Originally Posted by Jay Turberville

It is great that people are trying to improve cycling technology. MiPs is one such attempt.

Originally Posted by curbtender

Non-stryofoam helmet. Just adding to the conversation.

Originally Posted by Trakhak

Thanks for that. I'd forgotten the Trek advertising campaign for their WaveCel helmets: "Cycling Has Changed Forever!" or whatever their slogan was.

FWIW, Virginia Tech recently rated Trek's Specter WaveCel helmet #38 overall. (Among all styles of helmets, that is, including road, MTB, commuter, etc.)

Originally Posted by Jay Turberville

I understand his point. I just disagree with much of it. Something squishier and of a similar thickness won't slow the head/brain (absorb very much energy) much before it stops it. He also thinks using eggs is a proper test - somehow missing the major point that the mass of an egg is so much less than that of a human head. Whether an egg shell cracks or not isn't a particularly good model for evaluating head protection. Nor is pressing your thumb against some Styrofoam. His arguments against EPS are weak. He seems to misunderstand the issues around absorbing energy which is the key role that EPS plays.

The design problem for bicycle helmets is hard. How do you add useful protection in a lightweight design? Well, the fact is that you can't do it very well. There are some basic physics issues involved that are very hard if not impossible to get around. Automobiles manage the forces by having large crush zones and spreading impacts over larger areas of the body. (They also use EPS in their bumpers and other places for energy absorption). A large crush zone on a helmet would be unwieldy. Who would use it? And it is no wonder that football helmets don't use EPS. The helmet needs to withstand repeated impacts. EPS is useful one time. But motorcycle helmets use EPS as the primary material for impact energy absorption. He's simply wrong to assert otherwise. He also seems to think that rock climbing helmets don't use EPS, but they often do. Likewise, EPS is commonly used in horse riding helmets. I could go on.

Originally Posted by Korina

Good points.

Here's a question; everyone's all about rotational forces, but what proportion of your average head impact is rotational versus straight smack?

Originally Posted by Jay Turberville

As I understand it, the concern is that a glancing impact is likely to impart rotational accelerations to the head as the helmet "sticks" to a rough surface like asphalt.. Given the complex nature of just about any head impact, I'd assume few are a "straight smack". So your question is probably more like, "How often is the MiPS system going to be presented with harmful amounts of possible rotational acceleration (glancing strikes) that MiPS needs to render harmless?" I don't know the answer, but here's the paper describing the Virgina Tech testing methods and there is some discussion about rotation in it. https://vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/items/...7-a4eef66ad1fa

There are references in this article that may help answer the question. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-11559-0
But frankly, I don't see how MiPS is likely to be harmful. I can get it in a highly rated and inexpensive helmet. So I'm not highly motivated to dig further. If you do dig in, I'd be curious to know what you found though.

Originally Posted by EddyR

Many on here will not like This.

Originally Posted by terrymorse

Correct. Keep your helmet jibber jabber where it belongs, in A&S.

Originally Posted by BobbyG

I like to buy an inexpensive white helmet with good ventilation. I clip a 180-degree red blinkie to the rear, a modest headlight to the top to blink during the day and be a solid supplemental light at night. I also mount a small action cam to capture my rides for review, to share, and in case evidence is needed after a collision.

I have been clipping the rear light to the elastic band that no longer seems to be used in newer designs. I'm sure I could fashion a mount for any future helmet if need be. I thought about spending the extra money for a helmet with integrated lights, but I don't think the front lights are as bright as what I can attach myself.

I ride year-round down to 5F and it's usually in the teens on winter mornings. Even at those temperatures I prefer lots of helmet ventilation. I wear a thin balaclava, and from 5-12F I may put up the hood of my light wind-breaker shell for an additional layer. But my head gets really hot, and a sweaty head gets and stays colder than a dry one.

Originally Posted by veganbikes

My head loves the Lazer helmets. I have a Z1 that is going to be replaced soon (though it has been replaced but with a temporary helmet till I can get a new one)

I did have a Giro Synthe back in the day but I got a size M and should have gotten the L but they day I tried it on and the subsequent days the M fit fine but I realized I was going to want stuff for winter and that was just a little bit too small.

You needed to replace that old helmet 13 years ago. Please don't buy used helmets you have no idea what happened in that helmet and may never know and the seller probably won't give you the truth or the full truth. They could have crashed or could be a heavy sweater or both or it was stored poorly so many different factors and reasons to never buy a used helmet. It is safety equipment and beyond some really expensive testing that isn't worth it you will never know what happened and if you need to use your helmet and it was previously compromised it could be a bad day. Luckily it sounds like you haven't needed to use it at all and was just a fun head decoration which is what we all hope for in our helmets. Crashing sucks.

Originally Posted by shelbyfv

That's easy nutcase helmets

Originally Posted by shelbyfv

That's easy nutcase helmets