Let’s Talk About MIPS Technology

Cyclist safety isn’t a one sided issue, and it takes effort from both cyclists and road users to ensure that we all get to our destinations safely. The number one goal for us at Olympic Cycles is preventing accidents in the first place. This involves making ourselves as visible as possible by wearing bright reflective clothing, using daytime running lights and adhering to the rules of the road. From a motorists perspective it is imperative that they pass with at least a 1.5m space, and ideally more.

However, in the real world accidents can and will happen and that’s where cycling helmets come in, and we only stock the world’s leading brands that have been tried, tested and certified.

One technology that we are seeing more and more of in our helmet ranges is MIPS.

MIPS which stands for Multi-directional Impact Protection System. Here’s how it works at protecting you in the event of an accident:

How was the technology developed? This excerpt from Pinkbike provides some background:

“MIPS is a result of a Swedish neurosurgeon, Hans von Holst, who while working at the World Health Organization in 1997, felt that traditional helmets did not do enough to protect people and accidents were having devastating consequences for many people. He sought the collaboration of Peter Halldin, researcher at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, with a view to them trying to develop a technology that could provide more effective protection. The idea was to look more closely at the head’s anatomy and physiology, and copy the body’s own protection system. Together Peter Halldin and Hans von Holst developed a technology that involved building a cushion or low friction layer into helmets which would provide unique and much improved protection for the brain. Out of this work came the name MIPS, an abbreviation of the functionality of the concept, Multi-directional Impact Protection System.”

Traditional Helmets With No MIPS

“Helmets are designed and optimized for straight impacts. They do not consider angled impacts. In an angled impact rotational violence is transferred to the head and the brain.”

Helmets With MIPS

“MIPS is a low friction layer inside the helmet which allows the head to rotate relative to the helmet in an angled impact. This substantially reduces rotational violence and the potential for damage to the brain.”

Collaborating With Neurosurgeons And Experts To Protect You

MIPS was developed through collaboration with a number of the world’s leading neurosurgeons and experts. From their findings, they established that your head most often hits the ground at an angle which creates a rotational shock to the brain. This rotational shock can cause extreme strain within your brain, as we saw by the heat diagrams above.

The brain itself is protected from impacts thanks to it being suspended in a low friction cerebrospinal fluid that allows it to slide within your skull to protect it during impacts. While the human body developed this system to protect it from impacts, it wasn’t designed to protect it during high speed accidents on bicycles. Thankfully technology such as MIPS has been developed to provide the protection we need.

A helmet is the outright number one most important thing to wear every single time you go out on the bike, even if’ it’s just a quick spin down the road to the shop. Secondly, making yourself visible greatly reduces your chance of being in an accident with cars on the road.