Yeah, sign me up. I think I've seen $90 models with MIPS recently.


Cheap helmets can't skimp on making the minimum safety standards, so they skimp where they can, helmet lining and retention system. There's a point where it doesn't really matter so much, but even the intro level Kask, (was the 50NTA, not sure what it is now) has a better retention system than just about anything cheaper. The 50NTA had pretty crappy lining, though. The Bontrager in the same price range has nicer lining but a bit worse retention system. Venting's normally pretty good at any level higher than the pink unicorn ones with the horn on them.


Unless I needed something with a special purpose, I don't really see much benefit getting out of that ~$150 area until my preferences are met by something lower down the price list. I've got the thing on my head 10-15 hours a week most of the year, it might as well be minimally comfy until it's called on to do it's job.

To me? Yes. I overheat very easily, and the better ventilation of nicer helmets is worth it. But I mean that I overheat VERY easily, so I need all the help I can get. That said, I tend to wait for deals, which is how I picked up whatever S Works Specialized helmet I have to replace my 6 year old one. Prevail, I believe. Super comfy, goofy light blue to feed my perceived eccentricity, and vents fantastically.

If I didn't overheat like I do, anything that was comfortable on my head would do.

Fair enough, but there are helmets that vent perfectly well at lower price points too. There's no aero trickery to ventilating your head, it's pretty much what-you-see-is-what-you-get with the venting. I have a ton of black hair on my head so honestly that's the limiting factor in head heat dissipation, I don't notice too much difference from one helmet to the next.

I do this by clicking my shoe ratchets one notch tighter before giving the peleton "the look". Droping the hamer requires very tight shoes.

Thank you, RahpaDan.

I should have added "If you have extra $$$ AND can do a bidon flip blindfolded, go for it!"

You can get a Giro Foray MIPS Helmet for $34.95

You seem to think MIPS is a safety standard.


It isn't. It is a trademark, whose design language enforcement is best described as "not at all". So long as you pay the licensing money to the MIPS holders, you can sell a MIPS branded Cheetoh.

Can you show me a mips helmet that does not have mips tech and only the sticker?

Only the very first MIPS helmet really adhered to the design language...none since has, in the name of increasing margins. Most "MIPS" helmets don't even have MIPS on the back 50% of the helmets. The MIPS people demonstrably do not care-so long as they get their money.

Of course...all this presumes MIPS design theory even works in reality....which is very difficult to prove.

MIPS and Sliding Resistance of Bicycle Helmets

No, I don't, and I never said I did.

The MIPS protection system is patented. Only Helmets approved by MIPS can use the patented system.

MIPS AB | MIPS Brain Protection System (BPS)

They test the helmets before they approve them.

https://www.mipsprotection.com/faq/#f...e-to-any-brand

What does this even mean if it is just a sticker?

They do a great job of enforcement...given that implementation is anything but standard. Some have the full 100% slip fabric liner (that is supposed to be there)....others only use sparse fabric dots....most lack the protection on the backside entirely.


You can patent icons and rounded corners too.

Cheap helmets look incredibly dorky, on purpose. There is probably no real difference in making a compact, good looking helmet that costs $200+ or one that costs $50. You gotta pay to play.

That would justify the slightly higher price to me, and make it harder to justify the $150+ helmets that OP is concerned about if MIPS is no longer exclusive to that price range.

While it's not "proven" that MIPS helps anything, it's dead certain that rotational injury is a problem for TBI and very plausible that MIPS reduces the angular acceleration. So I have no qualms about taking it on face value.

The actual benefit of a $6,000 bike over a $3,000 one is small (it's nothing like "2-times" better).

$400 helmets are an extreme case anyway (a more usual price is around $150).

My point is that $400 helmets are really being sold to people buying $6,000 bikes.

There might not be much (or any) different in performance between "average prices" (which you don't specify) and a more-expensive helmet. But the difference in cost isn't $3,000 either. The cheap helmets ($50) don't generally seem to be better vented than a $120 helmet (personally, I wouldn't buy a $400 helmet).

