What is MIPS?

MIPS is a system where there is an inner liner that allows the outer shell of the helmet to twist a small amount without transmitting the shock to your head. It is very effective in motorcycle, race car, and football helmets. It is questionable if it helps much with bike helmets as they do not fit as snug as other helmets and slip on the head some anyway.

Two things to look for:

• A piece of plastic that can slide around on the inside of the helmet. It’s between your head and the hard part of the helmet and looks like it’s made out of the same material as a plastic placemat or like a thin plastic cutting board. Like Alvin said, it’s an inner liner that can move around a little bit.
• Round, squishy knobs that sorta rotate. These look different depending on the manufacturer, but here are a couple examples from Shred and Leatt helmets.

Also, here’s an overview of MIPS technology that we published back in 2014:

A MIPS Primer: Protecting Your Thinking Parts

The photo of the cutaway from Jim’s article does a good job showing what the plastic MIPS liner looks like! It’s definitely easy to overlook because it’s seemingly so simple.

Here’s a photo of the Giro Feature MIPS, taken from John Fisch’s review of the helmet. The slick, black plastic liner you can see on the sides of the inside of the helmet is the MIPS.

Review: Featuring the Giro Feature MIPS Mountain Bike Helmet

I’m am all for better helmets and safety equipment, but this mips push hasn’t convinced me that it’s worth the money.  Bike helmets, especially non=full faced slide all over even when properly fitted.  When you crash your helmet moves a great deal, I know!  I crash a lot!