Cycling is an excellent mode of transport and great for exercise, providing the rider with amazing health benefits. Purchasing a road bike is a fantastic idea that requires careful consideration. So too does the purchase of a road bike helmet.
When road bike helmets became mandatory
Safety-Standard-approved road bike helmets save lives. This makes them the most important part of the cyclist’s outfit. Not all countries agree otherwise helmets would be mandatory around the world. Here are some dates worth noting:
- 1990 – Australia makes it mandatory to wear a bike helmet when cycling over 30 years ago.
- 1991 – road bike helmets almost become compulsory in the top European road races. The rule was dropped due to much resistance from the riders.
- 1994 – New Zealand follows Australia in making it a law to wear an approved safety standard cycling helmet.
- 2003 – road bike helmets become compulsory in the top European road races. The rule change occurred after a Russian cyclist tragically dies from his injuries following a heavy crash in the Paris-Nice race.
It’s surprising how few countries have made it mandatory to wear a helmet when cycling. Fortunately, the rules did change long ago for the road races.
Road bike helmets have come a long way since the early days when cyclists wore caps when racing. Advanced technology has made them lighter, more aerodynamic, and much safer. Unfortunately, the retail price has risen significantly since the safety improvements and weight reductions. Paying $400 for a fantastic road bike helmet is not out of the question.
GIRO HELMETS
KASK HELMETS
Safest road bike helmet
Safety should be the No.1 priority when choosing a road bike helmet. A good example of this is in the world’s greatest cycle race, the Tour de France. Each year cyclists compete in the multi-stage race but in 2021 the multiple stages had multiple accidents. One of the worst accidents was when German rider Tony Martin crash-landed on his helmet-protected head. A spectator accidentally knocked him over with a cardboard sign in the 1st stage. Fortunately, Tony was wearing one of the safest road bike helmets, the Lazer Genesis (or G1) MIPS. That’s according to the independent testers at Virginia Tech who calculate the safety of helmets in a simulated accident. Their 1 to 5-star rating system on many types of helmets is regularly referred to and well regarded by many in the cycling industry.
Today, we are blessed with manufacturers using super-advanced technology to make lightweight safety-focused helmets. Not all the large helmet manufacturers started in the cycling industry. Some have brought their expertise from other sporting codes. Italian brand Kask started in the equestrian code while POC was originally focused on the snow helmets. These global giants bring new ideas to cycling helmet safety and do significant testing of their own. MIPS, SPIN, and WaveCel are some of the safety techs that are found in many helmets on the market.
MIPS (Multi-directional Impact Protection System)
Researchers have found that when there is an angled impact and the head comes to a sudden stop the brain keeps moving. This rotational motion to the brain is believed to be linked to concussions and severe brain injuries. Swedish neurosurgeon, Hans von Holst, with the World Health Organization studied and worked with head trauma for many years. He found that the helmet technology at the time could not protect people from brain trauma adequately enough. After teaming up with tech researcher Peter Halldin, they created the MIPS Brain Protection System, a safety technology for helmets. This system, in the event of an angled impact, reduces the amount of energy that is transferred to the brain.
A regular helmet’s shape and material are designed to absorb energy from a linear impact. The helmet gets compressed to the scalp and the scalp moves slightly. With MIPS, there is a sliding layer inside the helmet with sliding enablers attached to the Expanded Polystyrene (EPS). On an angled impact the sliding layer reduces the friction which allows the helmet to rotate and slide 10 to 15mm. This rotation reduces the amount of energy that would have been transferred to the brain.
A number of the big brands added MIPS technology to their helmet range but not everyone was in favor. The liner was too thick to ventilate adequately enough. Manufacturers worked around this and created gaps where the vents were placed. There were other issues but in MIPS’ favor was the safety record for the helmets that used it. According to Virginia Tech, 7 of the 10 safest road bike helmets had the MIPS technology.
SPIN (Shearing Pads Inside)
Another safety technology for cycling helmets is SPIN or Shearing Pads Inside. This was the brainchild of Swedish company POC, who was one of the first to include the MIPS technology into their helmets.
SPIN is very similar to MIPS where the helmet moves relative to the head following an oblique impact. The difference between the two is that MIPS uses a separate layer inside the helmet whereas SPIN uses helmet pads. These pads are filled with silicone making the helmet more comfortable as well as safer.
A decision to use pads instead of continuing with MIPS also relates to the ventilation issue that MIPS has. POC believed that an entire layer inside the helmet significantly reduces the airflow. The SPIN design overcomes that by attaching the pads inside the helmet without blocking the vents.
WaveCel
WaveCel is another improved safety feature found in today’s cycling helmets. The design is a collapsible cellular structure within the helmet and is exclusive to the Trek-owned Bontrager brand.
Bontrager’s smart WaveCel design is similar to actions of MIPS and SPIN where the tech works by re-directing the energy from an impact away from the head. This is done with a large number of 3-dimensional cells that are combined to create a dome inside the helmet. The intelligence in this design is how the collapsible cellular structure moves and the direction it moves depends on which angle the impact came from. For example, a straight impact will force the cells to crumple along a specially designed fold. This allows the cells to fold over and shear.
The clever design also makes for great ventilation as the cells are hollow allowing air to easily pass through. However, safety is the main feature with high ratings from crash testing. WaveCel received 5-stars for all their helmets from Virginia Tech.
Conclusion
MIPS, SPIN, and WaveCel are just a sample of some of the great tech added to make road bike helmets safer. All of the 10 safest road bike helmets had one of these technologies included. That’s according to the independent testers Virginia Tech. Of course, no helmet can prevent all injuries but new tech like this can make a difference.