According to the information on their website, they test the Helmets before they approve them. It's an objective test, so the helmets pass or they don't.

I can't imagine that MIPScorp is just allowing helmets that don't meet their protocol to be marketed under their name.

The Company was started by biomedical researchers, so it would appear they have a genuine desire to reduce brain injuries, and from a financial point of view, just allowing people to stick MIPS stickers on non conforming helmets would expose them to civil liability, and damage the value of the brand.

I see little reason to think they're lying about the testing they do.

And I doubt Giro, Bell, etc. are falsely representing that their helmets meet the MIPS standard for the same reasons.

if you market your helmets as meeting the MIPS standard and they don't, you could be looking at lawsuits with exposure in the hundreds of millions, if not billions of dollars.

One serious moderate to severe brain injury case can easily exceed $10,000,000. The financial exposure would be ruinous.

The bike you get for $3,000 more is "better" but the actual real-world benefit is very small.

A lot of the difference is marketing.

??? No, they have to provide a standard level of protection (it's not at all clear that that standard is especially "high").

I hate to break it to you: the value of expensive things is almost always "largely based on marketing".

Who says they are "sought after"? Even "avid" cyclists don't tend to spend $400 on a helmet. Spending $400 on a helmet is (likely) unusual.

I never claimed that a $6000 bike was 2-times better than a $3000 bike. I said "generally an obvious performance upgrade". There will be specific things on that $6000 bike that someone can point to as upgrades over a $3000 bike.

This isn't the case with helmets. With the exception of specialized aero specific time trial type helmets, typical road bike helmets all perform essentially the same. They have the same basic venting and aero properties, and they're all approximately the same weight, etc. The only real differences between a cheap helmet and an expensive helmet are going to be fit and fashion.

No, you didn't make that claim (I didn't say you did). But the claim you made is pretty thin.

"generally an obvious performance upgrade" -- What does this mean? The real-world benefit of a $6,000 bike over a $3,000 is somewhere between zero and 2 times.

It's much closer to zero.

The actual real-world benefit of a $6,000 over a $3,000 bike is small. Probably not worth $3,000 to anybody (except people racing competitively).

If we assume the extra real-world benefit of a $6,000 bike is 10% (it's probably less), then it's "worth" $3,300.

The other thing that isn't the case with helmets is that the difference in cost isn't thousands of dollars.

$400 helmets are a weird case anyway. I don't think many "avid" cyclists buy them.

$400 helmets exist to sell to people buying ASSOS kit and $6,000 bikes.

Nothing like a good helmet thread.

A Cannondale Supersix Evo Disc Ultegra costs $3000 (MSRP).
Cannondale sells another version of this bike that costs $6000. The Supersix Evo Hi-Mod Disc Ultegra Di2.

The differences between the two bikes are:
$6k bike - Carbon frame and fork are lighter
$6k bike - upgrade to electronic DI2 shifting
$6k bike - lighter crankset
$6k bike - lighter wheelset
$6k bike - upgraded chain, rear cog
$6k bike - lighter handlebar, stem, seat post and headset
$6k bike - lighter bar tape (yup)

Those are all things that the owner of a $6,000 bike can point to as "generally an obvious performance upgrade" over the $3,000 version of the same bike.

Lets look at helmets:
Bell Image R Helmet = $45
Bell Star Pro Race Helmet = $239

The $49 helmet has more vents. The weight difference between the two is 8 grams. Neither has MIPS (whatever that is). Other than looks, style and fit... there's absolutely nothing about the 5x more expensive helmet that someone can point to as a "generally obvious performance upgrade".

Remember when all helmet threads got locked or combined right away? Lots of emotion fueling those threads.
Then came gun threads which got so bad the word gun was banned.

That is, of course, a very good way to go about it. One that is, unfortunately, not available to me for reasons that you are well aware of and that cannot be discussed around here.