Safe Bike Helmets - Helmets with MIPS, WaveCel, SPIN and KinetiCore

Safe bike helmets and wearing them the right way has fortunately become increasingly more common and accepted among cyclists. Road cyclists and mountain bikers who go out without a proper, safe bike helmet are therefore increasingly rare. A good bike helmet will absorb the blow if you crash and hit your head. In doing so, the bike helmet will most likely break or dent. This is a good thing, as the energy that would otherwise have reached your skull is absorbed by the bike helmet.Nowadays, the choice between safety systems in bike helmets is growing. In 2022, Lazer even added a new system: KinetiCore. That's great, because a safe helmet is the most important part of your gear. But how do the different technologies in the cycle helmets work? In this blog, we explain what happens when you crash and hit your head wearing a bike helmet equipped with MIPS, MIPS Spherical, WaveCel, SPIN and the newer KinetiCore.

What safety systems are there for cycle helmets?

• MIPS Bike Helmets
• MIPS Spherical Bike Helmets
• KinetiCore Bike Helmets
• WaveCel Bike Helmets
• SPIN Bike Helmets

MIPS Bike Helmet

MIPS stands for Multi-Directional Impact Protection System. The multi-directional part is what makes a bike helmet with MIPS so special. Surprisingly, MIPS was not invented by a bike helmet manufacturer, but by a Swedish team of brain specialists. They determined that cycle helmets could be made even safer and ultimately developed the MIPS system.

MIPS can be found in cycling helmets from all kinds of different manufacturers such as Giro and MET. A MIPS bike helmet is usually slightly more expensive than a bike helmet without the safety system. But the price differences are getting smaller.

How does a MIPS bike helmet function?

MIPS is an extra layer on the inside of your road bike helmet or MTB helmet. That layer, separate from your bike helmet itself, can rotate slightly the moment your bike helmet hits the ground or other objects. The bike helmet's outer layer absorbs the biggest part of the impact. MIPS allows your head to move slightly inside the helmet during impact, softening the blow even further.

In other words, employing MIPS, the shock to your brain is significantly reduced. This helps prevent brain damage. In the case of a helmet without MIPS, the impact is only absorbed by a compression of the EPS liner, and this can still cause a lot of damage. In the first bike helmets fitted with MIPS, the MIPS layer could be recognised by its yellow colour, but as you can see from the photo, this is not always the case anymore.

Road bike helmets fitted with MIPS

Mountain bike helmets fitted with MIPS

MIPS Spherical Bike Helmets

MIPS Spherical is an evolved version of the MIPS safety system. In a MIPS Spherical bicycle helmet, MIPS technology is integrated between two layers of EPS foam that can move independently of each other. This system protects the brain from rotational forces of a fall by allowing 10 to 15 millimetres of movement between the helmet and the head. This reduces the risk of brain injury.

MIPS Spherical is still fairly new, but more and more bike helmets on the market are fitted with this bike helmet safety system. This video about the Giro Aether Spherical MIPS MIPS road bike helmet shows the workings of MIPS Spherical.

Road bike helmets fitted with MIPS Spherical

MTB bike helmets fitted with MIPS Spherical

Lazer KinetiCore Bike Helmet

Although Lazer made use of MIPS, the brand has come up with a new fall protection system. After 10 years of development, the brand has finally introduced its new protection technology KinetiCore to the cycling world. What makes KinetiCore unique compared to other safety systems in cycling helmets is that the system is completely integrated into the helmet. This integrated technology provides a number of benefits, namely reduced weight, better ventilation and a better fit. Finally, the technology ensures that less material is needed and therefore less plastic.

How does a Lazer KinetiCore bike helmet function?

A bike helmet with KinetiCore protects your head from both direct and rotational impact when in a crash. That is, the bike helmet, which consists of EPS foam blocks on the inside, will instantly rotate with you in the event of a hard fall. This significantly reduces the risk of concussion. These foam blocks are called Lazer controlled crumple zones and deform upon direct or rotational impact, preventing the energy from reaching the brain.

Road bike helmets with KinetiCore

Mountain bike helmets with KinetiCore

WaveCel Bike Helmet

Bontrager uses yet another safety system in bike helmets, called WaveCel. As such, you will only come across this technology in Bontrager helmets. It was developed by surgeon Steve Madey and biomedical engineer Michael Bottlang, who have worked together for 25 years to prevent head injuries.

Bontrager claims that using a bike helmet equipped with WaveCel, you are 48 times less likely to suffer a concussion as when using e a helmet with standard EPS when you do fall. This is of course superb, but there is one drawback to a bike helmet fitted with WaveCel. Due to the WaveCel technology, the helmet is about 50 grams heavier than a bike helmet with EPS foam. And if you have an itch on your head while cycling? Then the dense WaveCel helmet makes scratching an itch quite difficult.

How does a Bontrager WaveCell helmet function?

The foundation of a bike helmet with WaveCel is a crumpleable cell structure. This structure can be flattened and deformed. Whereas a standard bicycle helmet made of EPS foam is designed to cushion direct impact forces, WaveCel absorbs the energy of the impact from multiple angles.

When you hit the ground with your head, the WaveCel layers move independently and flex until the cell walls crumple. The layers then shift and absorb the perpendicular and rotational forces, leaving your head unharmed as much as possible. You can see exactly what this looks like in this video.

Two road bike helmets and two mountain bike helmets with WaveCel have recently been released. However, Bontrager has other models for children and speed pedelec owners.

WaveCel Road Bike Helmets

WaveCel Mountain Bike Helmets

SPIN Bike Helmet

POC worked with MIPS for many years. However, the Swedish brand introduced its own bike helmet safety system a few years ago: SPIN. SPIN stands for Shearing Pads INside and is made to cushion the impact of rotational forces during a bicycle fall.

How does a POC SPIN helmet function?

A POC SPIN helmet has a special gel in the padding. In the event of a fall, this silicone gel allows the cycling helmet to move along slightly, reducing the risk of brain injury. The pads are placed in strategic places in the helmet and are in close contact with your head. This can be clearly seen in this video.

Have a look at all our bike helmets with SPIN.

SPIN road bike helmets

SPIN mountain bike helmets

Want to buy a new and safe bike helmet?

Have you figured out which safety system you want in your new bike helmet after reading this blog? Great, but there are many more factors to consider when buying a new helmet for your road bike, MTB, e-bike or speed pedelec! You can find the differences between types of bicycle helmets in our bike helmet buyer’s guide!