choose to do things as you see fit, one doesn't effect the other. Do yourself a favor and identify why you crashed and learn to avoid or manage that type of risk better in the future.

Why is this posted 3 times?

People really should wear helmets during sex.

I'm fully vaccinated, do I need a helmet?

Like in “Demolition Man.”

​​​​​First time poster trying to get the post count up but doing it almost the worst way possible? Worst case would've been posting it 5 times.

I just wear the trashbin home. Those things are heavy but tough.

Have you had your booster crash?

Yes whenever training or going somewhere far or fast on the bike, no for a trip to the local shop or such. If I'm going to my office which is two kilometers away it's 50/50 if I wear the helmet or not.
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The Helmet Thread 2

Bad news comes in threes.

Your thread moved from General Cycling to The Helmet Thread 2 in Advocacy & Safety forum.